Boy's Column. The Spotted Wolt,

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2012, 30 May 1885, Page 6 (Supplement)

Boy's Column. The Spotted Wolt,

V l.OY's \DVENTI 111 IN XORIIH.RX 1.1 \. I vm glad ray work 13 done, for it will bo an ugly night, said Ivan (.lohnl Feodoioll, hying down in a corner of hib little log-lmt tho hca\y woo Jen spada which ho had Inori handling ever since morning Masha ntarj), my pet, let us have suppei at "life. Well, Vania (•lohnny), what has Fathei Oisip f fosepii) bsen teaching j ou today? Such a pietty storj, Tjatja (ddddyl, answered a little palo-iaccd b >y. It was about Ilia the Strong, win lay sick ever so many year 3, and thon the Loid wme in the shape of a pilgrim and cured him, and ho went forth with his bow and his groat ax^>, and conquered the Nightingale Brigand, who was wasting the whole country, and become ono of the best soldiers of good Piinco Valdimir. I wiih Ilia wore alive now, said his mother, setting on the table a big bwl of kasha (buckwheat porridge) ; he might kill tho Spotted Wolf for us. This Spotted Wolf was a beast of onormous sizo and strength, which took its name -from the ugiy scars wherewith disease or the sharp tosth of somo other wolf had covered its whole body. Sumnior | and winter it kopt prowling about and doing mischief, till its name was the terror of overy village for miles around. I) on t talk of tho wicked brute, cried Feodoroit ; I nover stir out out after night-fall without thinking I hoai him patting along behind me, all ready to spung at my throat. .Thoy s.iy thoro's a reward of twenty rublos (fifteen dollars) ottered for its head, said hib wife. Well, I wish I could earn it, aniwored Feodoioir, for then we neednt fret any more about thoso ton rubles that we want to make up our rent. But whats the use of talking about it ? Lets have our supper. Little Vania hid drunk in every word of this conveisation. Twenty rubles (an enormous sum in fu-. eyes) to bo gained by killing a wolf, which Ins hero, Ihn tho Stiong, would have done with a single blow ! Oh, if ho wera only as strong as Ilia! The next afternoon Vania went into tho wood to gather mushrooms. It was a fine warm day, and by degrees ho got deeper and deeper into tho forest, until at length ho carao to a place which ho had never seen before. It was ft deep hollow, ihut in on on every sido by thick and lofty trees, whilo m tho middlo stood a half-ruined log-cabin, all overgrown with moss and weeds. Tho greater part of the roof had fallen in long ago, but the walls wero still sound, and the hoary door was fast shut and barred Who had lived there, or why it had been deserted, no one knew. The »pot had a bad name among the peasants, and nobody cared to go near it after dark. But tho sight of tho splendid mushrooms which were growing all around it by scores drove everything else out of Vania's head. He was so oagci to fill his basket with them that he never noticed how fast the iun was sinking, and never heard the warning rustle among the bushes behind him, as there crept ttaalthily forth from the leaves the sharp, cruel muzzle, yellow eye, and gaunt, scirred body of the Spotted Wolf. Vania saw the monster only just in time. As he sprang at a bough overhead, and whisked himself- up into the tree by it, the huga gray body shot up into tho air after lam like a rocket, and the great white tseth snapped together within an inch of his fleih But leeihg his proy out of roach, the wolf lay down at tho foot of tho tree, as if meaning to starve him into surrender. This was a terrible sight for poor Vauia, who, tired as he already was, felt that he could not long keep his seat on that narrow slippery branch, npon which these was little enough hold for him at tho bost. But as he looked deipairingly around him, his eyo caugh sight of a long thick bough that shot out from the other side of the treo right 'over tho roofless cabin. If ho oould only creop along it and drop down inside the hut he would bo safe ; and in another instant he had done so. Tho moment thq wolf saw him disappear it sprang forward with a savage howl, and leaped up against the tides of the hut again and again. But the height was too groat, and it fell back overy time. Meanwhile Vania, thinking himself safe now, was just bagmnmg to nibble a hunch of black bread which he had pocketed before stai ting, when suddonly tho fiery eyes, grinning teeth, and frothy tongue of the wolf came right through tho wall close to his face. Then he thought that all was over, and screamed with all his might. But in another moment he saw that tho >volf itself was in a " bad fix." Spying a window hole, it had tried to squeeze through, and had sturk fast midway, the ragged ends of tho decaying logs holding it so tightly that it could neither movo foi w»rd nor back. Seeing his enemy thus trapped and helpless, Vania began to think whether it might not bs pos siblo to kill him somehow, and earn tho iowaid after all. Truo, ho had no weapon ; but ho was not long at a loss. Scrambling up on to what was left of the roof, he began U push with all his strength at a heavy beam that lay cl jso to the edge. It shook — it moved— it turned rjuito ovpi — and then down it crashed right upon the wolf s opposed back. One sharp yell rang tluough the silent forest, and the terrible " Spotted Wolf " was harmless for evermore. Juit thon a loud shout made Vania look lound, and thoio stoop hii father and two or Unco <>tlu>i peasants wko had como up in search of him just in timo to witness hu exploit. Tho whole \il lage crowded round Feodoroft's' hut that e\ening to sco the wolf's head and hear the story, and they all ugreed that Vania had well earned the reward which the Piistav (Distiict Commissionoi i himself p<ud him the voiy ne\t day. — //<n/"A Youtv/ I'iopL.

A pretty way to fill the grate or to cover it for special oocasiona is (o mako a bank of nunflowera before it.