Chapter Nine Summary

As Peekay is recovering from his cry, he is surprised to hear someone talking to him. It is a German man who introduces himself as Professor von Vollensteen. He has taken a picture of Peekay while the boy was sitting on the rocks. Peekay likes him and detects no secret motivations beneath the friendly demeanor (Peekay has discovered that by really listening, one can tell whether or not someone is being genuine, and that people are almost always talking about more than what they are actually saying). It turns out that the professor is an amateur botanist, with a special interest in cactus. He is also a music teacher, and he and Peekay are destined to become good friends; the Professor tells Peekay to just address him as "Doc".

The two talk for quite a while, with Doc telling Peekay the...