Pranks of the Fourpaws

Drawn by W.L. Wells with verses by C.P. McDonald, *Pranks of the Fourpaws* appeared in the Sunday newspaper pages as a six-panel animal comedy strip. The narrative follows hunting dogs on a summer outing: two pups feast, then chase a calf across pasture while the mother dog pursues them in turn. The strip exemplifies early 1900s comic storytelling—sequential panels with speech balloons advancing a linear gag, recurring animal characters with distinct personalities, and a self-contained narrative arc across a single page. The ink linework and composition reflect the newspaper illustration tradition from which the modern comic strip evolved.