Some of my little readers have probably heard about the small boy who thought it rare fun to frighten his friends by crying "Wolf! Wolf!" as though he were being pursued. They lived in a wild part of the country where Wolves were frequently seen, but in time they grew used to Johnnie's little joke, so that one day when he cried "Wolf! Wolf!" in frantic tones they paid no attention to him. Alas! that day a Wolf really did sneak out of the woods—a hungry Wolf—and poor little Johnnie furnished him a very satisfactory meal. There is a deep meaning attached to this fable, which you had best ask your teacher to explain.

Well, the Black Wolf, whose picture we present is a fierce looking fellow indeed. We have heard so many stories about Wolves attacking travelers and their horses that we have thought them full of ferocity and courage, when in fact they are the most cowardly of all our animals. Unless pressed by extreme hunger they never attack animals larger than themselves, and then only in packs. A cur dog, as a rule, can drive the largest wolf on the plains. Lean, gaunt, and hungry looking, they are the essence of meanness and treachery. Their long, bushy tails are carried straight out behind, but when the animal is frightened, he puts his tail between his legs just like the common dog.

There are men who make it a business to go Wolf hunting in order to secure their "pelts," or hides. The bait they use is the carcass of some animal, elk, deer, or coon, which they impregnate with poison, and leave in a place which will do the most good. In the morning sometimes as many as fifty dead Wolves will be found scattered about the carcass whose flesh they had so ravenously devoured. A Wolf skin is worth about one dollar and a half, so that it pays a hunter very well to "catch" a number of these mean animals.

They are sometimes hunted on horseback with hounds, but they can run with such speed when frightened, that no ordinary dog can keep up with them. Among the pack are one or more greyhounds, who bring the wolf to bay and allow the other dogs to come up.