, the
Tasmanian Wild Man!

As the Wild Man approached, Philo Gubb prepared to defend himself. He
was prepared to defend himself to his last drop of blood.

When halfway across the field, the Tasmanian Wild Man glanced back
over his shoulder and, as if fearing pursuit, increased his speed and
came toward Philo Gubb in great leaps and bounds. The Correspondence
School detective waved his paste-brush more frantically than ever. The
Tasmanian Wild Man stopped short within six feet of him.

Viewed thus closely, the Wild Man was a sight to curdle the blood.
Remnants of chains hung from his wrists and ankles; his long hair was
matted about his face; and his finger nails were long and claw-like.
His face was daubed with ochre and red, with black rings around the
eyes, and the circles within the rings were painted white, giving him
an air of wildness possessed by but few wild men. His only garments
were a pair of very short trunks and the skin of some wild animal,
bound about his body with ropes of horse-hair.

Philo Gubb bent to receive the leap he felt the Tasmanian Wild Man was
about to make, but to his surprise the Wild Man held up one hand in
token of amity, and with the other removed the matted hair from his
head, revealing an under-crop of taffy yellow, neatly parted in the
middle and smoothed back carefully.

"I say, old chap," he said in a pleasant and well-bred tone, "stop
waving that dangerous-looking weapon at me, will you? My intentions
are most kindly, I assure you. Can you inform me where a chap can get
a pair of trousers hereabout?"

Philo Gubb's experienced eye saw at once that this creature was less
wild than he was painted. He lowered the paste-brush.

"Come into this house," said Philo Gubb. "Inside the house we can
discuss pants in calmness."

The Tasmanian Wild Man accepted.

"Now, then," said Philo Gubb, when they were safe in the kitchen. He
seated himself on a roll of wall-paper, and the Tasmanian Wild Man,
whose real name was Waldo Emerson Snooks, told his brief story.

Upon graduating from Harvard, he had sought employment, offering to
furnish entertainment by the evening, reading an essay entitled, "The
Comparative Mentality of Ibsen and Emerson, with Sidelights on the
Effect of Turnip Diet at Brook Farm," but the agency was unable to get
him any engagements. They happened, however, to receive a request from
Mr. Dorgan, manager of the side-show, asking for a Tasmanian Wild Man,
and Mr. Sn