of the Old World. 381 



for they knew they were pursued by a horde of 

 wolves. 



Their horses were already fatigued with a long 

 day's journey, but terror seemed to give them wings, 

 for they tore along as if they knew their peril, and 

 for awhile seemed to hold their own. The nearest 

 " konak" or hamlet was at least two "saat" or seven 

 miles distant, and the ground was in many places so 

 deep with drifted snow that their horses could hardly 

 get along. The crisis was now evidently fast ap- 

 proaching, for the advanced troop were almost within 

 gun-shot, howling and yelling as wolves only can. 

 A brief consultation was held, and it was determined 

 to sacrifice the prisoners one by one, so as to gain 

 time for the rest to escape. The woman met her 

 fate first, one of their number stepping behind, drew 

 his sabre across the hocks of her horse, hamstringing 

 it, and causing both to fall heavily to the ground. 

 Her shrieks, as well as the cry of the horse in his 

 death agony, rang through their ears for a moment, 

 and then all was still. They anxiously looked back, 

 and found that this desperate expedient had enabled 

 them to gain a considerable distance on their pursuers, 

 but it was not for long ; they were soon again on their 

 heels, when a Russian soldier was sacrificed by shoot- 

 ing his horse ; a second, third, and fourth followed, 

 and much time was gained and a considerable dis- 

 tance covered : still their insatiable foes pressed on, 



