The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1908-09-16

my wellmeaning friends, that It would
make them dreadfully savage" They
! grew very fast, and as they became
more powerful, their fights for pos.
session of the greatest share of the
food became more and more serious.
A little later, the bolder ones would
not confne their fighting to meal
! times, but would scarcely tolerate
the presence OF the weaker ones at
any time. and fought them savagely
whenever they came near. So recog-
nizing natures law of the survival
of the fittest, | had the two which
were leading a miserable existence
humanely disposed of, and kept the
two which were all wolf. One, be-
cause of his dark color and peculiar
ly sinister aspect, We named Death,
and the other, the larger of the two,
we named Dauntless, because he had
always been the boldest of the lot.
These two were great friends, and
never fought over anything, though
at meal times they often growled a
mutual warning to respect one an
others rights. They romped and
played a great deal, were perfectly
happy when togetheD but seemed
greatly distressed whenever they were
separated. They were entirely friend
ly with me, and allowed me to handle
them with some freedom, except when
they were feeding, and because they
l seldom attempted to caress them
at meal times.
Sometimes | took the two young
wolves for a walk with me in the
forest, and it was most interesting
to see them working together through
the woods and across clearings, or
splashing along the trout brooks in
a cloud of spray. They were creatures
Of seemingly tireless energy, gallop-
ing along for hours at a stretch, their
long tongues lolling from their
mouths. Now and then they would
start rabbit from beneath the low
growing spruce branches where she
had been sitting, and often they
would send a red squirrel scurrying
up tree in panic of fright, and
then watch him apparently in amaze
ment, as he sat on a branch above
their heads, uttering remarks, which,
had they been translated into Eng
lish, would scarcely have been fit 10
print. Sometimes they would scratch
for mice under fallen logs, or in the
long grass, and rather rarely their
efforts were rewarded by finding a
nest of the little rodents, which were
quickly dispatched. Once or twice
they destroyed birds nests which had
been built on the ground, and once
they caught a full-grown wounded
robin. Their eyes were wonderfully
quick to notice any movement of bird
or beast in the landscape about them,
and if it were but a butterfly, their
jaws were quick to snap at it.
If there was anything the young
wolves enjoyed better than a walk
with me, it was TO be allowed to pay
visit to Romulus, the coyote, whose
liberty had been curtailed since his
last and biggest offense against the
property of my nearest neighbors.
He is now in a long chain, the last
link of which runs upon a wire
across the orchard, giving
him range of a hundred feet or
more. Here | would sometimes take
the two young timber-wolves, and 1t
would be hard to say whether the host
or his visitors were most delighted.
They would all wag their tails and
whine affectionately the prairie-wolf
racing from end to end of his long
wire, with Death and Dauntless In
hot pursuit. Then Romulus would
stand quite still, shut his eyes and
allow the timber-wolves to lick his
face and chew his ears. And some
times would take part in the game
by tossing sticks and apples
for the wolves to race after. But
after frolic of this kind, the young
sters were always wilder than ever,
and in order to catch them 1t was
often necessary to use both patience
and strategy.-From Ernest Harold |
Baynes's "Dauntless: My Big Timber
Wolf,' in st. Nicholas.