The Portland daily press., 1886-08-13

| is our only chance Oh Saleby. Ollence now
and be careful not to shoot until tell youl'
At that moment dozen wolves sprang ou
of the cover before US; their eyes glowed ir
| the night like burning charcoal
"Ehl what hawsenelesl' cried the incor
| rigible sailor Loannee; ''look, Miguel! there
| is something to light your fire withv'
struck the sailor ON the back of the neck
as a means of reminding him of the ordel
given; he held his peace.
Meanwhile, after moments hesitation
the wolves approached our horses, which be
gan to perform singular maneuver. Press
ing closely against one another, with theil
heads all turned to common center the
willow tree to which they had been ted
they formed a ring; motionless, presenting
their groups to the enemy, they awaited the
attack.
The wolves began to turn around the living
circle first at cautious distance, then near
er and nearer-and all at once they leaped at
eur steeds.
But they had reckoned without their hosts.
AT the same moment that the wolves leaped
our horses-all together as if moved by one
spring suddenly gave terrific KICK the as
sailants were flung ten yards away, and
rolled on the ground, uttering another kind
of howl-stranger and funereal.
1t seemed as if they were calling for help.
'What magnificent kick" cried Loannec,
with admiration.
"That howl is CALL" said Barlejo, thus
explaining to us the difference we had al
ready noticed in the way our enemies
howled; sin little while we will have the
whole pack on u.s."
Barlejo was not mistaken.
Other howls responded to the howls of the
wounded wolves and almost Immediately we
saw about fifty rushing in our direction
"Fire!" commanded the vaqueano.
The new arrivals were received with vol
ley, Immediately followed by another.
Startled by our firearms the survivors scat
tered in all directions with horrible yelpings.
1t was the signal for the general invasion.
All the underbrush, which seemed so lifeless
a little while before, now appeared one enor-
nous lair of wild beasts Right and left,
and in front, new packs came rushing into
the open space of which we unfortunately
occupied the center, so that our enemies
were able to surround us
Volley followed volley, but wolves ever
succeeded to wolves. Every discharge car
ried death into the mass of wild beasts; but
every cry of death brought new pack to the
scene. The ground was covered with their
carcasses; some had been riddled by our
buckshot; others killed by our horses. Men
and beasts defended sthensclves yet the
more numerous the victims, the more nu
merous also seemed to become the assailants.
We expected to have them upon us every
second evidently we should never be able
to overcome the hungry pack who oniy re-
treated from the very flash of our volleys.
A few minutes more and we should all be
devoured
Meanwhile we kept on fring-with buck
shot, small shot. bal1-we hardly knew what
we were doing! Our brains seemed to boil!
We were at the very white heat of excite
ment. AS for myself, thought l should go
mad.
Luckily Miguel had succeeded in rekind-
ling the fire.
"Get behind now!" cried Barlejo; "but
take care not to turn your backs, and keep
on firingw
OU6uleub W blC OluCio VI bH0 fdAuCdllU, WO
slowly, firing buckshot all the
while.
'Step fring!"
At the same time Miguel and Barlejo threw
in front of us two blazing fagots. from the
vicinity of which the wolves at once beat a
hasty retreat.
In few minutes we were surrounded by
about ten bonfres. While the two grauchcs
kept lighting their fagots at the principal
fire, we continued to shoot so as to protect
them.
turned against ourehorses.
''Do as l dol" cried the vaqueano, lighting
another fagot. We all followed his exam
pie, and in minute or two each one of us
had gigantic torch; an d we began to place
these in line little distance apart from
one another in the direction of the horses
We went back, lit more fagots, placed them
a little further, and so continued the line of
fires until they formed q circle large enough
to surround ourselves, our horses and a
small thicket of jarillas.
One thing which impressed us all a great
deal was the way that the wolves would re-
treat to quite distance whenever we ap-
preached with the improvised torches in our
hands; the sight of the fire evidently terri
fed them much more than the discharge of
our guns. Fire was, indeed, less murderous
than our weapons, in fact it was absolutely
harmless to the wolves; but it constituted
far better safeguard for us. Consequently
we began to feel little hope again, and to
consider our situation less desperate, al
though it was still anything but assuring.
The whole question of life and death for us
could be summed up in the single word fire;
and thanks to the plan of Barlejo, we could
supply ourselves with fuel enough to keep
our fires going until morning.
Then the scene in which we were perform
ing so important role became really fan
tastic
Terrified by the flames, whose weird glare
lent a lurid color to ali the surrounding
shrubbery, the wolves had retreated to lit
tie distance. Like monsters from the neither
world, they turned swiftly round and round
our fire, which they dared not cross and
which made sort of rampant for us. Their
thousand eyes, which shone like thousands
of burning Goals, shot our phosphorescent
CLEANS, their howlings, their wild leaps,
their enormously enlarged shadows, gave
strange and terrible effect to the scene. 1t
suggested faneies of anthropophagi dancing
the death dance around their victims.
Suddenly change, which we could not
explain, but which we noticed at once, took
place in their movements. Their leaps be-
came systematically regular; their ranks
formed in order; their bowling became
chorus. almost harmony; to disorder sue
ceeded order, symphony to cacophony. Tho
circle which they now made around us was
regular; they wheeled in
yallop, measured and automatic, like that of
circus horses.
Little by little their course quickened;
they began to gallop with dizzy rapidity, but
always at one place, like cavalry upon day
Of review.
Thoughtless of the danger that menaced
US, we kept watching them; we almost ad-
mired them. But the thousands of luminous
points whirling around disappearing and
with the rapidity of lightning
dazzled and fascinated us-like the glittering
tinsel trappings of those wooden horses cir
cling under thousand lights at one of our
great fairs The howlings, now monotonous
and cadenced, made us drowsy, made us