uld glow
with anger; he would resolve to get even.

"Being slow in his movements because of his stout build, he early
realized that he must make nimble wits make up for the lack of nimble
legs. He also learned very early in life that patience is a virtue few
possess, and that patience and nimble wits will accomplish almost
anything. So, living alone in the Great Forest, he practised patience
until no one in all the Great World could be more patient than he. No
one knew this because, you see, everybody kept away from him. And all
the time he was practising patience, he was studying and studying the
other people of the Great Forest, both large and small, learning all
their habits, how they lived, where they lived, what they ate, and all
about them.

"'One never knows when such knowledge may be useful,' he would say to
himself. 'The more I know about other people and the less they know
about me the better.'

"So Mr. Wolverine kept out of sight as much as possible, and none knew
how he lived or where he lived or anything about him save that he had a
mean disposition. Patiently he watched the other people, especially
those of nimble wits who lived largely by their cunning and
cleverness--Mr. Fox, Mr. Coyote, Mr. Lynx and his own cousins, Mr. Mink
and Mr. Weasel. From each one he learned something, and at last he was
more cunning and more clever than any of them or even than all of them,
for that matter.

"Living alone as he did, and having a mean disposition, he grew more and
more sullen and savage until those who at first had avoided him simply
because of his mean disposition now kept out of his way through fear,
for his claws were long and his strength was great and his teeth were
sharp. It didn't take him long to discover that there were few who did
not fear him, and he cunningly contrived to increase this fear, for he
had a feeling that the time might come when it would be of use to him.

"The time did come. As you know, there came a time when food was scarce,
and everybody, or almost everybody, had hard work to get enough to keep
alive. Mr. Wolverine didn't. The fact is, Mr. Wolverine lived very well
indeed. He simply reaped the reward of his patience in learning all
about the ways of his neighbors, of his nimble wits and of the fear
which he inspired. Instead of hunting for food himself, he depended on
his neighbors to hunt for him. They didn't know they were hunting for
him, but somehow whenever one of them had