St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-04

numbed with cold, standing up with
her back against the tree, began to get
drowsy.
"All at once a kind of whine or howl,
like that of a dog chained up at night,
made her jump. In the semi-darkness
she saw two fiery eyes; it was the wolf.
Laurent tried to get up and take
the gun, but the pain was too great,
and he fell back again into a sitting po-
sition with a groan.
Make ready, Solange, he cried.
Aim straight between the eyes and
don't fire too SOON
"Solange raised the weapon to her
! shoulder, took aim and fired; but the
| kick of the gun made her miss the ami
NAL. Nevertheless, scared by the re-
port, it fed along the road and was
quickly out of sight. A little while aft
/ erward they heard it bowling in the
distance, and it was answered by
! others.
THE moon now emerged from behind
the trees and lighted up the whole for
est, and a terrifying sight met the eyes
of the lovers. Within gunshot were
five wolves seated on their hindquar-
ters- like dogs across the path, while an
other, holder than it's fellows, was
slowly making its way toward Lau-
rent and Solange.
" Listen to what tell you, Solange,'
said Laurent. Take aim at the one
which is coming toward us; if you can
manage to knock him over the others
will eat him, and we shall have rest
while they are doing it.
1.-The wolf continued to advance slow
ly; they could see it's red eyeballs, it's
bones showing through it's dull, rag !
ged-looking coat-so thin was it
through hunger-and it's open mouth,
with the tongue hanging out.
Rest the butt of the gun well in
the hollow of your shoulder, said Lau-
rent. Now, let him have itp
Bang! The wolf gave a jump in the !
air and fell dead without a sound; the !
others rushed away as hard as they |
could and disappeared in the brush |
wood.
Run to the wolf, quick, Solanger |
exclaimed her lover. Drag it as far |
up the road as you can; there is no |
danger; the others won't come back |
yet
"She ran to the dead wolf, but he
called her back when she had gone a
few steps.
I'VE ought to cut off the head, you
know, SO as to get the reward
o.
Yes, here in my belt
'It was a hunting knife, with !
short handle and a wide blade She
took it, and, running to where the ami
NAL lay, she cut off it's head and
dragged the carcass by one foot over
the slippery ground as far away as
she could, and returned to Laurent
with the head.
What Laurent had foreseen took
place. The wolves, frightened at first
by the death of their companion, came
back-all five of them-when they
smelled the blood. By the light of the
moon the two young people saw the
group of wolves struggling, fighting
and rolling over one another in their
efforts to get a full share of the prey,
of which they devoured every scrap.
Laurent began to suffer terribly
from his broken leg. Solange, whose
nerves were giving way under the
strain, was vainly endeavoring 10
struggle against fatigue and drowst-
ness; twice the gun nearly fell from
her hands.
Having finished their meal, the
wolves began to come nearer to the
young people. The girl fired once,
twice, at random in their midst, but
her frozen fingers trembled, and the
bullets went wide fOthe mark. At
the report of the gun the brutes sour
ried away along the road for some
short distance, where they stopped for
a few minutes, and then came back.
Laurent and Solange knew that it
was all over with them then, and that
they must perish. The girl let the gun
fall to the ground, but not for an in
slant did she think of abandoning her
Ia1 hor NV
flight. She lay down upon the forZen
ground by his side and drew one end
of her cloak, which she had wrapped
him in, over her own benumbed limbs
and putting her arms round him. she
laid her head against his cheek;
thus, outwardly frozen by the cold,
and inwardly burning with fever, they
both waited for death.
Strange fancies took possession of
their disordered minds as they lay half
unconscious; it was once again summer
time, and they were wandering
through the forest decked with summer
verdure, enjoying the lovely June even
ing; then the trees and hedges became
suddenly bare and the forest covered
with, snow, upon which stood out clear
ly mass of moving forms with blaz-
ing eyes and gaping mouths-a mass
which grew larger every minute and
drew nearer to them to devour them.
But, fortunately, neither Laurent
nor Solange were destined to die in
that awful manner. Providence be-
lieve in Providence my boys-ordained
on that very morning 1 was returning
through the forest in my cart from
Saint-Bonnet-le-De where I had
been to attend very urgent case. 1
was driving, while my servant, hold
ing loaded gun ready in his hand,
was on the lookout for wolves. No
doubt the bells on my horse frightened