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 word except those sounds which, from repetition, he has come to associate with certain things. You probably do not understand Siwash or Chinese, yet that is no slur on your intelligence. By the same token it doesn’t mean that Flash lacks intelligence because he has only the most limited understanding of what we say. On the contrary I believe him to be the very smartest animal I have ever known.”

“So do I,” she said. “But you have such an analytical mind that you probably know the cause as well as the fact. Tell me.”

“His coyote brain,” said Moran. “The coyote is the smartest animal alive but men have not yet fully awakened to that fact. Men usually get their facts reversed so it’s not strange that they speak knowingly of the cowardly coyote, while in reality he’s one of the nerviest little rascals that ever breathed. Men can’t exterminate them. There are more now than there were ten years ago. They’re adaptable. The coyote was once strictly a prairie dweller but he has increased his range to cover all these western hills; north to British Columbia and east to Michigan. In a few years’ time we’ll hear of him ranging in the New England States and in the Arctic Circle. Remember that and see how my prophecy works out. Brains