manage them as it is, they are so wild.
That is the baying of a hound, a wolf-
hound," he said, listening to fresh sounds,
his head bent, at the same time that he kept
urging his horses on, continually and
smartly  applying the lash to them, without
which goad they would certainly have come
to a stand-still. "That is the yell of a wolf!"
he exclaimed; as a loud yell reached their
ears, whilst wild shrieks again followed in
quick succession, and then a cry of agony
and terror, so prolonged, that the blood froze
in the veins of the listeners.

"That is the cry of a horse beset by
wolves," said Carl, the truth now flashing
upon him. "Let me out, Eric, let me out,
that I may fly to their assistance. Where is
my rifle?"

"Sit still, Carl, I implore of you; our only
chance of getting up to them in time for
help, is to trust to the speed of our horses, if
I can only keep them going. Get the
pistols ready; they are loaded. Can you
manage to get at my hunting-knife? it is in
the case which the landlord put under the
seat."

"All right," said Carl, who having secured
the weapons, now sat, his teeth clenched, his
eyes straining forward in the direction from
which the cries seemed to come.

"There they are," he exclaimed at last,
"right a-head. Heaven! there is a sleigh
and two women in it; the horses are on the
ground, and there is a battle going on
between a wolf and a large hound."

The bright light of the moon revealed the
scene distinctly to the eyes of the two
young men. Eric forced his now frantic
horses alongside the sleigh which Carl
had described. Standing upright in this
was a young girl, clasping in her arms
another, who appeared to have fainted. Her
hood and cloak had fallen off, and her golden
curls streamed in the winds from under a
light blue Polish cap, bordered with ermine;
her large blue eyes were raised to Heaven
as if seeking from thence that help which
her wild cries had vainly implored from
Earth.

Eric stood for an instant transfixed in
amazement, but it was only for an instant,
the next moment both he and Carl had sprung
to the ground.

"Lay hold of the horses' heads, Carl! Don't
let them go, for God's sake! We shall need
their best speed soon."

Seizing his pistols and the hunting-knife,
Eric ran round to the side where the
battle was going on between a large wolf and
a magnificent wolf-hound. This latter had
seized his antagonist by the throat with a
gripe the wolf tried in vain to escape from.
They now rolled over and over on the snow
together; fierce snorts coming from the hound,
and faint stifled cries from the wolf. As
Eric approached the scene of the fray, two
wolves who had been gorging themselves on
a prostrate horse lying behind the ladies'
sleigh, sprang fiercely upon him. These,
however, he soon dispatched, after some little
difficulty; one he shot through the brain,
so close to his own face, that the flash
of the pistol scorched his eyes; the other
received a thrust from his hunting-knife,
which penetrated his lungs, and he fell beside
his companion suffocated in his own blood.
Eric once more free, approached to the help
of the noble hound. It was well nigh time.
The wolf had extricated his throat from
his teeth; and was now making strenuous
efforts to free himself from the gripe
which the desperate hound still fastened on
him. It was some time before Eric could
give him any help, so closely were the
two antagonists locked together. At last,
watching his opportunity, he was able by a
well-directed blow to plunge his knife into
him. The wolf rolled over and over, dyeing
the trampled snow with the life-blood streaming
from his wound. The hound rose slowly,
shook himself well, and then rushed to the
sleigh and leapt fawning upon his young
mistress.

Meanwhile, Carl struggled manfully with
the plunging horses. It required the full
strength of his nervous arm to keep them
from galloping off wildly to the forest. But
when the scuffle with the wolves was over,
and Eric came round covered with blood and
snow, he patted them, and the sound of his
voice quieted them.

Eric then flew to the side of the ladies'
sleigh. The wolf-hound stood with his paws
on his mistress's knees, vainly trying to
induce her to look up. She had sunk back on
her seat. Her face was concealed in her
hands, and she wept aloud. Her companion,
still insensible, lay beside her, totally unconscious
of the deliverance which had been
wrought for them.

"Gracious lady," said Eric, in his gentlest
tones, "you are safe now. Will you not look
up and tell me whether there are any more
of your party in need of our assistance?"

The young girl looked up, and said through
her tears, that there were two men servants
with them; that one of them, who had been
driving, had been thrown out of the sleigh
when the wolves first attacked them, and
another on horseback, after trying in vain
to stop the horses who had galloped off in
affright, had disappeared all at once, and she
did not know what had become of him.

"Here he is!" said Carl, who having
contrived to fasten Eric's horses, so that they
should not escape, was searching in the wrecks
around them. "Here is a poor fellow half
smothered under his horse. I think the horse
is dead. Yes; his throat is cut no doubt,
by the wolves' teeth."

"That is what those brutes were about
when they jumped upon me, as I came round,"
said Eric, stooping to help Carl to remove
the dead horse from the top of his rider, in