THE WOLF. 89 



Russia, and of the desperate adventures travellers have met 

 with when attacked by them. The story of the Russian 

 peasant, who, to save his master's family, leaped out of the 

 sledge and faced the pack alone, thus delaying the wolves 

 by his own self-sacrifice, while the sledge proceeded on its 

 journey, is one of these. In contrast to this is the story of 

 the Russian woman, given by Mr. Lloyd in the work already 

 quoted. 



A Terrible A woman, accompanied by three of her children, 

 Alternative. was one d a y m a sledge, when they were pur- 

 sued by a number of wolves. She put the horse into a 

 gallop, and drove towards her home with the utmost speed. 

 She was not far from it; but the ferocious animals gained 

 upon her, and were on the point of rushing on to the sledge. 

 For the preservation of her own life and that of the remaining 

 children, the poor, frantic creature cast one of them to her 

 bloodthirsty pursuers. This stopped their career for a moment; 

 but, after devouring the poor child, they renewed the pursuit, 

 and a second time came up with the vehicle. The mother, 

 driven to desperation, resorted to the same horrible expedient, 

 and threw another of her offspring to her ferocious assailants. 

 The third child was also sacrificed in the same way, and 

 soon after the wretched being reached her home in safety. 

 Here she related what had happened, and endeavoured to 

 palliate her own conduct by describing the dreadful alterna- 

 tive to which she had been reduced. A peasant, however, 

 who was among the bystanders, and heard the recital, took 

 up an axe, and with one blow cleft her skull in two, saying 

 at the same time, "that a mother who could thus sacrifice 

 her children for the preservation of her own life, was no 

 longer fit to live." The man was committed to prison, but 

 the Emperor subsequently granted him a pardon, 

 a. Marvellous Equally terrible and more marvellous is the 

 Escape, story of the adventure of a Russian family which 

 took place as recently as the winter of 1894 5. A peasant 



