The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-03-11
WOLVES in RUSSIA.
Daring Brutes That Attack Trav-
eIers on the Steppes.
EXCITING BATTLE AT NIGHT.

Perilous Plight of Sleigh Party That
Was Surrounded and Set Upon by
Pack of the Ferooious and Famishsd
AnimaIs-A Timely Rescue.
There are still wolves on the steppes
Of Russia and pretty ferocious ones at
that, as appears from this story sent
to Swedish paper by one of its CORE
spondents, who was travelling a win
ter or two ago through the wastes Of
what was formerly known as Ldthu-
ania.
1t was bright, frosty winter day.
The snow was excellent, and the mail
sleigh glided forward at great speed.
A troika with three Poles In it follow
ed behind. Toward sunset we emery
ed from the dark pine woods upon the
steppe, which stretched away in front
Of US as far as the eye could reach,
Soon the stars made their appear
ance, and the moon rose. 1t was bit
terly cold, and the snow cracked be-
meath the runners. The horses breath
rose in the air like thick smoke The
songs and shouts Of the Poles died
away, and profound silence reigned.
Suddenly one Of the horses whinnied,
then another. and third SHE'D VIC
lently, uttering that terrible cry of
which the horse is capable only when
in extreme fear | could see by the
light Of the moon the shadow of an
animal about the size Of dog fitting
over the frozen surface of a marsh
pool which lay some twenty PAGES
from us OH one side of the road.
No animal can travel more silently
than wolf when in search of prey,
and none can attack so suddenly and
Unexpectedly. / was slowly raising
my gun when a second wolf rose i'm
mediately in front Of the horses with
crest erect and green, phosphorescent
eyes. At the same time points of
light appeared all over the mere. and
the bowling of the beasts rang out.
A shot was fired Revolver in hand.
Lescek, one of the Poles, stood on the
driving seat of the troika. Then from
the mail sleigh discharged both
barrels Of my gun, and savage howl
announced that they had taken effect.
Two of the most daring of our assail-
ants lay rolling in the snow.
The three Poles kept firing furiously,
although the attack Of the wolves was
directed more against our sleigh, prob
ably because 1t was drawn by double
the number of horses. Our driver had
no other weapon than his loaded whip.
but with it he dealt tremendous blows.
The horses struggled madly and tried
with all their strength to break the
harness. At each shot from my gun
the wolves scattered, only to collect
again Immediately and renew their at
tack on the horses. Suddenly there
arose wild yell behind us.
The three Poles were rolling in the
snow by the side of their overturned
sleigh. Lescek's badly driven horses
had torn themselves loose from the
troika IN their terror, and were career
ing wildly over the snow covered
steppe, pursued by some Of the wolves
They were soon pulled down, and In
the stiffness of the night their death
screams were terrible The Poles wal
lowed about in the snow shouting
weeping and lamenting by turns
Their situation was, indeed, suft
GENTLY serious, for only Lescek had
had enough presence Of mind to hide
himself beneath the sleigh, and the
mail driver and /, surrounded by
wolves, could give them no help
looked upon them as doomed and felt
sure that we should quickly share their
fate.
Suddenly our pursuers disappeared,
and although bleeding badly, the
horses became calmer. The cleaning
eyes of the wolves were seen only here
and there out on the steppe. A shot
rang out, then volley. succeeded by
yells of pain. A dozen dead wolves
lay on the ground, and two huge beasts
actually expired beneath the hoofs Of
the horses as our rescuers came up In
their tinkling sleighs.
1t was landed proprietor with his
servants whose solitary farm lay only
a couple of versts away. None of
US was dangerously wounded. The
wolves had treated the Poles worst,
for their clothes were nearly torn from
their bodies. They were bitten, too.
but not seriously.
The following morning our host, Herr
Stanski, came across the skeletons of
the three troika horses scarcely half
a verst from the scene of our strug-
gle The poor creatures were still
bound together with the harness. What
our own fate would have been were 1t
not for our timely rescue, is not hard
to imagine. The thought of it makes
me shudder to this day.