A cry from the child called off the gentleman's attention, and he
ran to his wife, who had sunk fainting on the ground; and Charlie,
not a little pleased at this diversion, turned to Ladislas and his
men, who were looking on with the most intense astonishment at the
scene. Charlie leapt over the branch, and grasped Ladislas by the
hand.

"You have arrived at the nick of time, Ladislas. Another three
minutes, and it would have been all over with us."

"Yes, I could see it was a close thing as soon as I caught sight of
you. We have been wondering all night what became of you, and set
out as soon as it was light. We fired a shot occasionally, but we
listened in vain for your three shots."

"We fired them half an hour after daylight," Charlie said; "but, as
we had then only five charges left between us, and there were
wolves all round, we dared not waste them."

"We heard firing at last," the captain went on. "First two shots
faintly, then two nearer, and a minute later two others. We knew
then that you must be engaged with wolves, and we were running as
hard as we could in the direction of the shots, when we heard a
number fired close together. Of course we could make nothing of it,
but on we ran. Then there was another outbreak of firing, this time
quite close. A moment later we caught sight of a confused mass.
There was a fire, and a sledge with two horses, and a man standing
up in it shooting; and we could see a desperate fight going on with
the wolves in front, so Alexander and Hugo fired their pieces into
the thick of them. We set up a yell, and went at them with our
axes, yet I did not feel by any means sure that they would not be
too many for us.

"But what on earth does it all mean? And how is it that you have
lived through the night? We had no expectation of finding you
alive. However, that fire tells its own tale, as though nothing
less than burning up a big tree would content you."

"I will tell you all, presently. It is too long a story now. Let us
help these travellers to go their way, before the wolves rally
again."

"They will not do that," the captain said confidently. "If it was
night, they might hang about the neighbourhood, but they are
cowardly beasts in the daytime, and easily scared. They are still
going away at their best pace, I will be bound."

While Charlie was speaking to Ladislas, one of the travellers had
been talking to Stanislas, who, in answer to his question, had
informed him