Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-03
TOLD OLA WOLF
Romulus the Last Of His
Brothers.
LIKES AND. DISLIKES
SHOWS FRIENDLINEss, BUT HAS
SHARP TEETH.
A Country Walk With His Master
Incidents on the
Way.

about the same size and to the average
| person they were much the same In general
| appearance. AS an experiment, l intro
duced the seven to my full-grown fox, Inc
Sprite,' and apparently he gave them all
a cordial welcome to his pen. l noticed
that he looked sidewise at the young wolves
| once or twice, as though all was not as 1t
should be; but his suspicious, II such they
| were seemed to quickly pass away, and
when food was put into the cage, he carried
| it to young foxes and young wolves alike.
So gentle was he that, in spite of the tact
the young wolves were not quite at their
ease, l went away and left them all to-
gether. Soon after nightfall l heard
sounds which led me to believe that Wig
| orous argument was in progress In The
Sprites' cage, and l lost no time In get
all my hurry, l was too late BY what
mental process, If any, The Sprlte' had
arrived at the decision that young coyotes
We're undesirable companions, ! know not,
lay on the floor of the cage kicking his
last, and second lay limp a rag. In the
teeth OF 1.-THE Sprite,'' who was chewing 1t
to pulp as fast his wicked little jaws
| fully alive to the situation. and was
whining piteously and hunting for place
to escape. | took him out iii hurry, of
course. Had 1 arrived five minutes later,
this story would never have been written;
there would have been three dead coyotes
instead of two. AS 1t is, still have the
third young wolf and we have called his
name RomuluS
Liked a Walk.
Yesterday 1 took Romulus for walk,
and Romulus, with all his appetite, would
sooner go for walk than eat his dinner.
When he saw me approaching, he began to
skip about his cage, wagging his tail, smil-
ing with all his might and executing a
rather ridiculous prancing dance, intend
ed, no doubt to express his delight AS
soon as 1 opened the door, he ran to my
feet, rolled over his back, and opened
his mouth, acting almost exactly as many
playful young dogs will do. l put down
my hand to pat him, and he seized me in a
most gentle grip. but, in spite of his care,
the sharp fangs cut through the skin in
half dozen places The Sprite' has chew
ed me playfully a hundred times without
once breaking the skin, but it seems impos-
sible for the wolf to do it. His fangs are
extremely sharp, and much curved. and
many of the other teeth, noticeably the
middle pair in the upper jaw. are saw
edged. AS soon as l had caressed him,
Romulus jumped to his feet, and dashed
away through the long grass, returning
presently at my call, to throw himself smil-
ing at my feet as before.
Not Friendly.
As we set out, we had to pass THE
Sprite's cage, and the little wolf ran up
with friendliness written In every look and
act But THE Sprite" did not even pre-
tend to be friendly. Instead of wagging
his tall as he would have done to almost
any dog which came to call him, he
rushed to the point of the cage nearest to
the wolf and followed its every movement
with an intentness which had but one
meaning. If he could have got out, there
would have been a dead wolf, though the
latter was the bigger of the two.
Another Meeting.
The next incident occurred a few min
utes later, when we met the bear cub,
Jimmy sauntering down the road with
the air of a young man with plenty of
money in his pockets, and lots of time to
spend It. Jimmy" really didn't care two
cents about the young wolf, but the wolf
didn't know this, and the reception ac-
corded the little bear was anything but
fiattering to that husky young gentleman
Jimmy swung over toward Romulus as
though he'd just as soon say How dy"
as not, but the little wolf struck a pose
which made me wish l had my camera
with me. He lowered his head, opened
his mouth and, drawing back his lips. un-
covered his long rows of white teeth. He
arched his back and the hair from the
back of his head to the root of his tail
was not only erected, but it pointed the
wrong way while his bushy tail was curved
inward between his hind legs, until it's tip
touched the belly. Accompanying this at
titude was a snarl which had about as
much effect on Jimmy the buzz Of
fly would have had. With good natured in
difference the bear walked up, shifting, but
before he could get quite near enough to
touch noses, the coyote snapped his jaws
savagely and skunk quickly away, turning
a moment later to see if he were pur-
sued.
Franks on the Road
After that we went quietly along the
road for some time, Romulus darling into
the fields from time to time In pursuit of
butterflies or grasshoppers. Once he
found a bone which he carried very proud
", with his head held high in the air An
other time he found a piece of white pa
per, which he also carried for some dis
lance. Then we turned into the fields,
where the young wolf dashed on ahead,
chasing insects or swapping at them as
they passed him In the air. He was very
sensitive to sounds, and at every strange
noise he was all attention, eyes, nose and
ears all directed toward the point of in
terest Once we met a farmer going to his
work and again we met some children who
were looking for blackberres, and nothing
would induce the little wolf to approach
any of them. He ran off to a distance
and there sat on his launches to watch the
strangers At other times if 1 called him.
he would come at gallop, and either lump
I'D on me roll over On his back puppy-
like. that l might caress him. If I sat
down, he would sit down by me- with his
mouth open and his long tongue loIling out.
If 1 sat longer than he cared to wait, he
whined uneasily until / started again.
Sometimes he would lie down close to me
and tug at my coat or leggings
Met Small Enemy.
During our walk We passed a lake. but.
unlike the young bear. Romulus did not
seem to like the water. He went in far
enough to wet his feet, and after that he
contented himself with scraping holes in
the mud along the bank.
AS we were coming home my companion
spied large toad. hopping across the road
and quickly ran and picked 1t up in his
teeth. But he dropped it even more quick
ly, for the acrid secretion in the toad's
skin was evidently very disgusting to him
and for half an hour he frothed at the
mouth and shook his head in his efforts to
rid himself of the nauseating taste.
ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES
The Continuous Pose.
From Puck.
Mrs Dobbs-"How is your new neighbor-
hood?"