WOODLAND CHOEUSES. 363 



I "^as still their fugitive. I did not look back, I did not 

 feoi afraid, or sorry, or glad ; one thought of home, of the 

 bright faces awaiting my return, of their tears, if they 

 should never see me, and then every energy of body 

 and mind was exerted for escape. I was perfectly at 

 home on the ice. Many were the days that I spent on 

 my good skates, never thinking that at one time they 

 would be my only means of safety. Every half minute 

 an alternate yelp from my fierce attendants made me 

 but too certain that they were in close pursuit. Nearer 

 and nearer they came ; I heard their feet pattering on 

 the ice — nearer still, until I could feel their breath and 

 hear their snuffing scent. Every nerve and muscle in my 

 frame was stretched to the utmost tension. 



" The trees along the shore seemed to dance in the 

 uncertain light, and my brain turned with my own 

 breathless speed, yet still they seemed to aspirate 

 their breath close in my ears, when an involuntary 

 motion on my part turned me out of my course. The 

 wolves close behind, unable to stop, and as unable to 

 turn on the smooth ice, slipped and fell, still going on 

 far ahead ; their tongues w^ere lolling out, their white 

 tusks glaring from their bloody mouths, their dark, 

 shaggy breasts were fleeced with foam, and as they 

 passed me they glared, and they howled with fury. The 

 thought flashed on my mind, that by this means I could 

 avoid them, viz., by turning aside whenever they came 

 too near ; for they, by the formation of their feet, are 

 unable to run on ice except on a straight line. 



