St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-06-16
BESiiEGED BY WOLVES.
A Boys Perilous- Adventure In
NorShsen Russia. =

are few i.leasanter places in all Eu-
rOre than one Of the great pine forests
of Northern Russia The whole air i
fragrant with tho rich scent OF the
woods. and.siray sun nbeams play peep
bO amid the floating shadows and
brish,-cycd squirrels nit bither and
thiiher among the. trees. and birds
twitter <n,crrily overhead. and every
now AMI then - sturdy little Russian
boy. rounh-faccA and; yellow.haircd.
com 8 trudging past with a basket Of
mushrooms in his hXnd. hooking mp at
you as he passes. with wide. wonder
ing eyes.
But tho forest b . very different
place when the winter winds are howl
ing and tho winter SHOWS arc lying
deep and not CLEAN of sunshine
breaks the. cold. gray. lowering SKY.
over which the great clouds roll up
thick and dark. in grim warning Of
the comj~G ssersa,--.Ihea is tho TINA
t. pull your fur cap we'll over your
face. and head as straight IS yHu can
for the nearest log hut. giancing
warily about you IS you go. lest you
should suddenly find yourself con-
frontcd by tic. gspnt gray body and
sharp xhisc Gs,h Of 1 hungry wolf On
the lookout for mcthing nice for
supper" ---
So thought Vania IJOhnny) Mas
loft. a Russian peasant boy belong
ing to the hamlet of Paxloysk. in the
northernmost corner of tho Province
Of Volagda 3S he struggled home
ward fo9kh t6e frozen forest at
nichtfaR 10 AAFSd been sent on an
crrand by his father to another viii
lase several miles off and had spent
SO much time in games with some Of
his playm ates there. after his work
was done. that the sun was setting
when he was on his way back.
1t was dismal eianing. The chill
ness of the frosty air felt like cold
hand pressed against Vania's face to
push him ,b& The rising wind
moancd dfe4fify among the frozen
trees that stood up white and gaunt
ON evN1f dds like giant skeletons
and the dArkening sky showed III At
there would he more snow before
morning. a.
vania was a brave country boy. &C.
customcl, - trough ic' in all wealth
crs; and 10 woufd have cared little for
either wind or snow had that been all
But there MSS something else. which
was troubling him much more. In the
thick wood that he was travcrsing-a
gloom1 plscv sven inShsoad daylight
it had grown so dark the moment
the sun sank that even he. who knew
every foot q the way BY heart. began
to fear that he must have got of the
right track. for. the snow-drifts
seemed 10 grow dcspcr aad deeper as
he advanced.
This Thought Gn itself any thing
but pleasant one) was quickly fol-
lowed by another even more disquiet-
ing. Out of the cold black depths Of
the forest rose suddenly a hollow. long
drawn. dismal sound. which Vania
had hskrA. too often not to know it ut
OuCc Aot tuc cry Va WOiAs VI EStucI
of several wolves together
The boy started to run. for with such
enemies on his trail there was no time
10 he lost. But any one who has tried
running through nce-deep snow (es-
pecially with the sitting cold of a
Russian winter. taking ones breath
at cvsry. stsp) knows what fearfully
cxhausting work il is. He had barely
advanced fifty yards when the horri.
bio cry broke out again. sharper.
ficrcer. nearerthan before The mon.
sters had scented their prey. and were
in full chase of him!
Vania looked around him as he ran.
with a numb horror he had never
felt before tightening round his bold
heart He was now in the very wors,
place Of ALA wide clearing iu the
forest. where all tho trees had been
felled except few. If the wolves
caught him there. he was lost, and
their yells seemed to come nearer and
nearer every moment
AL at once dark shadowy mass
locmed up right m front of him. plain
amid the blackness against the ghostly
white OF the snow. He knew at once
that i: must be the hugo pile of spill
logs which hs had noticed IN passing