Now this must be nearly our last Dog-story, or we shall never have done, for there is no end to the wonderful tales which are told of the sense and kindliness and courage and faithfulness of these creatures who are so rightly called the friends of man.
You remember that wolves, foxes, and jackals are placed in the Dog-family; and if you notice the wolves at the Zoological Gardens, you will see in how many respects they resemble dogs. It is when they go about in great numbers, as they do in the east of Europe and Asia, that these animals are such dreaded foes, and devour so many defenceless sheep and cattle.
Do you not think this a wonderful account of a traveller and a wolf taking shelter together in a storm and lying down side by side? It is called
"FATHER'S STORY.
"'Little one, come to my knee!
Hark! how the rain is pouring
Over the roof, in the pitch-black night
And the wind in the woods is roaring.
"'Hush, my darling, and listen;
Then pay for the story with kisses;
Father was lost in a pitch-black night,
In just such a storm as this is!
"'High up on the lonely mountains,
Where the wild men watched and waited;
Wolves in the forest and bears in the bush,
And I on my path belated.
"'The rain and the night came together
Came down, and the wind came after,
Bending the props of the pine-tree roof,
And snapping many a rafter.
"'I crept along in the darkness,
Stunned and bruised and blinded,
Crept to a fir with thick set boughs,
And a sheltering rock behind it.
"'There, from the blowing and raining,
Crouching, I sought to hide me;
Something rustled, two green eyes shone,
And a wolf lay down beside me.