Time went as time will. 

It was early spring when I spotted something.  That something was ab old bitch wolf with one pup.  She looked to be on her last legs.  I followed the pair for a distance, and saw the bitch stumble and fall several times.  Every time she fell the pup would try to nurse her.  I thought, that if I left them alone, they would both be dead inside a week.  If I kill the mother, I might be able to save the pup. 

I shot the bitch wolf and killed her.  The pup just lay down and tried to nurse again.  I eased up to my kill and the pup was hiding behind her, and he was growling up a storm.  I dug around in my pack and cane up with a chunk of smoked meat.  Now the pup became interested in the meat that I held.  It darted up and grabbed the meat in its mouth and tried to run with it.  But I held on, and the fight was on.  The pup got a little of the meat, but I held on to the rest.  I cut off a small peace and tossed it about half way to the pup.  It darted up and gobbled the chunk down.  He backed off a little and I dropped another chunk about half way between us.  I kept this up until the pup was right in front of me.  Now was the time.  I reached out and tried to touch him.  DAMN, those teeth are sharp.  But I kept working with the pup until he would let me pick him up.  I sat there and petted the pup for over an hour. 

When I got back to the cave, with pup in arms, one of the men saw me come in with the wolf.  He shouted, "WOLF", and then I was alone in the cave.  It took a long time to talk everyone into returning to the cave.  I showed them it was just a baby wolf that could not harm them.  The older ones wanted nothing to do with the wolf, but the kids all wanted to see him up close, a few even petted him.

I started training the pup when he was about three months old.  By the end of his sixth month, he would mind better than some of the children in the cave.

I took the wolf with me on a little hunt one day.  We spotted a small herd of deer off in the distance.  Deer were hard to come by in the day and age, because they knew just how far a man could throw a spear.  They stayed just out of range. 

I knelt next to the wolf and pointed at the herd.  Then I said, "FETCH".  The wolf took off, and disappeared in the long grass.  Suddenly the herd broke apart, and one of the deer was headed right for us.  When the deer was well within range I stood and aimed at the deers chest.  TWANG.  SMACK!  The deer flopped on the ground.  I approached slowly, and found that the deer had been hit in the heart and lung.

I cleaned the deer and gave the liver to the wolf. 

Then I carried the deer back to the cave. 

When I reached the cave, I was relieved of the deer and it was taken inside.  The tribe would eat well tonight! 

The wolf returned almost an hour later.  He walked over to his bed of old furs and went to sleep.

One of the women made a comment.  "Wolf just like a man, get belly full and then fall asleep". 

That evening we had deer stew, and a hind quarter was on a spit over a slow burning fire.  The rest was sliced thin and put in the smoker.

Yes, we would eat good tommorrow!