the tamarack swamp; or, may be, the timid bleating of a fawn that has lost
its mother, or the howl of a wolf."

"Nurse, I should be so afraid; I am sure I should cry if I heard the
wicked wolves howling in the dark woods, by night. Did you ever know any
one who was eaten by a wolf?"

"No, my lady; the Canadian wolf is a great coward. I have heard the
hunters say, that they never attack any one, unless there is a great flock
together and the man is alone and unarmed. My uncle used to go out a great
deal hunting, sometimes by torchlight, and sometimes on the lake in a
canoe, with the Indians; and he shot and trapped a great many wolves and
foxes and racoons. He has a great many heads of wild animals nailed up on
the stoup in front of his log-house."

"Please tell me what a stoup is, nurse?"

"A verandah, my lady, is the same thing, only the old Dutch settlers gave
it the name of a stoup; and the stoup is heavier and broader, and not
quite so nicely made as a verandah. One day my uncle was crossing the lake
on the ice; it was a cold winter afternoon; he was in a hurry to take some
food to his brothers, who were drawing pine-logs in the bush. He had,
besides a bag of meal and flour, a new axe on his shoulder. He heard steps
as of a dog trotting after him; he turned his head, and there he saw close
at his heels, a big, hungry-looking grey wolf; he stopped and faced about,
and the big beast stopped and showed his white sharp teeth. My uncle did
not feel afraid, but looked steadily at the wolf, as much as to say,
'Follow me if you dare,' and walked on. When my uncle stopped, the wolf
stopped; when he went on, the beast also went on.