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第16章 无辜的流浪者（第3页）

"Hi，"Ioffered，asIdrewheyoungman'sfatleandfriendly，andIsejustbylookingihewassomeoneinrealcrisis。

"Ihavesomefoodherefs，"Isaid。DumbfouhebagasIsetdowerinfrontofthem。

&quhtwater，too？"heaskedincredulously。Webothkdowhe，andthepuppygreetedmeenthusiastically。

"Thato。dthisone'sDog。I'mWayhesad，stenoughtoseewhatwasiainer。

"e;Iasked。Ifeltabitihealyandsimply。"Well，IjustmovedoutherefromArizonaabeeofindwork。I'matthepointwhereI'tevehedogs。"

"Whereareyouliving？"

"Inthattruckrightthere。"Hepoioadilapidatedoldvehiclethatarkedcloseby。Ithadaralohashell，soatleasttheyhadshelterfromtheelements。

Thepuphadylapaledin。Iaskedeofworkhedid。

"I'mamedawelder，"hesaid，"Butthere'snothingouthereforeither。I'velookedahesedogsaremyfamily；Ihatetohavetosellthem，butIjust'taffordtofeedthem。"

&sayingitoverandover。Hedidn'twahem，buthe'tfeedthem。Anawfullookcameoverhisfaceeverytimeherepeatedit。Itwasasifhemighthavetogiveupachild。

&imeseemedrighttocasuallypassoverthetwenty-dollarbill，hopingIwouldn'tfurtherdamagehisalreadyshakypride。"Here。Usethistobuyyourselfsomethi;

"Well，thanks，"heslowlyreplied，uolookmeihiscouldgetusarht，too。"

"Howlonghaveyoubee;

"Allday。"

"Hasn'taopped？"

"No，you'rethefirst。"Itwaslateafternoonandquicklygettingdark。Herei，whenthesuemperaturewoulddipiies。

Mymiofast-foricturedthethreeofthemgoingwithouteveoday，perhapsforseveraldays，andspendingmanylong，coldhourscoopedupintheirie，makeshiftshelter。

Seeingpeoplebegforfoodisn'tahiscity。Butthismanstoodoutbecausehewasn'taskingforfoodforhimself。Hewasmoreedwithkeepinghisdogsfedthanwithhisownarentofnineassionatelyloveddogsofmyown，ithitadeepe。

Idon'tthinkI'lleverreallyknowwhateatthatmoment，inspiriodowhatIdidIjustkwassomethingIhadtodo。Iaskedhimifhe'dwaitthereforafewmiilIreturned。Henoddedhisheadandsmiled。

Mycarflewtrocerystwithurgency，Iradtookholdofacart。Istartedoaisleanddidn'tquituheothersideofthestore。Theitems'tbepulledofftheshelvesfastenough。Justtheessentials，Ithought。Justfoodthatleofweeksandsustaintheirmeagerexisteerandjelly。Bread。edfood。Juice。Fruit。Vegetables。Dogffood（fortypou）。Aheyshouldhavesometreats，too。Afewotherhejobwasdone。

"Thetotalesto$102。91。"saidthechecker。Ididn'tbatahepeblaerthanIcouldlegiblywrite。Itdidn'tmatterthatthemewasduesoonorthatIreallydidn'thavetheextrahundreddollarstospend。Nothingmatteredbesidesseeingthatthisfamilyhadsomefood。Iwasamazedatmyowyandthemotivationthatetospendahundreddollarsonater。Yet，atthesametime，IfeltliketheluckiestpersoobeabletogivethismanandhisbelovedpanionsatinybitofsomethingofwhichIhadsomuedthefloodgatesofgratitudeinmyo>

TheithecakewasthelookonWayne'sfaIreturhallthegroceries。"Herearejustafewthings…"Isaidasthedogslookedoi。Iwaoavoidanyawkwardness，soIhastilypettedthedogs。

"Goodlucktoyou，"Isaidamyhand。

"ThankyouandGodblessyou；nowIwon'thavetosellmydogs。"Hissmileshhtlyinthedeepeningdarkness。

It'struethatpeoplearemoreplianimals，butsometimestheybeaseasytoread。Wayneerson，someonewholookedatadogandsawfamily。Inmybook，amadeservestobehappy。

Later，onmywayhome，Ipurposelydrovepastthatsameer。Wayhedoheyhavestayedftimeiandmind。PerhapsIwillrunintothemagainsomeday。Iliketothinkthatitallturhem。