Sodainly among these Children comes this vilde Woolfe running.

 Stubbe Peeter passed five-and-twenty years like this, and none suspected him. Nobody knows how many men, women, children, sheep, lambs, goats and other cattle he slew; when he couldn't draw a person from their warrens, he'd take out his frustration on the animals he tore apart. He wrought an unbelievable amount of mayhem, as all High Germany now must acknowledge. 

So, the people of Cologne, Bedburg and Quadrath lived in constant fear of this roaming wolf. Often, they'd find the body parts of men, women and children among the fields, their arms and legs scattered; if any lost sight of their children, they'd be seized by the fear they'd never see them again. 

Here, I note an incident manifesting God's power and merciful providence, for the comfort of every Christian heart.

Not very long ago, some small children were playing just outside town, in a meadow among the cattle nursing their calves. Like a flash, the wolf ran wild among them, and took a pretty little girl by the collar; however, God so ordained that her collar, high and well-stiffened, kept her safe, and the rest of the children set up the cry as they ran, frightening the grazing cattle who, fearing for their own young, drew together and bore down on the wolf, who let the little girl fall as he fled their horns and hooves. 

Thanks be to God, that little girl lives to this day. 

Master Tice Artine, a brewer at Puddlewharf in London, is from those parts. A man of good reputation and account, he testifies that he is a near kinsman to this very child, and has received two letters from her family, the second detailing the incident at his request. Others in London have also received the news in letters from friends and family. 

Meanwhile, in those towns in High Germany, the people prayed continually to be delivered from the peril of this voracious wolf. 

Notes. 

'if any lost sight of their children'. The timeless, universal response, I think. 

'some small children were playing just outside town'. I'm willing to believe this happened, and played out as written. It was the fashion at the time to wear starched detachable linen collars inside the neck of the doublet or coat; if the wolf caught the collar rather than the child, it might well have detached and allowed her to fall.

The response of the cattle is also credible; they draw together to protect themselves and their calves, and face the wolf down, probably because they had nowhere to run. 

Master Tice Artine, a brewer at Puddlewharf. Puddle Dock was a tumble of wharfs and jetties near where Blackfriars Bridge spans the Thames today; it was filled in and redeveloped in the mid-20th century. It is where the Mermaid Theatre was established in 1959.

The reference to multiple attestation via the various letters is interesting, and is a glimpse of how easily news travelled.