With my left hand, I now set to work to untie the rope which Yates had fastened so well. In my nervous haste I broke off all my finger-nails before I had the first knot started.
But finally the knot was undone, and then I began on the second. Had I been less excited I might have worked faster, but as it was, all my fingers appeared to be thumbs.
The second knot was untied, and I was just congratulating myself on getting my hands free, when the wolf burst through the thicket directly ahead.
I saw at a glance that he was ready to attack me. His eyes were glaring, and his teeth fairly glistened in the darkness.
It was then that my voice came back to me, and I uttered one wild, unearthly scream for help.
The next instant the savage beast hurled itself at me.
CHAPTER XXV.
A MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.
I now found myself face to face with one of the most dangerous positions into which it had ever been my misfortune to stumble. The wolf that had attacked me was both large and fierce, and unless by some means I became able to combat its onslaught, I felt that my life might end then and there.
My terrible scream made the animal draw back for an instant, and during this brief space of time I managed through sheer desperation to free my right hand.