Accordingly, when Sunday came, the children, having waited till the lessons were over and Miss Maberley was at leisure to attend to them, Bessie asked her if she would have the kindness to tell them what a wolf was like.
Miss Maberley smiled as she looked down upon their little eager faces. It was a strange question, she thought; but then Bessie was one of those children who are continually asking those strange child's questions to which it is frequently so very difficult to reply. Not, that there was any difficulty about this one. It was a pity Miss Maberley did not ask them why they wanted to know. It might have saved those poor children much after-suffering. But she never thought of doing so.
"The wolf," she said, "is something like the dog, only the head is more square. They have, indeed, been called by some writers wild dogs. Their hair is generally of a grey colour, except in very cold countries, where it is white. It has large teeth, and a harsh loud bark, while the expression of the face, besides being fierce and cruel, is very cunning and crafty. Some day, if you remind me, I will bring a picture of one to show you."
"Do wolves eat people up?" asked little Bessie, in a frightened tone.
"I am afraid they do when they are hungry. They are said to come forth, for the most part, on dark and cloudy days, in order to escape the more easily."
"Where do the wolves go?" asked little Bessie, trembling with fear.
"Home, I suppose, to their dens," replied Miss Maberley, with a smile.
"Please, teacher, is there anything about the wolves in the Bible?" asked Polly, in a whisper.
"Yes," answered Miss Maberley. "Jeremiah and other speak of them as the evening wolves, probably from their being more hungry, and therefore more dangerous, then. There is also mention made of the blessed time when the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and Messiah shall reign over the whole earth. But you are too young to understand that at present. St. John mentions the wolf in connection with the hireling and the good shepherd. But you had better go home now. It is growing late, and your mother will wonder what has become of you."
With a timid glance at the fast-gathering twilight, the children thanked their kind teacher, and taking each other by the hand, ran quickly through the gloomy streets and up the wide staircase, without pausing to take breath, until they found themselves in their own room, where Matthew and his wife sat dozing over the little bit of fire, which looked as if it had gone to sleep also.