The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1892-12-10

terrified horses reared and plunged as
| they saw their enemies making straight
for them at full gallop. Ivan, the
coachman, without losing his head,
| whipped them up, whistled and
| sc rcamed at them, and managed to
start them off again in an oblique line.
| AT that moment huge, shaggy gray
wolf made desperate spring and
threw himself at the throat of one of
our leaders. A shot from the princess
rifle struck him in the head, and he
flict any INJURY to the horse; but so
madly frightened was the latter that
he gave a lurch forward, which almost
upset the sleigh, jerked the poor little
| pig out into the snow and threw Ivan
from his box right upon us, where he
| lay motionless, while the horses tore
away at pace of which nothing can
give even the faintest notion. The
worst of it was that they were now rae
ing at headlong speed toward clump
of stunted fir trees, which meant final
collapse and certain death to US all. The
sleigh rocked and swayed like paper
! toy as we flew over the snow. The in
| animate body of the coachman, Ivan,
lay across us in such manner that we
| could not stir or even use our rifles,
and we were just about to prepare our
selves for the final crash. when sud-
| denly Princess M--who had been sit
ting on the edge Of the sleigh struggled
to her feet, poised herself marvelously
in spite of the furious rocking to and
fro, and, crouching her little body for
the spring, with all the science of an
experienced gymnast cleared the back
of the box and launched herself into
Ivan's empty seat. Then, holding on
| thereto with one hand, she stopped over
the dashboard, bending her head al
most to the level of the snow covered
ground between the horses, and with a
| powerful effort succeeded in clutching
the trailing reins, which every moment
| threatened to become entangled in tho
horses feet. Grasping them in her
right hand she pulled herself up, and
sitting firmly in Ivan's seat regained
control of the runaway team with in
credible skill. How she did it i, myself,
A moment more and she would have
pitched head foremost between the
horses feet; moment more and the
sleigh would have been overturned by
the pine trees, now only hundred
yards distant. Her delicate arms were
wrenched almost from their sockets in
| her efforts to master the terrified
| horses, but she succeeded in turning
| their heads from the dangerous thicket
in front of us toward the open plain.
For a minute the frenzied beasts rushed
on, then slackened perceptibly, and
obeyed the tiny hands which held the
rcins. Our lives were saved, but we
could not find time ut that moment to
thank the little fairy who had so pluck
| lily rescued us, for after laying the still
| senseless Ivan on the bottom of the
sleigh we were forced to shoot as fast
as we could load at the wolves, which
had now united into one huge pack and
were hot in our pursuit. The slaughter
that we did that night was terrible,
and we left broad track of bleeding
! and mangled carcasses behind us to
mark our path. Verst upon verst was
covered, the princess driving the team
with perfect skill and at almost racing
speed. AT length the glimmer of dim
lights became visible in the distance,
and ten minutes later, with a sigh of
relief, our fair driver pulled up her ex-
hausted horses before cluster of mis-
cradle dwellings. A peasant wrapped
from head to foot in sheepskins came
out of one of the isbas into the cold,
which was intense enough to freeze
any living thing, and he invited us into
the house. We lifted Ivan from the
sleigh and carried him in, laying him
down on pile of skins and rugs in
front of n blazing stove. 1t was a poor,
miserable place, this Polish isba, but
the people were kind and anxious to
help, for they knew our little princess.
| They brewed us some hot tea which
restored to consciousness poor Ivan.
Without the wind howled, and SO did
the wolves most dismally, as they re-
treated toward the forests, and within,
our rescuer, the little Amazon who had
saved us at the risk of her life and
limb. was bending over the injured
man, while with all the tender sympa
thy of a true woman she relieved the
pain and tended the hurts of her serv-
ant. : Marquise De Fontenoy, in
Ladies' Home Journal