Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-08-25
THE WOLVES.


o.acN foliage, gletmed a few crimson splashes OF
hre as the sun SANK below the ho-tzon: where the
o" iAy oeep and unspotted. save by the multi
1enous prints OF their own restless feet-there
VI sue outskirts or the Forest at the wlne OF day
s.s "oives were gathering themselves together
nunSry they were, and eager for work 20 begin
Ae's" was no play among them, no leaplny over
ooe AnotheTs backs or wrestling, or growing
peetenses at nshtlns. They were ON busness-the
n'ss business OF life to keep ufe-and 70 keep life
you happen 20 be a wolf, means hard work and
pLeney OF u, with but little time TO spare on the
Su.nIlies OF existence. And now their old gray
Icaders-warriors who have survived many a seens
" 1e TN aud disaster u man and wolf-leap our
Tssy a19m sne woods UPON the darkenlng plain.
.Ieuucises one yawns and stretches his paws
,aa pun OF hot breath rises from his red
sonSue, And, =, be shuts his narrow Jaws with a
snap. snarp canine teeth. white a. snow ITSELF
gutter In the dusk. '
Inen begins hat long, slouching tireless trot.
That Internal galIop which beats horse and man
no ali things living for combined speed and en-
sonsrs inc PACK covers nearly nve-aDd-twenty
sqeare arus OF snow. and settles into its stride
sAcn oeasL moving aud turning in unison with the
5Sss As lyht OF birds mysteriously wheels In air
nss lons since taught them what WORK will be
49,, ~ oeiore supper and return TO their
-. Note what happens almost at the start One
ntle orute suddenly slips and strains his leg
rea,Iuny ne giances at his companions on the
Snt ana left, out as yet they know not OF The ac-
uent. All zoo soon, however, the pace tells upon
the nJured animal Nature asserts herself in The
great gray Won, his eyes glow ike red-hot embers
his sinewy leg gives under him, he howls MS fare,
well 70 dear life, ana his place in the ranks SHOWS
him no more But the MANNED creature 5 suffer-
ings almost aaIy for the fftfest alone
survive In a pack OF wolves. ravepous nxhtiny
mass OF rur and legs and teeth closes in upOa him.
ana ne IL gone, leaving nO monument more endur-
ing tnan drops OF his own hot blood. which have
fallen and melted for u. selves deep holes In the
tramp ed snow.
Then forward they swept, the cannibals, on the
o-st possible Terms with one another, and feeling
nomie Efforts.
But now. ahead, there stands solitary tree,
naked save where, on Its t0pmOst branches, the
DARK pine needles minge in one shapeless clump,
or where. lower down, dead cones stil cling TO the
parent Dough. In the rough bark at its loot are
neeks OF wool; but the sheep which rub them
selves there Ia the summer are far away just now
something OF greater interest meets the wolves
here Along the snow at the base OF this tree, and
running at light angles to the course they nave,
tiii now been taking, extend two parallel lines
cut oy the irons OF sedge. one vehicle alone has
passed since the snow last fell, but t appears to
have gone by quite recently, Tor the scent Is
strong and The pack Ike IL up without moments
halt Now supper becomes probability, for
where there Is sledge there Is horse. perhaps
POSSIBLY more than one
Have you ever heard the bowling OF wolves?
tainment,with my mind at ease and certain knOwl-
edge that many iron bars separated III from the
invsi0ie how lersL Even under those circumstances
wonder how nature had produced anything so
hidsouA IL Is ike nothing but itself; you cannot
compare or contrast II With any other cry OF LIVING
things gale II wind In the rigging OF big snip
AZ sea - tne nearest approach 10 II know. Tnin,
hollow walls OF sound grow and swell and burst
Into one demOniac howl that emDOiies In its VOL
UIne every conceivable note OF despair aud eternal
torture Then the crescendo dies sometimes as
though suddenly strAnsed, more often IN long
drawn shrleks that fadv upon the rar. There Is
music IN their cadence at times; those that heard
were 1alrly In tune-out such a tune, such dro-
ming, 1endIsn, HlIriing blast OF melody IL was IL
the neither world has It's own music that music
shouli De the howl Of hungry wOiyes-Ihe frantic
chorus whose elimination Is death 10 flying sing
ers or neeing audience or both
so much Tor the wolves l know; so much for
wolves who's hearts are broken and whose sides
have ached often under the heavy whip OF their
master. so much FOR tame wolves who do clumsy
tTlcAs and have learned the beauty OF obedience,
forgetting, al the same time the watchwOru OF All
wolves-that union Is strength Return we 10 my
pack. Is moving like one big machine and
the component parts Of which are together giving
tongue.
Tue snow. for them, is In perfect order: but
somebody ahead may perchance md his horses
crushing through the thin frozen surface at every
stride The darkness suits the hunters well, but
sOIneoody ahead may DC praying for that moon
light which. at present. only shows silver frfngeS
on black c4oud- 10 them their wolf music Is the
nlpEer gong; oul somebody ahead may hear noth-
iDg more be- utlful than his own passing bell In
the distant undulatons, rising and ialilng and
Fortunately thought and a pen travel quicker
even tnan gray wolves; there .ore-though not
knowing WITH certainty whether II can catch Us
again telore ths end OF thu story-we will Lave
the racing pack and draw level with the sledSe
here II Is sure en- ugh, piowing through the
shO" ana spnhlns out those two parallel lines as
u goes Tue stout brown hors are galioping
steadily, and the solitary man sitting behind them
does not use his whip or word at present lie
must be some miles nearer home ere the last
struggle oeslns, aud he lot only knows the road
well, but can also guess with toleraole accuracy
az the distance which sCi4 lends encuantment TO
the vol music in the d.r&ness behind him Ply
slealy Rouo svantsrn Is typical Norwegian
passing peril from the wolves before to-day: the
rug now wrap a about him. one corner OF which
q % and rustles IN the SHOW, Is made or wolf
sxlns Io-nlsnt ne appears anxious. however;
his horses are powerful out uret and Ia his
Judgment, when the journey Is end d, there Will
be very short quarter OF a mile between his
sledge and Us pursuers. As though TO encourage
hin, the moon at last rises or the far-streIcn-
ing clood that I'LL the pre- cut has hidden It.
Clear, white light foods the darkness and the
snowy plain begins To widen out upon every side
as the driver, rising In seat one searching
glance ahead, looAs 10 the fast-uiny or a plS
lealhern bay which Is tied TO The floor the sledge
aud tnen slzes long and carefully behind him. Yes
there they are. just a little darA shadow oa the
waste, shadow which one less expellenced misut
have overo0ked altogether, out a shadow that Is
moving hardly less Qulcky than those cast by the
rack OF broken clouds drifting across the moon
What svantsen had seen IN front OF MIN was a
oacA lne on the horizon and a tall finger post
stu Tar ahead, where two roads met What he
had not seen was Inquire on foot, travelling Uowar
The same o!acS line upon the horizon.
The PEDESTRIAN Is moving but slowly and has
very little more rubnIng lett Ia hIm. Ihe snow
retards every step an clogs in Jumps upon the
heels VI his boots There a. no track 10 20 ~ but
he keeps a. straight as he Tor the tall nnger-
post To reacn Tue black line before those nyiny
Ieel In the rear have closed with him Is he Knows
Impossible; and yet he s,aggers forward He can
a0t help himself Tue instinct OF ,ell-preserya-
uon would make hun strussIe on even though
safely were hun1rrd miles distant instead VI
scarce i've And on he Will drag his tired body
vi be drops ~ I'LL the wolves pun hin down.
linen coInes-thInk OF 1.-THE sound Of sledge
pe IS n his ears Inc only earthly melody ne KNOWS
that In his present sore strait mean succor
ana sa-vati0n. tie Aeeds IL not at first. The Nor
NeSians are q supersIIliOus fox, and our poor
wreteh thinks that the nlsnt demons abroad,
dancing IN the dTiftIns snow wreaIhs, laughing al
MS agony and tuning the distant nowlings into
Inc s0Gn4 OF bells
saeuge bells do not always make music There
Is noiAinS 10 suggest pleasure and plumes and
nouolns OF proud equine heads In the harsh Iangle
tnAt now rusles down Upon The traveller. syauI-
sens nofss nave long since LINT tn distant
cLOf0s AM their ears are beg nnlug lie back and
Their neeks 10 stretch out Jansle, Jansie JanXle,
thoo, tnod, thui, 80 noOis ana Uel.S A hot steam
streams away IrOIn the animals ana the Ur.gnt
red rxy or little lamp 10 TrOnI OF the Sled xe ,Is
glow upon their sweating nanxs The driver Is
standing ip and unwinds the lash OF his lon
whip. his nat Is Oh and he looks wIth a frvwn be-
hind MIN 10 Us nors and IL an and vealcle seem
but the Incarnation OF lying Terror ain on loot
= Chariot sent straight IrUTa COD.
And thus they meet, these Inen, than whom all
Norway cold not show two euegnies more bitter
lney are dwellrrs In the little village OF Joks>lal
fin1nark. he most northern division vi IrUInso or
Northern Norway. There had tueir fathers nved
De- ore taeLn, and the had SvanLSen, ricn, proud,
aud the aQlocrat VI hi, birthplace cruelty wrongeJ
a