Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1848-06-16
nish /; the general engagements was yet ,c

'nish +; the general engagements was yet I
come.
Look behind You ? cried a voice. turned
and saw two fiery eyes cleaning on the top o
the snow wall in the rear. Before I could draw
a trigger, the wolf gave a leap, and falling upol
one OF the horses, struck his fangs into hi
throat. Three men left their wagons.
There is but one wolf cried George, ant
one man is enough. Let the others remain a
their posts
Two of the men resumed their places. Tho
third crept upon his hands and knees among the
horses, who, in their terror, were plunging VIC
lently, and throwing themselves against thc
carts by which they were surrounded. The mex
instant ! saw the CLEAN of a knife blade, ant
the wolf let go the horse, which reared upon
his hind legs, the blood streaming from his
throat. A dark mass was rolling and strug.
wolf.
AT the end Of a few seconds the man stood up
David said he to one Of his comrades, 'come
and help me carry away this %carrion. The
horses won't be quiet while it lies here
They dragged the wolf towards Georges wag-
on, and then raising it from the ground, the old
man took it BY the hind legs, as though it had
been a hare, and threw il outside the line OF
carts.
well, Nicholas" said George, to the sue
c~essfull combattant, don't you take your place
again!'
No. replied the other Il have enough as it
is!'
Are you wounded 2 cried Louise, opening
the door Of the telegue.
belive ] have killed my last wolf answer
ed the poor fellow in a faint voice.
gave George my barbine, and FASTENED to
the wounded man. A part of his jaw was torn
away, and the blood flowed abundantly from a
large wound in his neck. l for a moment fear.
ed that the caroted artery was opened, and,
scarcely knowing whether I did right or wrong,
] seized a handful Of snow an applied it to the
wound. The sufferer uttered a cry and tainted
away.
'Oh God" cried Louise, have mercy upon
TO your posts = shouted George in a stento-
rian voice 8 the wolves are upon u.s.
let the wounded man in Louise's care, and
jumped upon the cart.
can give no details of the combat that fol-
lowed. ! had too much occupation myself to
attend to what my comrades were doing.-We
we attacked by at least twenty wolves at once.
After discharging my two pistols, l armed my.
s,lf with an axe George gave me. The fight
lasted nearly a quarter of an hour, add certainly
the scene was one of the most terrible it is pos
sible to imagine. At length, and just as | was
splitting the skull Of a wolf that hung on 10 one
of the wheels Of my wagon, a shout Of triumph
resounded all along our line. and again our
enemies fled but this time it was for good.
Three of our men were wounded, besides
Nicholas, who was still alive, but in a desperate
condition. We were obliged to shoot the horse
had been torn by the wolf.
By daybreak a passage was opened through
the wall Of snow, and we resumed our journey.
evening of the same day we reached a
small village where we found an inn, that under
any other circumstance would have been pro-
abominable, but which appeared a pa
lace after three such days had passed. The
following morning We parted from our friends
the carriers, leaving George five hundred rubles
to divide among them.