her enemy man came out to meet them. For 

 these two little ones, whose trail she knew, 

 the old she-wolf, like most mother animals 

 jjr Jj/UftG in the presence of children, felt no fear nor 

 j^ffl _-JPu-^jT enmity whatever. But they watched her 



den and her own little ones, that was sure 

 enough ; and why should any one watch a 

 den except to enter some time and destroy? 

 That is a question which no mother wolf 

 could ever answer; for the wild animals, 

 unlike dogs and blue jays and men, mind 

 strictly their own business and pay no atten- 

 tion to other animals. They hate also to be 

 watched; for the thought of watching always 

 suggests to their minds that which follows, — 

 the hunt, the rush, the wild break-away, and 

 the run for life. Had she not herself watched 

 a hundred times at the rabbit's form, the 

 fox's runway, the deer path, the wild-goose 

 nest? What could she expect for her own 

 little ones, therefore, when the man cubs, 

 beings of larger reach and unknown power, 

 came daily to watch at her den ? 



All this unanswered puzzle must have 

 passed through the old wolf's head as she 



