A BOAR HUNT BY MOONLIGHT 323 



manor-house, whence all set off together in eleven sledges, 

 as many hunters as spectators. The steward took both 

 his wife and daughter Anna with him on one of the small 

 light sledges, as a large iron-bound one would have dragged 

 too heavily through the freshly fallen snow and have been 

 too wide for the narrow forest tracts through which 

 they had to drive. The steward's double-barrelled gun 

 was the only firearm of any consequence taken on the 

 expedition, and was entrusted to the Inspector Wult- 

 kiewicz, as he was an excellent shot. Our friend Vom- 

 hammel had naturally not forgotten to take his cherished 

 revolver, with what results remains to be seen. 



As they entered the forest, Ivan, who sat by Wult- 

 kiewicz on the foremost sledge, desired that all conversa- 

 tion should cease, and soon no sound was heard through 

 the line of sledges but the rattle of the shafts or the 

 occasional neigh of a horse. 



Here and there, on either side of the path, where the 

 undergrowth had been slightly cleared, were seen at a 

 little distance numerous shining sparks w 7 hich might have 

 been taken for glow-worms, excepting for the fact that 

 they moved, or rather seemed to glide along the ground 

 in the same direction as the sledges and at the same rate 

 of speed. 



' Are there glow-worms in winter ? ' asked Wultkiewicz 

 softly of his neighbour. 



' No, they are wolves' eyes shining through the gloom,' 

 answered Ivan in a whisper, ' they will follow us to the 

 end of the wood, but there is nothing to fear ; they just 

 run with us for their amusement and to see if anything 

 falls off the sledges. They are only dangerous during 

 severe and prolonged cold, for the wolf is cowardly, and 

 seldom attacks but in extreme need, and that never occurs 

 here, with all the roe-deer and wild pig there are in these 

 woods. The peasants and the horses are well accustomed 

 to the sight of the wolves by night, and by day they never 

 appear.' 



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