STORY THREE
MOTHER WOLF TAKES A HAND
Washer was very lonely without his mother or brothers, and very homesick; but the little wolves were so playful they gave him little time to think of his worry. Whenever he curled up in a corner to mope and sigh, one of the cubs was sure to creep up behind and roll all over him. Sometimes they got so mixed up that it was difficult for Mother Wolf to tell her own children from the raccoon.
Meanwhile, Sneaky had been out hunting, and returned with food for his family. He flung it to the little cubs, and said:
“Eat, little ones, and may it make you strong and stout of heart like your father!”
He gave none to Washer, but Mother Wolf stepped in and divided the food evenly. “Here, Little Stranger of the woods, you must eat too, or you’ll grow thin and die.”
Sneaky did not like this, and displayed his sharp, cruel teeth. “Why should a stranger rob my children of their food?” he asked. “I do not hunt for another’s brat.”
“If he doesn’t eat,” replied Mother Wolf, smiling, “How can he grow fat? Our children must have their food rich and juicy.”
Sneaky grinned at this retort, for it was quite true that all wolves liked fat little animals. It made the meat so much more delicious. He was content to hunt food for Washer if it fattened him up for the cubs.
Every day when he returned to his den, he would ask: “Isn’t the Little Stranger fat enough to kill today?”
And always Mother Wolf would reply: “Not today. We must wait another day.”
Of course, all this conversation worried and frightened Washer, for he knew that in a short time he would be killed to make food for his playmates. It sickened and terrified him so that he finally decided to make the effort to escape from the cave. He had been so gentle, and appeared so contented, that he was given more liberty each day. When the cubs played in front of the cave, Washer was permitted to go there with them.
This gave him an idea. One day when Sneaky was away in the woods hunting, and Mother Wolf was sleeping in front of the cave, Washer suggested to the cubs that they play hide and seek in the bushes. This was great sport, and they began scampering around behind the bushes to hide.
When it came Washer’s turn to hide, he ran further away from the mouth of the cave than at any time before. He looked around him, and saw that a deep ravine was just beyond his hiding place.
“Now is my chance,” he said to himself. “If I can escape into that ravine, they’ll never catch me. I can hide until night, and then journey far into the woods.”
He had no sooner decided upon this than he began scampering for the edge of the ravine. If he once reached the edge of the cliff, he could roll down it, and then hide at the bottom until dark.
He could hear the cubs calling him, but he paid no attention to them. Liberty was ahead, and he ran with all his might. His legs were short and weak, and he could not make as good time as he wished. He stumbled once or twice and rolled over and over. But he was on his feet again, running for dear life, before you could count ten.
Tired and panting, he finally reached the edge of the ravine. When he looked down it, he was a little frightened. It was terribly steep and the bottom a long way off.
“I wonder if it will hurt me,” he murmured aloud. “I might run around it, and not fall in it.”
Just when he had made up his mind to do this there was a noise in the bushes behind him, and through the air came Mother Wolf, loping along at a tremendous speed. Washer ducked his head, and tried to hide, but Mother Wolf had seen him. A big paw came down on his back and flattened him to the earth.
“Where are you going, Little Stranger?” the Wolf asked. “Why are you running away from us?”
Now Washer’s first thought was to deny that he was running away, but he knew that it was useless to try to deceive Mother Wolf. He realized now that she had been watching him out of the corners of her eyes all the time. She had not been asleep at all. So Washer decided to tell the truth.
“I didn’t want to be killed,” he said. “I’m growing fatter every day, and soon you will kill me for your children. O Mother Wolf, do you know how it feels to be killed?”
“No, I don’t suppose I do,” was the reply. “I’ve never been killed.”
“Then let me tell you it’s worse than anything you can dream of,” panted Washer.
“How do you know, Little Stranger?” Mother Wolf smiled as she asked this. “You’ve never been killed.”
“No, but can’t you imagine how it would feel?”
“Imagine! What is that? I never heard of such a thing.”
“Why—imagination is something that helps you to feel just as if the real thing was happening.”
Mother Wolf released Washer and let him sit up again. She squatted down before him and looked into his eyes.
“I don’t believe wolves have what you call imagination,” she replied. “No, I’m sure they don’t. Tell me more what it means.”
Washer was a very young little Raccoon to be instructing a full-grown wolf, but all of his family had been born with imagination. He could remember how he and his brothers had often listened to the storms raging through the woods and had tried to imagine how it would feel without any home to protect them. They had shuddered at the thought and crept closer together in their nest. But it was very difficult to tell in words just what imagination was.
“Why, there isn’t much more to tell,” he replied hesitatingly. “It’s something you have to feel. Have you ever been hurt, Mother Wolf?”
“Yes, I burnt my front paw once in a fire that campers had left in the woods.”
“And it hurt terribly, didn’t it?”
Mother Wolf winced and nodded.
“Then,” added Washer triumphantly, “if you can feel it now you have imagination. You don’t really feel it now, but you imagine how it felt.”
“Yes,” replied Mother Wolf, “but that’s something I did feel once. But I was never killed. So how can I imagine how it would feel to be killed?”
“Just think of your burnt foot, and then think of being burnt all over. You would know then how it would feel to be killed. Oh, it’s terrible!”
Mother Wolf was quiet for a long time, and then she looked not unkindly at Washer. “Was that why you were running away?” she asked finally.
“Yes, I didn’t want to be killed.”
“Then listen, Little Stranger,” she said. “You’re not going to be killed. I’m going to keep you to play with my little ones, and to teach them things that no wolf can teach them. I will adopt you, and make you one of my own children. No harm will ever come to you. Now come back home with me.”
Washer’s heart gave a great bound of relief, and he licked the paw near him. He trotted back to the den by the side of Mother Wolf happy and contented; but in the next story you will hear what Sneaky thought of this new arrangement.
STORY FOUR
MOTHER WOLF SAVES WASHER’S LIFE
Sneaky came home early that day, bringing with him a good size fox which he displayed to his young cubs with much satisfaction. Licking his chops and puffing out his cheeks with pride, he said:
“See what a great hunter I am! Nothing escapes me! I risk my life for your sakes, and you must learn to be as good hunters when you grow up.”
Mother Wolf smiled a little queerly at the boast of her mate, and when he was through she asked:
“Did you have to risk your life to catch Mr. Fox?”
Sneaky turned and looked a little sheepish, and answered in a voice of wounded pride: “Yes, I nearly slipped off the rock into the water trying to bring him down. It was a great jump I made. It must have been nearly as long as the river is wide.”
“I know you’re a great jumper,” replied Mother Wolf, still smiling. “The greatest jump I ever saw you make was when Loup the Lynx pursued you in the timber below the falls.”
Now reference to this adventure always angered Sneaky, for he had not come out of it with much glory. He had quarreled with Loup over a prize, and in the end they had snarled and snapped at each other like two wild cats. Finally, Loup had lost his temper and sprang at Sneaky’s throat, who avoided it by a hair’s breadth, and if there hadn’t been a wide chasm near the wolf might have lost his life. With a tremendous spring he had cleared the chasm where he could defy the Lynx at a safe distance.
“My dear,” Sneaky began, scowling at his mate, “I took that jump just to show Loup what I could do. If he had followed me, I surely would have killed him.”
Mother Wolf laughed and cuddled up to one of her little ones. “I know, Sneaky, you’re very brave,” she said.
That was all, but the way she said it angered Sneaky. It was just as if she had said, “Oh, yes, you’re very brave when there’s no danger around.”
Sneaky switched his tail angrily, and bared his white teeth. Just then he might have done something courageous if there had been a chance, for he was very sore and disturbed that Mother Wolf should speak of his bravery in such a flippant way before his children.
Suddenly he caught sight of Washer, who had been looking and listening in silence. His eyes gleamed with a yellow light.
“Ah!” he said, stretching out a paw and grasping Washer. “Our Little Stranger is very fat. I think now I’ll kill him. Yes, he’s very fat,” he added, as he felt of Washer’s ribs.
Washer was so startled and frightened by this sudden attack that he began squealing and panting for breath. But the louder he cried the more it pleased Sneaky. The heavy paw pressing down upon his back threatened to break his spine.
Mother Wolf suddenly sprang to Washer’s rescue. Her own eyes showed baleful yellow, and her teeth, fully as white and long as Sneaky’s, were bared to the gums.
“Take your paw off!” she said sharply. “How dare you act like that? If you touch one of my children again you’ll go forth to hunt and never return.”
“One of your children!” exclaimed Sneaky. “You call this little brat one of your children!”
“Yes, I have adopted him, and I shall raise him to hunt with the pack. You cannot hurt him!”
Sneaky was too surprised at first to speak, but after a long pause he recovered and laid his head back on his shoulders while a most startling yowl escaped from his throat. It was such a blood-curdling yelp that Washer cringed and cowered in fear. But it was not a battle cry; it was simply Sneaky’s way of expressing his merriment. Mother Wolf watched him in silence until he stopped.
“I cannot hurt him!” Sneaky repeated. “My dear, you forget he belongs to me. I caught him, and to me he belongs. Isn’t that the law of the pack? Who shall deny me what belongs to me?”
“You forget another law of the pack,” snapped Mother Wolf. “Half of the hunt belongs to me and the children. Isn’t that the law?”
“Oh, yes, so it is,” smiled Sneaky. “Half belongs to my family, and I shall divide with them. Which half do you want, my dear?”
There was a sinister look in the yellow eyes. Mother Wolf read his intentions, and so did Washer. Sneaky intended to divide the Raccoon in two equal halves. How could he do that without killing him?
Mother Wolf seemed puzzled for an instant, for she could not break the law of the pack, not even to save Washer from death. But an idea came to her finally, and the light of hope returned to her eyes.
“You cannot divide him until I’m ready, Sneaky,” she added. “That also is a law of the pack. And I’m not a bit hungry now. I’ve really eaten more than is good for me. You must save the Little Stranger until I’m ready to eat my half.”
Sneaky was greatly chagrined and angered by Mother Wolf’s words, for he too had to obey the law of the pack, and he knew that what his mate had said was true. He could not kill Washer without the consent of Mother Wolf, and right down in his heart he knew that she would never give that consent. But if there was a law against killing Washer at once there was none against tormenting him. Sneaky was naturally cruel, and the thought that he could even in this way made his eyes light up suddenly.
“I’ll wait, my dear, until you are ready to eat your half,” he said in a fawning voice. “The fact is I’ve eaten rather heartily myself today, too, and we have this fox for our supper. I’ll keep the little brat until he’s needed. Now go back to your corner!”
With that he gave Washer a cuff with his paw that sent him spinning across the cave.
“Why did you do that?” snarled Mother Wolf, springing before Sneaky.
“I wanted to prepare him for what’s coming,” drawled Sneaky. “If we harden and toughen him he won’t mind so much being eaten.”
He grinned at this remark, and made another dive for Washer; but this time the little raccoon escaped and burrowed under the wolf cubs to hide.
“Come out of that!” snapped Sneaky.
He began pawing and scratching to get at Washer when something happened that startled every one in the cave. There was a swift thud and then a snapping of sharp teeth. A howl of pain escaped Sneaky’s throat, followed by a whimpering cry of fear.
Mother Wolf had sprang at him and caught him by the scruff of the neck with her powerful jaws, and was shaking him much as a dog would shake a rat. Her teeth were closed so tight that Sneaky couldn’t shake them loose. Across the den Mother Wolf jerked him, snapping and snarling and biting until poor Sneaky was terrified. Near the entrance she gave him an extra bite with her sharp teeth, and said:
“Now go out and hunt for the family, and don’t come home again until you can behave yourself. I won’t have you spoiling the tempers of my children. Away with you!”
And Sneaky cowed and frightened trotted away, while Mother Wolf returned to the den to calm the fears of her little ones. The next story will tell of how Washer was brought up by the Wolves.
STORY FIVE
SNEAKY VISITS BLACK WOLF
Washer was perfectly safe in the den of wolves after that. Sneaky did not return for a long time, and when he did appear he was so meek and crestfallen that he hardly dared to say a word. Mother Wolf lorded it over him, and made him obey her every wish. She even made him take Washer and the cubs outside to watch them play in front of the cave while she took a rest.
Washer was a little alarmed at first, but Sneaky never so much as raised a paw to hurt him. He was in deadly fear of Mother Wolf.
After a while Washer lost all of his natural fear of being killed, and life became very different to him in the den. It was a pleasant enough home after all, and he was so grateful to Mother Wolf that he couldn’t do enough to please her. She smiled at him when he ran to do little errands for her, and patted him on his back. He grew more attentive to her than were her own children.
The cubs were growing rapidly, and Washer soon saw they would be much bigger and stronger than he in time; but they looked upon him as one of the family, and always treated him in a friendly way. They began calling him Little Brother, and Mother Wolf in time adopted this name. It was much better than Little Stranger, for Washer was no longer a stranger, and it seemed absurd to call him that.
Sneaky at first refused to use that name, and when alone with the raccoon he would often call him “Brat” or “Scamp.” Washer didn’t mind this, for he knew Sneaky didn’t dare abuse him.
In time the cubs grew so strong and active that they had to spend most of their time out of doors. They trotted around in the bushes, exploring the woods further and further away from home. Sneaky and Mother Wolf watched them with admiring eyes, and encouraged them in this.
“They will have to learn to hunt for themselves some day,” Mother Wolf said, “and I hope they’ll be good hunters.”
“If they take after their father they certainly will be,” replied Sneaky, licking his chops with satisfaction.
Mother Wolf did not notice this remark, for she was looking at Washer. “I wonder what kind of a hunter Little Brother will be,” she added. “Will he hunt like a Wolf or—or like a Raccoon?”
“Like a Raccoon,” replied Sneaky. “Can a Wolf change his nature, or a Raccoon be other than a Raccoon?”
Mother Wolf could not deny the truth of Sneaky’s remarks, and she sighed. Somehow she had grown greatly attached to Little Brother, and she wanted him to grow up and be like her own children.
“He must be taught to hunt with the pack,” she said suddenly. “He will learn their ways, and do as they do. Yes, we must take him to the pack and introduce him.”
Now this seemed to be a good time for Sneaky to get even with Mother Wolf for thwarting him in bringing up Washer. What would the others of the pack say when she brought a Raccoon in place of a Wolf to be entered as a member? He smiled in his superior sort of way, and nodded his head.
“I think, my dear,” he said, grinning, “you’d better leave Little Brother home when we take our children to the pack. They’d laugh at you, and maybe kill Little Brother.”
Mother Wolf’s eyes looked a little troubled. She hadn’t foreseen this difficulty, and it might be true that the other wolves would refuse to receive Little Brother as a member. But she had grown so fond of Washer that she was ready to stand up for him to the end.
“If they won’t receive him,” she replied, “they’ll never get my children. I’ll not let them join the pack.”
Sneaky was immediately angered by this threat, and in spite of his fear of Mother Wolf he jumped to his feet and let out a growl. “You don’t dare do that!” he cried. “Our children must join the pack, and you can’t deny them. I’ll see that they join. I’ll take them myself.”
“Don’t get excited, Sneaky,” interrupted his mate. “You can’t take them unless I consent.”
This also was a law of the pack, and Sneaky was angrier than ever. “Why do you always want to oppose me?” he cried. “The children are as dear to me as they are to you, and I must have something to say about their bringing up. They cannot hunt alone in the woods. If you don’t let them join I’ll see Black Wolf, our leader. Yes, I’ll see him at once, and lay the whole matter before him.”
Mother Wolf was a little troubled at this, and she tried to dissuade him. “Wait until it’s time to take them to the pack, Sneaky,” she said in a friendly way. “I wouldn’t trouble Black Wolf now. He’s very busy, you know.”
“No,” growled Sneaky stubbornly, “I’ll see him at once. I’ve given in to you in everything, but now it’s my turn to rule, I’ll go to Black Wolf tonight.”
Sneaky could be very stubborn if he made up his mind, and Mother Wolf saw that he was determined now to appeal to the leader of the pack over her head. She sighed, but pretended not to care.
“All right, Sneaky,” she replied meekly, “but see that you tell the truth, and nothing but the truth.”
“Trust me for that,” was the grinning reply.
And that very night Sneaky trotted away through the dark woods to where Black Wolf lived in a den by himself. Black Wolf was not only the leader of the pack, but a big powerful creature with hair so long and shaggy that no animal who tried to kill him could bite through it to reach his flesh. He had eyes that could see through the blackest night, and muscles that were like steel.
He received Sneaky with a growl of discontent, for he had traveled far that day to settle another family dispute among his people, and he was very tired and drowsy.
“What do you want, Sneaky?” he demanded fiercely. “Can’t you see I’m tired and sleepy?”
“Yes, Black Wolf, I know you’ve earned a good night’s rest, but I bring a gift to you,” replied Sneaky, laying before the leader the leg of a lamb he had stolen from a farm-house on his way.
“Thanks,” replied Black Wolf, sniffing to see if it was fresh meat. “I’ll eat it in the morning.”
He closed his eyes, and soon would have been snoring if Sneaky hadn’t continued. “I came to see you for another reason,” he added. “I want to lay a question before you. Is it against the law of the pack to admit a Raccoon as a member?”
Black Wolf opened one eye, and said crossly: “Why do you want to bother me with such a foolish question, Sneaky! I’m in no mood for joking.”
“This is no joke, Black Wolf. It’s very serious. My mate has brought up a Raccoon as one of her children, and now she intends to bring him to the pack for admission. What message shall I carry back to her?”
Black Wolf snorted, and raised his head long enough to think. Then, in a loud voice he added: “Go back and tell her that if she brings a Raccoon to the pack we’ll pounce upon him and eat him alive. Go and tell her that I, Black Wolf, leader of the pack, has given his word.”
“Thank you,” replied Sneaky, bowing low, and crawling out of the den. He had obtained just the message he wanted, and he couldn’t hurry fast enough to deliver it to Mother Wolf. In the next story we will see what Mother Wolf thought of it.