"Seems pretty trusting," Jack said.

"Loves to tide in cars," Harry answered. And sure enough, when the three of them arrived next to Jack's car, Harry opened the back door and Hans quickly jumped in to perch on the back seat, his head nearly scraping the roof. Jack slid in nervously and started the motor.

"Well, wish me luck," he said to Harry, and drove out into the street. When Hans saw that Harry wasn't coming with them, he turned around on the seat to look out the back window as his former master faded away into the distance and whined excitedly.

"For Christ's sake, cut that out," Jack said nervously. "You make me feel like a slave dealer." Hans soon stopped whining, but, all the way out to the suburbs, the big dog lay on the back seat, his head half hidden between his paws, looking like a lost orphan. Jack felt lucky that the dog's confusion and fear didn't take a more dangerous trend.

By the time he pulled up in his own driveway, the slowly sobering Jack was beginning to feel the whole thing was a stupid mistake, one that, for some unknown reason, his old friend Harry had conned him into. The way the dog looked now, the first thing he would do was run away. As the car came to a stop, the front door opened and Angela came out.

"I'm glad you're home," she called. "I was getting a little worried. Where've you been?"

By now Jack had gotten out of the car, and, throwing open the back door, he said, "Not wanting us to have to go through all that nine-month pregnancy stuff, I went out and got us a dependent." At first, his wife didn't know what he was talking about, and then she saw Hans in the back seat and her eyes widened in surprise. Hans saw her at the same time, and the sudden transformation in the animal was incredible. From sheer dejection, his mood changed to one of utter joy. Girl and dog stared at one another for several seconds and then the big animal bounded out of the car and, placing his paws up on Angela's shoulders, kissed her face with his long pink tongue.