lashed their horses. The groom had the best
team and his sledge was lightest -- all the
others carried from six to a dozen people.

Another driver lost control. The screams
of the horses were more terrible to hear than
the cries of the men and women. Nothing
seemed to check the wolves. It was hard to
tell what was happening in the rear; the people
who were falling behind shrieked as piteously
as those who were already lost. The little
bride hid her face on the groom's shoulder and
sobbed. Pavel sat still and watched his horses.
The road was clear and white, and the groom's
three blacks went like the wind. It was only
necessary to be calm and to guide them care-
fully.

At length, as they breasted a long hill, Peter
rose cautiously and looked back. "There are
only three sledges left," he whispered.

"And the wolves?" Pavel asked.

"Enough! Enough for all of us."

Pavel reached the brow of the hill, but only
two sledges followed him down the other side.
In that moment on the hilltop, they saw be-
hind them a whirling black group on the snow.
Presently the groom screamed. He saw his
father's sledge overturned, with his mother

[[65]]

p064 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p065w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p066

v?