The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-10-06

the boon0le11s 11OYs eQv0eeo oel09sa ~
/, inside the cabin, In the cosy living ROOF
dimly lit By ! Aickerins lamp, two o.
people just At this hour are sitting Of
posite each other at table, thinking {
him and talking about him, while, aft
having crossed themselves, they eat the
| supper. The young recruit felt q lum
rising In his throat, deep feeling {
Inconsistencies came over him, here in Il
midst Of storm and darkness, and an III
speakable longing for his loved ones.
What was the good of thinking! e
rose quickly and seized his musket,
order to leave the sentry box, when, su,
denly
A long drawn out, piercing howl cam
out Of the profound darkness just
front of him and lost itself In a hoars,
low growl. From the rampant above
second, deeper voice responded, and frol
farther Oh, beyond the river, the ferc
sounds were repeated in chorus.
The wolves!
The blood Of the lonely sentinel SCENE
to freeze in his veins. Involuntary b
leaned against the wooden sentry boz, 9
as to protect his back. Then he cooke
his musket and stared ont into the nigh
as II he would have penetrated the darl
ness perforce. His heart beat In web,
inent throbs; he bent his head forwar
in, order to catch the faintest sound tina
the wind might bear to him.
But all was quiet, perfectly quiet. TIL
young fellow drew deep breath. Tn
minutes passed slowly. Good God! whe
would the relief come?
He felt mad, desire to leave his pos
and run to the guardhouse as fast as hi
feet would carry him. But he knew hi
duty! He could not desert his post; b
was obliged to stay, dead or alive, wher
the orders of his superior had placed him
1.-THE wolves are gone" he thought t
himself. "They only wanted to frightel
me, and
There, nearer than before, the lugu
brious howl and, without delay, the an
swer from the rampant above. But n,
longer from a single wolf! No, that wa
the snarling and barking of the Who'll,
pack, which had crossed the river in tn,
meantime,
Evidently the wind had given them tn,
scent, and they knew that a solitary maj
was standing there in the wintry night
man whose hair rose up with horrol
under his ldmbskin cap, and who, clasp
ing his musket with his trembling hands
stared up at the rampant.
There on the ridge. where the snow hat
been blown away, crouched the pack
Their horrible yelping alternately grew
louder end died away again, only to re
commence after long pause. Each time
IN long drawn out tones, the bass of q
veteran wolf rose above the rest of the
hoarse chorus. He appeared to be the
leader Of the company and to be far in
advance of the others. 1t seemed as II
his shadow were visible in the darkness
and now, suddenly, two phosphorescent
green points flashed out directly in front
of the recruit, and, more piercing than
ever, the howls, from above recommended
He aimed and fired.
Like clap of thunder the report re.
verberated through the moat-then a
despairing whine from the rampant, a
whine which brought the yelping of the
pack to sudden end. Dark shadows
fitted to and fro, there were sounds of
snarling, crashing Of teeth and crunching
the wolves, in mutual combat were
tearing to pieces the carcass of their COM
rade vino had been shot.
In the meantime the sentinel was re-
loading his musket.
He had but one cartridge left That
used, he would be defenseless. He must
save it till the last moment!
Rut fhora uunu M TINA IN 1coo III
raised his musket. Shadowy forms ap-
preached him from all sides, greenish
lights came Pickering toward him; the
horrible sounds grew nearer and nearer.
just as he was about to fire an in
distinct mass detached itself from the
dark background Of the rampant. 1t
sprang toward him, but, missing him,
struck the ground in front Of him violent
~, Selling, as it did so, the sleeve of his
coat, so that the old skin tore and a
piece Of 1t fell to the ground with the
wolf.
At the same time the musket discharg-
ed itself upward. The recruit swung it,
still smoking, in the air, turned 1t about
md brought the butt, with all his force,
down upon the ground beside him, be-
fore the wolf, whose mouth was still
filled with fragments of wool and skin,
could prepare for new attack. The butt
struck something hard, and when Pan
lratieff lifted the musket, the beast re-
manned motionless. Its backbone was
broken.
But in another moment he felt some
hing Juggling vehemently at the musket,
which had fastened its greedy
fangs in the barrel. The hoarsely yelp-
ng shadows darted at him, the green
stars shone on every side-the wolves dug
their teeth into his coat-he fell to the
ground under their weight with his face
IN the snow. The hot, fetid breath of
he creatures was all about him--he felt
hem Juggling and tearing at his coat
now it was beginning to give way.
Suddenly bullet came whistIing over
he group-a flash lit up the darkness
shot on shot followed-the soldier lay
alone. The wolves had receded few
steps, and stood in semicircle, growing
and showing their teeth In indecision.
But they perceived that it was no single
enemy who was approaching; it was
whole troop Of armed men, and suddenly
Ill was still. Silently the beasts crept and
,rotted away through the darkness.
The young recruit lay on the ground
notionless. All around him were the
fragments Of his sheepskin cont. His
bent musket lay beside him. He was
live, he breathed and seemed uninjured.
And soon he recovered consciousness and
realized that a detachment of his COM
rades. who had heard his shots in the
had rescued him at the last
They took him under the arms and led
aim along the moat back to the warm
suardroom. Behind him several of the
soldiers dragged along the wolves that
lad been killed-three gaunt, long legged
beasts.
After that the redoubt was deserted.
In an hour the wolves returned They
their bowling and snuffed and
ooked about for a victim. But nothing
living stirred round about. They had ac-
one thing-post No. was not
occupied again that night.-Translated
Through the German For Short Stories.
The First Pawnshop.
The first pawnbroking establishment
vas that of Freisingen, in Bavaria, OPEN
d in 1893. In 1850 there was one Mt Sa-