CHAPTER XXV 



HYDROPHOBIA * 



F all the ferocious animals that you know, at 

 least by hearsay, which one would you most 

 dread to meet!" asked Uncle Paul. Emile was the 

 first to reply. 



"For my part," said he, "if I went nutting in the 

 woods I shouldn't at all like to meet a wolf, even if 

 I had a stout stick with me." 



"If I should meet a wolf," Jules declared, "I 

 would just climb a tree and make fun of Mr. Wolf, 

 for he does n't know how to climb. But I should 

 be more afraid of a bear, for that can climb trees 

 better than we, and it hugs a man till it stifles him. ' ' 



"As for me," said Louis, "the animal I should 

 fear most would be the tiger; they say it is so fero- 

 cious. With a bound it springs on a man as the cat 

 pounces on a mouse." 



"The wolf is a coward," Uncle Paul assured his 

 hearers. "Just threaten it in a loud voice, throw 

 a stone or two at it, or shake a stick, and you put it 

 to flight. Nevertheless, if it were pressed with hun- 

 ger, it would take courage and one might pass a very 

 bad quarter of an hour in its company. The bear 



i This was written before the days of inoculation as a preventive 

 of hydrophobia. Translator. 



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