Charlie and Stanislas were, that evening, sitting apart from the
rest, at a short distance from the fire, talking over the future.
They agreed that it would be comparatively easy to withdraw from
the band as they journeyed forward, if, as seemed likely, they
travelled in very small parties. If, indeed, they found themselves
with two others, they could leave openly, for these would scarcely
care to enter upon a desperate struggle, merely for the sake of
retaining two unwilling companions in the band.
The difficulties would only begin when they started alone. As they
were talking, the captain came across to them.
"I can guess," he said, "that you are talking together as to the
future. I like you, young Englishman, and I like your companion,
who seems an honest fellow, but I would not keep you with me by
force. I understand that you are not placed as we are. We have to
live. Most of us would live honestly if we could, but at present it
is the choice of doing as we do, or starving. We occasionally take
a few crowns, if we come across a fat trader, or may ease a rich
farmer of his hoard, but it is but seldom such a chance comes in
our way. As a rule, we simply plunder because we must live. It is
different with you. Your friends may be far away, but if you can
get to them you would have all that you need. Therefore, this life,
which is hard and rough, to say nothing of its danger, does not
suit you; but for all that, you must stay with us, for it would be
madness for you to attempt to escape.
"As I told you, the peasants are maddened, and would kill any
passing stranger as they would a wild beast. They would regard him
as a spy of some band like ours, or of a company of disbanded
soldiers, sent forward to discover which houses and villages are
best worth plundering. In your case, you have other dangers to
fear. You may be sure that news has been sent from Warsaw to all
the different governors, with orders for your arrest for killing
Ben Soloman, and these orders will be transmitted to every town and
village. Your hair and eyes would at once betray you as strangers,
and your ignorance of the language would be fatal to you. If,
therefore, you escaped being killed as a robber by the peasants,
you would run the risk of arrest at the first town or village you
entered.
"Translate that to him, Stanislas. He is learning our language
fast, but he cannot understand all that."
"That is just what we were talking about," Charlie said, when
Stanislas had repeated the captain's speech, "and the danger seems
too great to be risked. Think you, that when we get farther to the
east, we shall be able to make our way more easily up into
Livonia?"
"Much more easily, because the forest is more extensive there; but
not until the winter is over. The cold will be terrible, and it
would be death to sleep without shelter. Besides, the forests are
infested with wolves, who roam about in packs, and would scent and
follow and devour you. But when spring comes, you can turn your
faces to the north, and leave us if you think fit, and I promise
you that no hindrance shall be thrown in your way. I only ask you
not to risk your lives by trying now to pass through Poland alone."
"I think you are right, Ladislas, and I promise you that we will
not attempt to leave you during our journey east. As you say, it
would be impossible for us to travel after winter had once set in.
It is now the end of September."
"And it will be November before we reach our destination. We shall
not travel fast. We have no motive for doing so. We have to live by
the way, and to gather a little money to help us through the
winter. We may shoot a bear or an elk sometimes, a few deer, and
hares, but we shall want two or three sacks of flour, and some
spirits. For these we must either get money, or take the goods. The
first is the best, for we have no means of dragging heavy weights
with us, and it would not do to infuriate the peasants by
plundering any of them within twenty miles of the place where we
mean to winter. That would set them all against us."
"I tell you frankly, Ladislas, that we shall not be willing to aid
in any acts of robbery. Of course, when one is with an army one has
to plunder on a large scale, and it has often gone terribly against
the grain, when I have had to join parties sent out to forage. But
it has to be done. I would rather not join men in taking food, yet
I understand that it may be necessary. But as to taking money, I
will have nothing to do with it. At the same time, I understand
that we cannot share your food, and be with you, without doing
something. Stanislas has brought me a little money from Warsaw, and
I shall be ready to pay into the common treasury a sum sufficient
to pay for our share of the food. As to money taken, we shall not
expect any share of it. If you are attacked, we shall of course
fight, and shall be ready to do our full share in all work. So, at
any rate, you will not be losers by taking us with you."
"That is fair enough," the captain said, when Stanislas had
translated what Charlie said, suppressing, however, his remarks
about foraging with the army, as the brigands were ignorant that
Charlie and he had any connection with the Swedes, or that he was
not, as he had given out, a young Englishman come out to set up as
a trader.
The band now journeyed slowly on, keeping near the north bank of
the Dnieper. They went by twos and threes, uniting sometimes and
entering a village or surrounding a farmhouse at night, and taking
what they wanted. The people were, however, terribly poor, and they
were able to obtain but little beyond scanty supplies of flour, and
occasionally a few gold or silver trinkets. Many other bands of
plunderers had passed along, in the course of the summer, and the
robbers themselves were often moved to pity by the misery that they
everywhere met with.
When in small parties they were obliged to avoid entering any
villages, for once or twice furious attacks were made upon those
who did so, the women joining the men in arming themselves with any
weapon that came to hand, and in falling upon the strangers.
Only once did they succeed in obtaining plunder of value. They had
visited a village, but found it contained nothing worth taking. One
of the women said:
"Why do you trouble poor people like us? There is the count's
chateau three miles away. They have every luxury there, while we
are starving."
After leaving the village, the man to whom she had spoken repeated
what she had said, and it was agreed to make the attempt. At the
first cottage they came to they made further inquiries, and found
that the lord of the soil was very unpopular; for, in spite of the
badness of the times, he insisted on receiving his rents without
abatement, and where money was not forthcoming, had seized cattle
and horses, assessing them at a price far below what they would
have fetched at the nearest market.
They therefore marched to the house. It was a very large one. The
captain thoughtfully placed Charlie and Stanislas among the six men
who were to remain without, to prevent any of the inmates leaving
the chateau. With the rest, he made a sudden attack on the great
door of the house, and beat it down with a heavy sledge hammer.
Just as it gave way, some shots were fired from the inside, but
they rushed in, overpowered the servants, and were soon masters of
the place.
In half an hour they came out again, laden with booty. Each man
carried half a dozen bottles of choice wine, from the count's
cellar, slung at his belt. On their shoulders they carried bundles
containing silver cups and other valuables; while six of them had
bags of silver money, that had been extracted from the count by
threats of setting fire to the chateau, and burning him and his
family.
A halt was made two or three miles away, when the silver was
divided into shares as usual, the men being well satisfied when
they learned that Charlie and his companion claimed no part of it.
Some of the provisions they had also taken were eaten. Each man had
a flask of wine, with which the count's health was derisively
drunk.
"This has been a good night's work," the leader said, "and you have
each sixty rix dollars in your pockets, which is more than you have
had for months past. That will keep us in provisions and spirits
all through the winter; but mind, although we took it without much
trouble, we have not heard the last of the business. No doubt, by
this time, the count has sent off a messenger to the nearest town
where there are troops, and, for a day or two, we shall have to
march fast and far. It is one thing to plunder villages, and
another to meddle with a rich nobleman."
For the next forty-eight hours they marched by night instead of by
day, keeping always together, and prepared to resist an attack. One
morning they saw, from their hiding place among some high reeds
near the river, a body of about sixty horsemen ride past at a
distance. They were evidently searching for something, for parties
could be seen to break off several times, and to enter woods and
copses, the rest halting till they came out again.
As the band had with them enough food for another three days, they
remained for thirty-six hours in their hiding place, and then,
thinking the search would by that time be discontinued, went on
again. The next day they killed two or three goats from a herd, the
boy in charge of them making off with such speed that, though hotly
pursued and fired at several times, he made his escape. They
carried the carcasses to a wood, lit a fire, and feasted upon them.
Then, having cooked the rest of the flesh, they divided it among
the band.
By this time the wine was finished. The next day they again saw
horsemen in the distance, but remained in hiding till they had
disappeared in the afternoon. They then went into a village, but
scarcely had they proceeded up the street when the doors were
opened, and from every house men rushed out armed with flails,
clubs, and axes, and fell upon them furiously, shouting "Death to
the robbers!"
They had evidently received warning that a band of plunderers were
approaching, and everything had been prepared for them. The band
fought stoutly, but they were greatly outnumbered, and, as but few
of them carried firearms, they had no great advantage in weapons.
Charlie and Stanislas, finding that their lives were at stake, were
forced to take part in the fray, and both were with the survivors
of the band, who at last succeeded in fighting their way out of the
village, leaving half their number behind them, while some twenty
of the peasants had fallen.
Reduced now to twelve men and the captain, they thought only of
pushing forward, avoiding all villages, and only occasionally
visiting detached houses for the sake of obtaining flour. The
country became more thinly populated as they went on, and there was
a deep feeling of satisfaction when, at length, their leader
pointed to a belt of trees in the distance, and said:
"That is the beginning of the forest. A few miles farther, and we
shall be well within it."
By nightfall they felt, for the first time since they had set out
on their journey, that they could sleep in safety. A huge fire was
lit, for the nights were now becoming very cold, and snow had
fallen occasionally for the last four or five days, and in the open
country was lying some inches deep. The next day they journeyed a
few miles farther, and then chose a spot for the erection of a hut.
It was close to a stream, and the men at once set to work, with
axes, to fell trees and clear a space.
It was agreed that the captain and two of the men, of the most
pacific demeanour, should go to the nearest town, some forty miles
away, to lay in stores. They were away five days, and then returned
with the welcome news that a cart, laden with flour and a couple of
barrels of spirits, was on a country track through the forest a
mile and a half away.
"How did you manage, captain?" Charlie asked.
"We went to the house of a well-to-do peasant, about a mile from
the borders of the wood. I told him frankly that we belonged to a
band who were going to winter in the forest, that we would do him
no harm if he would give us his aid, but that if he refused he
would soon have his place burnt over his head. As we said we were
ready to pay a fair sum for the hire of his cart, he did not
hesitate a moment about making the choice. The other two remained
at his cottage, so as to keep his family as hostages for his good
faith, and I went with him to the town, where we bought six sacks
of good flour and the two barrels of spirits. We got a few other
things--cooking pots and horns, and a lot of coarse blankets, and a
thick sheepskin coat for each man. They are all in the car. I see
that you have got the hut pretty nearly roofed in, so, in a day or
two, we shall be comfortable."
They went in a body to the place where the cart had been left, but
it required two journeys before its contents were all transported
to the hut. Another three days and this was completed. It was
roughly built of logs, the interstices being filled in with moss.
There was no attempt at a door, an opening being left four feet
high and eighteen inches wide for the purpose of an entry. The skin
of a deer they had shot, since they arrived, was hung up outside;
and a folded rug inside. There was no occasion for windows. A
certain amount of light made its way in by an orifice, a foot
square, that had been left in the roof for the escape of smoke. The
hut itself consisted of one room only, about eighteen feet square.
When this was finished, all hands set to work to pile up a great
stack of firewood, close to the door, so as to save them from the
necessity of going far, until snow had ceased falling, and winter
had set in in earnest.
The cart had brought six carcasses of sheep, that had been
purchased from a peasant; these were hung up outside the hut to
freeze hard, and the meat was eaten only once a day, as it would be
impossible to obtain a fresh supply, until the weather became
settled enough to admit of their hunting.
The preparations were but just finished when the snow began to fall
heavily. For a week it came down without intermission, the wind
howled among the trees, and even Charlie, half stifled as he was by
the smoke, felt no inclination to stir out, except for half an
hour's work to clear away the snow from the entrance, and to carry
in wood from the pile.
The time passed more cheerfully than might have been expected. He
had by this time begun to talk Polish with some facility, and was
able to understand the stories that the men told, as they sat round
the fire; sometimes tales of adventures they themselves had gone
through, sometimes stories of the history of Poland, its frequent
internal wars, and its struggles with the Turks.
Making bread and cooking occupied some portion of the time, and
much was spent in sleep. At the end of a week the snow ceased
falling and the sun came out, and all were glad to leave the hut
and enjoy the clear sky and the keen air.
While they had been confined to the hut, two of the men had made a
large number of snares for hares, and they at once started into the
forest, to set these in spots where they saw traces of the animals'
passage over the snow. The rest went off in parties of twos and
threes in search of other game.
With the exception of Charlie, all were accustomed to the woods;
but, as Stanislas had much less experience than the others, the
captain decided to go with them.
"It is easy for anyone to lose his way here," he said. "In fact,
except to one accustomed to the woods, it would be dangerous to go
far away from the hut. As long as it is fine, you will find your
way back by following your own tracks, but if the weather changed
suddenly, and it came on to snow, your case would be hopeless. One
of the advantages of placing our hut on a stream is that it forms a
great aid to finding one's way back. If you strike it above, you
follow it down; if below, upwards, until you reach the hut. Of
course you might wander for days and never hit it, still it is much
more easy to find than a small object like the hut, though even
when found, it would be difficult to decide whether it had been
struck above or below the hut.
"Now, there is one rule if, at any time, you get lost. Don't begin
to wander wildly about, for, if you did, you would certainly walk
in a circle, and might never be found again. Sit down quietly and
think matters over, eat if you have got any food with you; then
examine the sky, and try to find out from the position of the sun,
or the direction in which the clouds are going, which way the hut
ought to lie. Always take with you one of your pistols; if you fire
it three times, at regular intervals, it will be a signal that you
want help, and any of us who are within hearing will come to aid
you."
With the exception of hares, of which a good many were snared, the
hunting was not productive. Tracks of deer were seen not
unfrequently, but it was extremely difficult, even when the animals
were sighted, to get across the surface of the snow to within range
of the clumsy arquebuses that two or three of the men carried. They
did, however, manage to shoot a few by erecting a shelter, just
high enough for one man to lie down under, and leaving it until the
next snowstorm so covered it that it seemed but a knoll in the
ground, or a low shrub bent down and buried under the weight of the
snow. These shelters were erected close to paths taken by the deer,
and, by lying patiently all day in them, the men occasionally
managed to get a close shot.
Several bears were killed, and two elks. These afforded food for a
long time, as the frozen flesh would keep until the return of
spring. Holes were made in the ice on the stream, and baited hooks
being set every night, it was seldom that two or three fish were
not found fast on them in the morning.
Altogether, therefore, there was no lack of food; and as, under the
teaching of the captain, Charlie in time learnt to be able to keep
his direction through the woods, he was often able to go out,
either with Stanislas or alone, thus keeping clear of the close
smoky hut during the hours of daylight. Upon the whole he found the
life by no means an unpleasant one.
Among the articles purchased by the captain were high boots, lined
with sheepskin, coming up to the thigh. With these and the coats,
which had hoods to pull over the head, Charlie felt the cold but
little during the day; while at night he found the hut often
uncomfortably warm, sleeping, as they all did, in the same attire
in which they went out.
In February the weather became excessively severe, more so, the
peasants and charcoal burners they occasionally met with declared,
than they ever remembered. The wild animals became tamer, and in
the morning when they went out, they frequently found tracks of
bears that had been prowling round the hut in search of offal, or
bones thrown out. They were now obliged to hang their supply of
meat, by ropes, from boughs at some distance from the ground, by
which means they were enabled to prevent the bears getting at it.
They no longer dared to venture far from the hut, for large packs
of wolves ranged through the forest, and, driven by hunger, even
entered villages, where they attacked and killed many women and
children, made their entrance into sheds, and tore dogs, horses,
and cattle to pieces, and became at last so dangerous that the
villagers were obliged to keep great fires burning in the streets
at night, to frighten them away. Several times the occupants of the
hut were awakened by the whining and snarling of wolves outside.
But the walls and roof were alike built of solid timber, and a
roughly-made door of thick wood was now fastened, every night,
against the opening, and so stoutly supported by beams behind it as
to defy assault. Beyond, therefore, a passing grumble at being
awakened by the noise, the men gave themselves no trouble as to the
savage animals outside.
"If these brutes grow much bolder," the captain said one day, "we
shall be prisoners here altogether. They must have come down from
the great forest that extends over a large part of Russia. The
villages are scarce there, and the peasants take good care to keep
all their beasts in shelter, so no doubt they are able to pick up
more at the edge of the forest here."
"How far are we from the Russian frontier?"
"I do not think anyone could tell you. For aught I know, we may be
in Russia now. These forests are a sort of no man's land, and I
don't suppose any line of frontier has ever been marked. It is
Russia to the east of this forest, some thirty miles away, and it
is Poland to the west of it. The forest is no good to anyone except
the charcoal burners. I have met both Russians and Poles in the
wood, and, as there is plenty of room for all--ay, and would be
were there a thousand to every one now working in it--they are on
friendly terms with each other, especially as the two nations are,
at present, allied against Sweden."
In spite of the wolves, Charlie continued his walks in the forest,
accompanied always by Stanislas. Both carried axes and pistols,
and, although Charlie had heard many tales of solitary men, and
even of vehicles, being attacked by the wolves in broad daylight,
he believed that most of the stories were exaggerations, and that
the chances of two men being attacked in daylight were small,
indeed.
He had found that the track, by which the cart had brought the
stores, was a good deal used, the snow being swept away or levelled
by the runners of sledges, either those of peasants who came into
the forest for wood or charcoal, or of travellers journeying
between Russia and Poland. He generally selected this road for his
walk, both because it was less laborious than wading through the
untrodden snow, and because there was here no fear of losing his
way, and he was spared the incessant watchfulness for signs that
was necessary among the trees. At first he had frequently met
peasants' carts on the road, but, since the cold became more severe
and the wolves more numerous and daring, he no longer encountered
them. He had indeed heard, from some of the last he saw, that they
should come no more, for that the charcoal burners were all
abandoning their huts, and going into the villages.
One afternoon, when they had, on their return, nearly reached the
spot where they left the road to strike across the forest to the
hut, they heard a noise behind them.
"That is a pack of wolves, in full cry!" Stanislas exclaimed. "You
had better get up into a tree. They are after something."
They hastily clambered into a tree, whose lower branches were but
six or seven feet from the ground. A moment later two horses, wild
with fright, dashed past, while some twenty yards behind them came
a pack of fifty or sixty wolves. They were almost silent now, with
their red tongues hanging out.
"The brutes have been attacking a sledge," Stanislas said in a low
tone. "You saw the horses were harnessed, and their broken traces
were hanging by their side. It is easy to read the story. The
sledge was attacked; the horses, mad with fear, broke their traces
and rushed off, or perhaps the driver, seeing at the last moment
that escape was impossible, slashed the ropes with his knife, so as
to give the horses a chance. I expect they got a start, for the
wolves would be detained a little at the sledge."
"Do you think the poor beasts will get safe out of the forest,
Stanislas?"
"I don't think so, but they may. The chase has evidently been a
long one, and the wolves have tired themselves with their first
efforts to come up to them. It did not seem to me that they were
gaining when they passed us. It is simply a question of endurance,
but I fancy the wolves will last longest.
"See, here is a party of stragglers. I suppose they stopped longer
at the sledge."
"It seems to me they are on our scent, Stanislas. Do you see, they
are coming along at the side of the road where we walked, with
their heads down."
"I am afraid they are. Well, we shall soon see. Yes, they are
leaving the road where we did."
A moment later a dozen wolves ran up to the trunk of the tree, and
there gathered snuffing and whining. Presently one caught sight of
the two figures above them, and with an angry yelp sprang up in the
air, and immediately all were growling, snarling, and leaping.
Charlie laughed out loud at their impotent efforts.
"It is no laughing matter, sir," Stanislas said gravely.
"They cannot climb up here, Stanislas."
"No, but they can keep us here. It will be dark in an hour, and
likely enough they will watch us all night."
"Then we had better shoot two of them, and jump down with our
hatchets. Keeping back to back, we ought to be able to face ten
wolves."
"Yes, if that were all; but see, here come three or four more, and
the dozen will soon swell to a score. No, we shall have to wait
here all night, and probably for some time tomorrow, for the men
are not likely to find us very early, and they will hardly hear our
pistols unless some of them happen to come in this direction."
"Do you think, if we shoot two or three of them, the rest will go?"
"Certainly not. It will be all the worse. Their comrades would at
once tear them to pieces and devour them, and the scent of blood
would very soon bring others to the spot."
"Well, if we have got to wait here all night, Stanislas, we had
better choose the most comfortable place we can, at once, before it
gets dark. We must mind we don't go to sleep and tumble off."
"There will be no fear of our sleeping," Stanislas said. "The cold
will be too great for that. We shall have to keep on swinging our
hands and feet, and rubbing our noses, to prevent ourselves from
getting frostbitten."
"Well, I have never felt the cold in these clothes," Charlie said.
"No, sir, but you have never been out at night, sitting cramped on
a tree."
Hour after hour passed. Even in the darkness they could see the
wolves lying in the snow below them, occasionally changing their
position, keeping close together for warmth, and often snarling or
growling angrily, as one or two shifted their position, and tried
to squeeze in so as to get into a warm spot.
The cold was intense and, in spite of swinging his legs and arms,
Charlie felt that his vital heat was decreasing.
"This is awful, Stanislas. I do not think we can last on till
morning."
"I begin to have doubts myself, sir. Perhaps it would be better to
leap down and make a fight of it."
"We might shoot some of them first," Charlie said. "How many
charges have you?"
"I have only two, besides one in the barrel."
"And I have only three," Charlie said. "Powder has run very short.
The captain was saying, yesterday, that we must send to the village
and try to get some more. Still, six shots will help us."
"Not much, sir. There must be thirty or forty of them now. I have
seen some come from the other way. I suppose they were part of the
pack that followed the horses."
Charlie sat for some time thinking. Then he exclaimed:
"I think this is a dead tree."
"It is, sir. I noticed it when we climbed up. The head has gone,
and I think it must have been struck with lightning last summer."
"Then I think we can manage."
"Manage what, sir?" the man asked in surprise.
"Manage to make a fire, Stanislas. First of all, we will crawl out
towards the ends of the branches as far as we can get, and break
off twigs and small boughs. If we can't get enough, we can cut
chips off, and we will pile them all where these three big boughs
branch off from the trunk. We have both our tinderboxes with us,
and I see no reason why we should not be able to light a fire up
here."
"So we might," Stanislas said eagerly. "But if we did, we might set
the whole tree on fire."
"No bad thing, either," Charlie rejoined. "You may be sure the fire
will keep the wolves at a respectful distance, and we could get
down and enjoy the heat without fear."
"I believe your idea will save our lives, sir. Ten minutes ago I
would not have given a crown for our chances."
They at once crawled out upon two of the great branches, and a
renewed chorus of snarls from below showed that their foes were
watchful. The snapping of the small branches excited a certain
amount of uneasiness among them, and they drew off a short
distance. In ten minutes Charlie and his companion worked
themselves back to the main trunk, each carrying an armful of
twigs. They first cut off a number of small dry chips, and made a
pile of these at the junction of one of the branches with the
trunk. They then got out their tinderboxes and bunches of rags,
shook a few grains of powder from one of the horns among the chips,
and then got the tinder alight. A shred of rag, that had been
rubbed with damp powder, was applied to the spark and then placed
among the shavings. A flash of light sprang up, followed by a
steady blaze, as the dried chips caught. One by one at first, and
then, as the fire gained strength, several sticks at a time were
laid over the burning splinters, and in five minutes a large fire
was blazing.
Charlie and his companion took their seats where the other two big
branches shot out from the trunk. These were two or three feet
higher than that on which the fire had been lighted, and, ere long,
a sensation of genial warmth began to steal over them. Fresh sticks
were lighted as the first were consumed, and before long the trunk,
where the flames played on it, began to glow. Light tongues of
flame rose higher and higher, until the trunk was alight ten or
twelve feet up.
"The wolves are all gone," Charlie said, looking down.
"I don't suppose they have gone very far, sir. But when the tree
once gets fairly alight, you may be sure they won't venture
anywhere near it."
They had already been forced to move some little distance away from
the trunk, by the heat, and as the flames rose higher and higher,
embracing in the course of half an hour the whole of the trunk and
upper branches, they felt that it was perfectly safe to drop off
into the snow beneath them.
Blazing brands soon began to fall. They stood a short distance
away, so as to be beyond the risk of accident, but, at Charlie's
suggestion, they ran in from time to time, gathered up the brands
and laid them at the foot of the trunk, and in a short time a
second fire was kindled here.
The tree was now a pyramid of fire, lighting up the snow for a long
distance round. Outside this circle the wolves could be heard
whining and whimpering, occasionally uttering a long-drawn howl.
"They know that they are baulked of their prey," Stanislas said.
"We shall have some of the big branches falling soon, and shall be
able to keep up a roaring fire, that will last until daylight. I
should think by that time the wolves will be tired of it, and will
make off; but if not, the captain will be sure to send men out to
search for us. He will guess we have been treed by wolves, and we
have only to get into another tree, and fire our pistols, to bring
them in this direction."
"But they may be attacked, too," Charlie remarked.
"There are ten of them, and they are sure to come armed with axes
and swords. They ought to be able to fight their way through a
good-sized pack. Besides, the wolves will be so cowed by this great
fire, that I don't think they will have the courage to meddle with
so strong a party."
One by one the arms of the tree fell, burnt through at the point
where they touched the trunk. They would have been far too heavy to
be dragged, but three or four of them fell across the lower fire,
and there lay blazing. Not knowing which way the tree itself would
fall, Charlie and his companion were obliged to remain at some
distance off, but the heat there was amply sufficient for them. At
last the trunk fell with a crash, and they at once established
themselves as near the fire as they could sit, without being
scorched, and there chatted until morning began to break.
They felt sure that some, at least, of the wolves were around them,
as they occasionally caught sight of what looked like two sparks
among the undergrowth; these being, as they knew, the reflection of
the fire in the eyes of a wolf. There was a tree hard by in which
they could, if necessary, take refuge, and they therefore resolved
to stay near the fire.
Fortunately the night had been perfectly still, and, as the tree
they had fired was a detached one, the flames had not spread, as
Charlie had at one time been afraid they would do.
Half an hour after daylight had fairly broken, they discharged
three shots at regular intervals with their pistols, then they
waited half an hour.
"Shall we fire again?"
"No. Not until we hear shots from them," Charlie replied. "We have
but four charges left, and if the wolves made a sudden rush, we
might want to use them."
After a time, both thought they heard the distant report of a
musket. Stanislas looked at Charlie inquiringly. The latter shook
his head.
"No, no! Stanislas. That gun would be heard twice as far as one of
these pistols. Let us wait until we are pretty sure that they are
near. I don't like leaving ourselves without other protection than
our axes."