The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-01-25
WOLVES IN RUSSIA
Daring Brutes That Attack Trav-
elerS on the SteppeS.
EXCITING BATTLE AT NIGHT

PeriIous Plight of Sleigh Party That
Was Surrounded and Set Upon by a
Pack of the Ferocious and Famished
Animals-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 a Swedish paper by one of its CORE
! spOndents. who was travelling q win
ter or two ago through the wastes of
what was formerly known as Lithu
ania
1t was a 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 emerg
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-
HGdlu Tue Ht llOIStS
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 a dog fitting
over the frozen surface of marsh
pool which lay some twenty PAGES
from us on Que side OF the road
No animal can travel more silently
than a wolf when in search of prey,
and none can attack so suddenly and
Unexpectedly. | was slowly raising
my gun when 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
Iescek. 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 it 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 aud renew their at
tack on the horses Suddenly there
arose a 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
troka in their terror. and were career
ing wildly over the snow covered
steppe. pursued 10y 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 lamentns by turns.
Their situation was. indeed. sufii
GENTLY serious for only Lescek had
had enough presence Of mind TO hide
himself beneath the sleigh. and the
mail driver and l. 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 voley. succeeded by
wells OF pain y dozen dead wolves
lay on the ground and two huge beasts
actually expired beneath the hoofs of
the horses as our reScuers came mp in
their tinkling SleichS
1t was n landed proprietor with his
servants whose solitary farm lay only
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 II
not for our timely rescue. is not hard
to imagine. The thought OF It makes
me shudder to this day