“‘Ugh!’ said I, ‘it makes me shiver to think of it!’
“‘It was nasty,’ assented Maxim; ‘but then, I counted on one of the vermin, at least, being dead; and I didn’t think there’d be much fight left in the other. But that hole narrowed down mighty sudden, and the first thing I knew, I had to crawl flat on my stomach to get along at all; and presently I found it tight squeezing even that way. Of course I held my right hand, with the knife in it, well to the front, ready to protect my head and face.
“‘Just as the hole got so tight for me that I was about concluding to give up the job, I heard a terrific snarl right in my ear, and a wolf jumped onto me. His fangs got me right in the jaw,—you can see the scars here now,—and I thought I was about fixed. But I slashed out desperately with my big knife, and caught my assailant somewhere with a deadly thrust. He yelped, and sprang out of the way.
“‘I felt the blood streaming over my face, and knew I was badly bitten. I’d had enough of that enterprise; but when I tried to back out the way I had come, I found I couldn’t work it. When it dawned upon me that I was stuck in that trap, a cold sweat broke out all over me. I was stuck, and no mistake. Then I wriggled a little farther in; and, at this, the wolf was onto me again. This time my face escaped, and his fangs went into my shoulder; but the next moment my knife-edge found his throat, and down he came in a heap. Then I lay still a bit, to get my breath and consider the situation. The one thing clear was, that I had got myself into a tight place, and I began to wriggle for all I was worth in order to get out of it.
“‘After twisting and tugging and straining for perhaps ten solid minutes, I was forced to acknowledge to myself that I had not gained one inch. Then I made up my mind that my only hope lay in squeezing myself all the way in. Once inside the cave, I thought, it would be comparatively easy work to wriggle out head-first. In this direction I gained a few inches,—perhaps a foot, or more; and by this time I felt so exhausted that I wanted to lie still and take a sleep, which, I knew, of course, would be madness.
“‘Intending to rest but a moment, I must, nevertheless, have fallen into a doze. How long I lay thus, I don’t know; but it must have been getting well along past sundown when I was awakened by a sound that brought my heart into my throat and made every hair stand on end. It was the howl of a wolf outside!’
“I interrupted the story at this point with an involuntary ‘Ah—h—h!’
“‘Yes,’ said Maxim, acknowledging my sympathy, ‘I could face any number of the vermin, and not lose hold of myself; but the idea of them coming along behind, and eating me gradually, feet first, was too much. I think that for a minute or two I must have been clean crazy. At any rate, I found strength enough, in that minute or two, to force my way right on, and into the cave, without knowing how I did it. And I found afterwards that the struggle had peeled off, not only most of my clothes, but lots of the flesh on my hips and shoulders as well.
“‘As soon as I realized that I was inside the den, I felt round for the two dead wolves, and stuffed them head-first into the hole I had just come through. They filled it pretty snugly; and then I seated myself on their hind legs to hold them solid, and hunted for a match.
“‘In the rags of my clothes I had a pocket left, and fortunately there were some matches in it. Lighting one, I perceived in the sudden flare that I was in a little cave, about four feet high, and maybe seven or eight feet square. The floor of it was dry sand, and there were bones lying about.