re; indeed he was generally the gayer of the
pair--his sister being evidently the more prudent--and in this respect
they resembled the Lorenskis. Many a jest, however, on the
non-appearance of the wolves went round our sledge, of which I
remember nothing now except that we all laughed till the old wood
rang.

'Be quiet, good children,' said the priest, turning in his seat of
command: 'you make noise enough to frighten all the wolves in
creation.'

'They won't come to-night, father; they are preparing for mass,' cried
Count Theodore. 'Juana, if the old Finn were here now, wouldn't he be
useful?'

'Perhaps he might,' said the countess, with a forced laugh; but she
cast a look of strange warning and reproof on her brother.

'What Finn?' said the priest, catching the count's words.

'Oh, he is talking of an old nursery-tale we had in St Petersburg,'
hastily interposed the lady, though I thought her face had no memory
of the nursery in it.

'About the Finns I'll warrant,' said Father Cassimer. 'They are a
strange people. My brother the merchant told me that he knew one of
them at Abo who said he had a charm for the wolves; but somebody
informed against him for smuggling, and the Russian government sent
him to the lead-mines in Siberia. By Saint Sigismund, there's the
first of them!'

As the priest spoke, a large wolf appeared, and half the guns in the
sledge were raised. 'Not yet, not yet,' said our experienced
commander, artfully turning away as another and another came in sight.
'There are more coming,' and he gradually slackened our pace; but far
off through the moonlit woods and the frozen night we could hear a
strange murmur, which grew and swelled on all sides to a chorus of
mingled howlings, and the wolves came on by troops.

'Fire now, friends!' cried Father Cassimer. 'We are like to have skins
enough for Christmas;' and bang went all our barrels. I saw five fall;
but, contrary to expectation, the wolves did not retire--they stood
for an instant snarling at us. The dis

William Babington Maxwell (18661938) was a British novelist. He was a son of novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Though nearly 50 years old at the outbreak of the First World War, he was accepted as a lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers and served in France until 1917.

Cyrus Townsend Brady (December 20, 1861 January 24, 1920) was a journalist, historian and adventure writer. His most well-known work is Indian Fights and Fighters. He was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1883. He was also a deacon in the Episcopal church. His first wife was Clarissa Guthrie, who died in 1890. His second wife was Mary Barrett.

Rebecca Sophia Clarke (1833-1906), also known as Sophie May, was an American author of childrens fiction. Using her nieces and nephews as inspiration, she wrote realistic stories about children. She wrote 45 books between 1860 and 1903. The most popular being the Little Prudy books. She lived most of her life in her native town of Norridgewock, Maine, where she lived out her life with her sister, who was also a successful author.