it by the shoulder, the savage
brutes have dragged it down among them. A faint shriek escapes it, and
its miseries are at an end. With whetted appetites the wolves again
follow the sledge. The miller looks at the savage pack now almost
surrounding him, and his courage begins to give way. But his wife is
still by his side, and three children are unhurt. He may yet keep the
wolves off; but if they once venture on the sledge, if once his arm is
seized, he knows that all, all he holds dearest in life, must be lost
also. Still, therefore, he drives on, but he almost despairs of
escaping. He has too much reason for his worst fears. Impatient for
their expected banquet, the wolves begin to leap up round the sledge,
just as the waves of a breaking sea rise tumultuously round the
labouring bark. In a few minutes all will be over. The miller knows
full well that his horses will soon be seized, and then that hope must
indeed depart. Ah! The fatal moment has come. Already a wolf, more
famished than his companions, has flown at the neck of one of his
horses. The animal plunges and rears in a frantic attempt to free
himself from his foe. Ah! At that instant the miller shouts louder
than before--his courage returns--he lashes furiously at the wolf--The
noble horse frees himself and dashes onward.

"`We are saved--we are saved!' shouts the miller. `Wife, wife, arouse
yourself!'

"Far off he sees advancing over the snow a large sledge; it glides
nearer and nearer. Those in it see what is occurring. Shot after shot
is fired, and the wolves fall thickly around. Dashing up at full speed,
a sledge approaches. The miller almost shrieks with joy. For an
instant he forgets those he has lost; yet only for an instant. He has
the fond heart of a father. The sportsmen load and fire again. They
have come in search of this very pack. The miller and the rest of his
family were saved; but it was many a long week before he or his poor
bereaved wife recovered from the effects of that day's adventure."

"A very dreadful story indeed; very dreadful," observed Mr Evergreen.
"Do people generally get attacked by wolves when they travel by sledges
in winter."

"I think we may safely say not generally," answered one of the Russian
guests, laughing. "If such were the case, people would be inclined to
stay at home. A story is current still more dreadful than the one you
have heard.

"A peasant woman was driving a sledge with sev