Found at Aspiring Community:
The accompanying illustration tells
a story my mother told me as a youngster. Don't be hasty.
Weigh things carefully before you
strike. When your blood pressure gets up, count ten. "School
Thy Feelings, Oh, My Brother" is
one of the best bits of advice ever given. Beware of mistakes
made in taking too seriously circumstantial
evidence. Think before you act. Don't forget that truth
is very often stranger than fiction.
This trapper's wife was brought to
the Alaska wilderness. She was cut down by death. Their child
was about two years old. To go out
in the woods in the course of this trapping, the trapper had
sometimes left the child for a few
hours in the care of their faithful dog. On such an absence one
afternoon a terrible blizzard came
up. The storm was so terrible that he had to take refuge in a
hollow tree to save his life. At
daybreak he rushed to his cabin. The door was open. His dog who
looked at him from the corner of
his eyes was covered with blood. The father's blood froze in his
veins. Just one thing had happened~
his dog had turned wolf and had killed his child. He reached
for the ax and in a moment the same
was buried into the skull of his trusted animal.
Like a maniac he scanned the scene.
In hopeless desperation he uncovered the gruesome
remnants of his cabin. Tipper over,
the cracked furniture was telling a story of a battle that had
taken place here an hour before.
A faint cry came from under the bed. Again his heart seemed
paralyzed. There he found his offspring
safe and sound. Just a moment of pause to cuddle his
dear on in his arms and he was off
to determine whence the blood on his dog came. The answer
came just a second later. The sad
riddle was solved. In a remote corner, there it was ~ a dead
wolf, his huge mouth showing fangs
intended for the baby which his faithful dog had saved.
Just a moment of caution and he could
have held both his child and his hero dog in his arms.
Remorse took over instead.
- Marvin O. Ashton