ver
forget it all, never."

"We will talk when we have started, Feodora. Let us get out of this
forest as soon as we can."

He took his place beside his wife, and set the child on his knees;
his brother and Charlie sitting opposite to him. The servants
spread a bearskin rug over their knees, and then jumped into their
places, as the driver cracked his whip, and the horses started.

"You must think us almost mad to be driving through the forest, at
this time of the year," the count said to Charlie. "But the
countess is a Russian. We have been staying two months at her
father's place, a hundred miles to the east. My two youngest
children are at home, and two days since a message arrived, saying
that one of them was dangerously ill. We had heard, of course, many
tales of the numbers and fierceness of the wolves, but we hoped
that, by travelling only by day and with excellent horses, there
was not much to fear, especially as we were five armed men.

"We fell in with a few wolves yesterday, but beat them off easily
enough. Last night, we stopped at a little village in the forest.
They certainly made me feel uneasy there, with their tales about
the wolves, but there was no help for it. We started as soon as day
broke, and had driven some fifteen miles, before we came up to you.
We had not gone five when the wolves began to show themselves.

"At first, they kept well behind us, but presently we came upon a
large number, who joined in near where we saw an overturned sledge,
with the snow stained with blood all round it. From there we kept
up a running fight, and must have killed a score; but their numbers
increased, rather than diminished, and when a fresh pack came up
from ahead, a quarter of a mile before we saw you, it looked as if
our case was hopeless; for the horses, which had been going at the
top of their speed from the time we started, were beginning to
flag, while the wolves were fast closing in upon us, and were just
beginning to attack the horses, when I saw you in the road.

"And now, pray tell us how you came to be there so opportunely, and
how it was that you had that great fire blazing."

Charlie gave the full history of the previous night's adventure.

"Wonderful!" the count and his brother exclaimed; and the former
went on: "I have heard many stories of escapes from wolves, but
never one like yours. It was an admirable thought, indeed, that of
at once obtaining heat and frightening the wolves away, b