"What wolves? There are no wolves in the woods now; they have all gone to the villages, where there are plenty of dead men."
"Awful times!" answered the knight, "when wolves live in the villages, and people go howling through the woods! Oh, God, God!"
After a while silence came again. There was nothing to be heard but the sounds usual among the tops of the pine-trees. Soon, however, those distant sounds rose and became more distinct.
"Oh!" said one of the foresters, suddenly, "it seems as though some large body of men were over there. You stay here; move on slowly. I will go with my companions to see who they are."
"Go!" said Skshetuski. "We will wait here."
The foresters disappeared. They did not return for about an hour. Skshetuski was beginning to be impatient, and indeed to think of treason, when suddenly some one sprang out of the darkness.
"They are there!" said he, approaching the lieutenant.
"Who?"
"A peasant band."
"Many of them?"