"At last we made a little turn, and there was the great oak, stretching its low short branches over the road. It was but an instant's work to spring from the cutter."
"'Up, up, Carry, for your life!' I said. 'They are upon us!'"
"Carry, as I said, was small and wonderfully active. Dropping her heavy cloak, she sprang from the ground like a cat, and caught the limb. I pushed her from below, and she raised herself to the bough, where she clung securely. I followed her only just in time, for before I was fairly in the tree the head of the nearest wolf appeared round the turn in the road. Charley, relieved from our weight, bounded forward like a deer, and, as I looked after him, I saw with delight that he had freed himself from the cutter. The wolves were close upon him, and one of them actually sprang upon his flunk, but a well-directed kick sent him howling backwards with a broken leg."
"The instant the other wolves saw that their comrade was disabled, they set upon him after their fashion, which gave both Charley and ourselves a respite. I was not without hope that he would reach home in safety, and I knew that if he did, he would give the alarm. Grandfather would perceive that some accident had happened, and come out at once to see what was the matter. I proposed to Carry that we should climb higher in the tree, and thus place ourselves in e position at once more comfortable and more secure. I could see by the moonlight that she was pale as death, but no old hunter could be cooler or more collected. She managed her movements so well that in a few moments she was seated in perfect safety among the upper branches of the tree, where the trunk served at once to shelter her from the wind and support her arm and shoulder."
"'Now, Carry,' said I, 'we are safe, so far as the wolves are concerned. The only danger now is from the cold. You must make up your mind that you will not go to sleep.'"
"'Sleep!' said she, shuddering. 'I don't feel as though I should ever sleep again, much less here!'"
"'You don't know how you will feel when you are chilled through,' I replied. 'If we can only stand it till daylight, we shall be safe, at any rate. What time is it now?'"
"Carry looked at her watch. It was half-past nine. 'A long, long night is before us!' said she, sighing. 'I fear we shall never be able to stand it through, but I will do my best to keep awake. May God have mercy on us!'"
"'Amen!' said I, fervently, and that amen was the first real prayer I ever said in my life."
"Many another first prayer has been made under like circumstances," remarked the clergyman; "and, alas! Many a last one also. But go on with your story, sir."