The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-01-15

! appeared to start forward and retreat,
while the noise Of their bowling carried
with it some diabolical suggestion or
discordant human voices.
La Meffraye! La Meffrayel La Meff-
rayel"
So to the excited minds of the three
/ Scots the wolf legions seemed to be
/ crying wit hone voice as they came
nearer. All the wild beasts of the wood
were cbeying the summons of the witch
woman.
The strain of the situation first told
upon the Lord James Douglas. Great
saints he cried let US attack them
and die sword in hand. [ cannot en-
dure much more of this
Stand still where you are. 1t is ous
only chancei' commanded Sholto, as
abruptly as if James Douglas had been
a doubtful soldier of his company.
1T was better to find tree that we
could climb, growled Malise, with a
practical suggestiveness which, how
ever, came too late, for they dared not
move and the great trunk of the blast
ed pine rose behind them, bare of
branches almost to the top.
FOUR daggers in your left hands;
they are upon u.s.! cried Sholto, who,
! standing with his face to the west, had
lower horizon and more light than
/ the others. The three men had cast
their palmers' clCaks from their Shout
ders and now stood leaning a little for
/ ward. breathing hard as they waited
the assault of foes whom they believed
to be frankly diabolical and instinct
with all the power of hell. This required
! greater courage than storming many
Notifications.
Almost as he spoke Sholto became
aware that a fierce rush of shaggy
beasts were crossing the scanty grass
toward him. He saw vision of red
mouths, cleaning teeth and hairy
( breasts, into the leaping chaos of which
Re plunged and replunged his sword till
/ his arm ached. Mostly the stricken
/ died swapping and tearing at each
( other, but ever and anon one stronger
than the rest would overleap the bar
/ rier of dead and dying wolves that
! grew up in front of him, and Sholto
would feel the teeth click clean aud
! hard upon the mail of his arm or thigh
/ before he could stoop to dispatch the
brute with the dirk which he grasped in
/ his left hand.
The rush upon Sholto's side fortu-
nately did not last long, but while it
I CONTINUED the battle was strange and
! silent and grim, this fight of man and
-! beast. AS the youth at last cleared his
| front of a hairy monster that had
( sprung at his throat, ne found himself
sufficiently free to look round the trunk
/ of the blasted pine that he might see
/ how it Jared with his companions.
/ The same strange and weird condi-
4 lions permeated the earth and air.
/ For moment all would be dark, and
! then flash on continuous flash would
come the wildfire, running about the
I tree tops and glin;ing 10 from the re-
/ cesses Of the woods as if the heavens
! also were instinct with diabolic light.
! AS he looked, Sholra saw his father, a
/ gigantic figure, standing, black and
militant against the brightest of it.
His mighty hand grasped a huge wolf
by the heels, and he swung the beast
about his head as easily as he was
won't to handle the forehammer at
home With his living weapon, Malise
/ had swept a space about him clear, and
+ the beasts seemed to have fallen back
4 in terror before such a strange enemy.
But what of the Lord James? Over
! leaping the pile of dead and dying
! wolves which his sword and dagger had
/ made, and from which savage heads
/ still bit and snarled up at him as he
went, ShOlto ran around to seek the
! young lord Of AVondale. At the first
flash after leaving the tree trunk he
! was nowhere to be seen, but q second
4 revealed MIN lying on the ground, with
! four great, shaggy beasts bending over
! him and tearing fercely at his gorget
and breast armor With a loud shout,
Sholto was among them. He passed his
sword through and through the largest
and in its fall, the wounded monster
turned and bit savagely at the foreleg
! of a companion. The bone cracked as a
rotten branch snaps underfoOt, and in
another moment the two animals were
rolling over and over, locked together
IN the death grapDle.
Once, twice, thrice Sholto struck
! right and left. The rest of the beasts
seemingly astonished by the sudden
nerce attack, turned and fled. Then
pushing off a huge wounded brute
which lay gasping out its life in red
Jets upon the breast of the fallen man.
he dragged James Douglas back to the
tree which had been their fortress. and
propped him up against the trunk.
AT the same moment a long, wailing
cry from the forest called the wolves
of. They retreated suddenly, disap-
pearing. apparently by magic, into the
depths of the forest, leaving their dead
IN qulVerlnS heaps all about the little
bare glade where the unequal fight had
been fought
Malise the B>awny flung down the
dead wolf, whose head had served him
with such deadly effect as a weapon
against his brethren. The beast had
long been dead, with a skull smashed in
and neck dislocated by the sweeping
blows it had dealt its kin.
"ShOltOi My Lord james, cried Ma
Use, coming up TO them hastily How
is it with your
I'VE are both here answered his
SON Come and help me with the
Lord James. he has only fallen faint
with the stress of his armori"
After the disappearance of the wolves
the unearthly brilliance of the Wildfire
gradually diminished. and now it flick
cred paler and less frequently.
But another hail from Sholto re-
vealed 10 Malise the Whereab bouts of his
companions. and presently he also was
on his knees beside the young lord of
Avondale.
Snolto gave him into the strong arms
Of Malise, and stood erect to listen for
any renewal of the attack. The wise
smith, whose skill as a leech was pro-
verbal carefully felt James Douglas
all over in the darkness, and took adj
vantage of every flicker of summer
lightning to examine him as well as his
armOr would permit.
Help me to loosen his gorget and
ease him of his body mall said MaIise,
at last. He has gotten a bite or two.
but nothing that appears serious. l
think he has but tainted from the
pressure"
ShoIto bentdown. and. with his dag
ger, cut, string by string, the stout
leathern twists which secured the
knights mail. And as he did so his
father opened it out with his powerful
fingers, to ease the weight upon the
young mans chest.
Presently, with long sigh, James
Douglas opened his eyes
Where are the wolves?" he said.
with a grimace of disgust.
Sholto told him that all that were