The Portland daily press., 1899-09-23


him and talking ahpqt him, while. after
having crossed themselves, they eat th>ir
supper. The young recruit felt lump
rising in his throat, deep feeling Of
homesickness came over him, here in the
midst OF storm and darkness, and an un-
speakable longing for his loved ones.
What was the good OF thinkingl He
rose quickly and seized his musket, Ia
order to leave the sentry box, when, sud
denly
A long drawn out, piercing howl came
out of the profound darkness just in
front of him and lost itseie in a hoarse,
low growl. From the rampant above a
second, deeper voice responded, and from
farther off, beyond the river, the fierce
sounds were repeated in chorus
The wolvesl
The blood of the lonely sentinel seemed
to freeze In his veins. Involuntarily he
leaned against the wooden sentry box. so
as to protect his back. Then he cooked
his musket and stared out into the night
as If he would have penetrated the dark
ness perforce. His heart beat in yehe-
ment throbs; he bent his head forward
in order to catch the faiRtest sound that
the wind might bear to him.
But all was quiet, perfectly quiet. The
young fellow drew deep breath. The
minutes passed slowly. Good Godl when
would the relief come?
lie felt mad desire to leave his post
and run to the guardhouse as fast as his
feet would carry him. But he knew his
dutyi He could not desert his post: he
was obliged to stay. dead or alive, where
the orders Of his superior had placed himl
The wolves are gone" he thought to
I himself. "Thcy only wanted to brighten
me, and
There, nearer than before, the lugu-
brious howl, and, without delay, the an
swer from the rampant above. But no
longer from single wolff No, that was
the snarling and barking of the whole
pack, which had crossed the river in the
meantime.
Evidently the wind had given them the
scent, and they knew that u solitary man
was standing there in the wintry night,
man whose hair rose up with horror
I under his lambskin cap, and who, clasp
I ing his musket with his trembling hands,
stared up at the rampant.
I There on the ridge, where the snow had
f; been blown away, erouched the pack.
Their horrible yelping alternately grew
louder and died away again, only to re-
commence after long pause. Each time,
Al tunS uIuWu Out LuueS, the DNSS Oh a
| 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 il
| 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 bowls from above recommended.
He aimed and fred
Like clap of thunder the report re-
verberated through the moat-then a
| despairing whine from the rampant,
whine which brought the yelping of the
! pack to a sudden end. Dark shadows
| fitted to aud fro. there were sounds of
| snarling, gnashing of teeth and crunehing
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 dcfenseess. He must
save it till the last moment!
But there was no time to lose. He
raised his musket. Shadowy forms APP
preached him from all sides, greenish
lights came hiekering toward him; the
horrible sounds grew nearer and nearer
!
| 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
| ly, seizlng, as 1t did so. the sleeve of his
| coat, SO that the cid skin tore and
| piece of il fell to the ground with the
| wolf
| at the same time the musket disehare-
| ed itself upward. The recruit swung il.
! still smoking. in the air, turned ii about
| and 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.
kratieff lifted the musket, the beast re-
NAMED motionless. Its backbone was
broken.
But in another moment he felt some
thing Juggling yehemently at the musket,
something which had fastened its greedy
| fangs in the barrel. The hoarsely yelp-
ing 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
the creatures was all about hinl-he felt
them Juggling and tearing at his coat
now 1t was beginning to give way.
Suddenly bullet came whistling over
the group--a fash lit up the darkness
shot on shot followed-the soldier lay
alone. The wolves had reeeded a few
steps, and stood in a semicircle, growing
and showing their teeth in indecision.
But they perceived that it was no single
enemy who was approaching; it was a
whole troop of armed men, and suddenly
all was still. Silently the beasts crept and
trotted away through the darkness.
The young recruit lay on the ground
motionless. All around him were the
fragments of his sheepskin coat. His
bent musket lay beside him. He was
alive, 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
guardhouse, had rescued him at the last
moment.
They took him under the arms and led
him along the moat back to the warm
puapdroom Rahiud hin, cavaral of fha