Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-10-21

CrimS0ned snow with cry OF rage and
pain that was answered by the yell of the
hurrying pack and then succeeded a
hideous medley of confused sounds, fol-
lowed by period Of silence.
"Have they given up the pursuit 2"
asked Annette, with white lips, as Mars
ton reloaded his piece.
"No, moi" answered the young man,
shaking his head. "The creatures have
but paused, as is their custom, to devour
their wounded comrade. 1t is but an in
stant's breathingtime which"
He fired both barrels as he spoke into
the thick of the advancing pack.
Then ensued terrible contest of speed
between the gallant horses, wild with fear,
and the willy and savage denizens of the
Russian woods. -Four more shots from
Edgar's rifle brought down as many
wolves, but they were now too near and
too eager in their ravenous fury to be
beaten Oft. The winding of the road, too,
enabled some of the leaders of the pack to
gain upon the fast-fying sledge, and, with
a rare audacily, to endeavor to overlap
its sides, while Edgar, flinging down the
gun, slashed at the broad paws and hairy
Threats with the keen blade of his heavy
hunting knife, and succeeded, though with
difficulty, in disabling the two foremost
of the assailants. The third, slightly hurt,
skunk bowling away; but a few yards in
the rear the clamor of the remainder of
the fierce drove told how ruthlessly the
chase was maintained.
"There is but one thing to be done,n
muttered Edgar Marston, with groan,
as he cast a despairing glance along the
road and noted that already two of the
gaunt pursuers were nearly abreast of the
sledge; "Vasilkof, as l reckon, is but
three versts from this, but before we cover
the two miles that lie between US and
safety, yonder yelling brutes will drag
down our horses and have us at their
mercy. AT any cost Annette must be
saved and the wolves delayed"
He rose to his feet as he spoke and
looked to right and left. Close to the
roadside on the left grew a mighty beech
tree. Could he set his back to that tree,
kill or cripple the first of the furious
wolves, and swing himself up among the
lower branches, out Of reach of the others,
he might have yet chance of life, while
the sledge would gain so much vantage
ground that it could not be easily over
taken. Yes, the desperate venture must
be risked.
Hastily the young man kissed An
niette's cold cheek, and, bidding her be of
good cheer, since he had devised a strata
gem that would outwit the wolves, he
struck the straining horses sharply with
the whip, and, with his hunting knife be-
tween his teeth, took clear leap over the
low brushwood, and fell on his hands and
knees at the foot of the beech tree.
Edgar! Edgar" cried the agenized
girl, as vainly she expended her strength
in the effort to rein in the terrified horses.
On they went like the wind, while the
clamor of the exulting wolves told that
they had desisted from the chase to crowd
around an easy prey.
| Goaded by terror the horses flew along
the narrow road, which fortunately at this
part of its course became straightcr than it
had hitherto been, and the light sledge
was hurried along as if it had been
feather-weight over the frozen snow A
whirl of confused thoughts passed
through the girls brain as with relentless
speed the sledge darted on farther and
farther from the spot where Edgar Mars
ston had sprung out to confront what APP
peared to be inevitable death
For me! for mel" Annette muir
INJURED, as, after last despairing effort
to rein in the manageable steeds, she
cast a glance back at the white road, now
| cleaning, as the sledge emerged from the
woodland into the open country in the
first rays of the newly-risen moon.
| OF the dread pursuers she now saw and
heard nothing, but she shuddered as the
remembrance forced itself upon her of
the probable cause of the disappearance
of the wolves Her lover-could she
doubt it ?-had purchased her safety with
his own blood. Their four-footed foes
had been too many for mortal valor to
have prevailed in the unequal contest
against their numbers She was safe
safe-for now she was among fields and
cultivated lands again, out of the gloomy
forest, and there before her lay Vasilkof,
the moonbeams cleaning on the bnr.
nished copper domes Of its churches; but
she scarcely realized the fact Of her own
escape, SO busy was her fancy with the
peril of him whom she loved.
The scared horses needed no urging to
strain every sinew in the race as, snort
ing and gasping for breath, they dashed
into the wide, struggling, main street of
| Nasilkof.
In the spacious market-place or public
square of the town crowd had collected
in the midst of which the light Of a num-
Der of torches fell on gisiening bayo.
nets of steel and the bright brass mount
ings Of military aCcoutrements. a col
umn of the tiat-capped, gray-coated in
| fantry Of the Russian line was preparing
to march, while cavalry escort encom-
passed two or three carriages mounted on
sledge-runners, and to each of which
| three or more horses had been harnessed
Sundry persons in authority, as their
civil or military uniforms denoted, were
busting TO and fro, some mounted and
others on foot, while the drums rolled and
the trumpets Of the Cossacks sent their
| shrill summons through the streets as