"But he's gone now, isn't he?"
"Yes, he's gone now—but not very far off, I fear."
"Does the wolf ever go to any of the other rooms?" asked little Bessie.
"I dare say he does. He is always prowling about somewhere among the poor."
"'Seeking whom he may devour'?" repeated the child, fearfully.
"That's about it, little one."
"Do you think that you shall be able to keep him out?" asked Bessie again.
"I hope so; at any rate, I'll try hard."
Matthew and his wife exchanged a sad smile as he said it. They little thought, as they spoke of their poverty, of the impression which his words had made upon those poor frightened children, or how they would go to bed that night and dream of the terrible wolf, and start and tremble at every sound.