TREED BY WOLVES 223

of about sixty horsemen ride past at a distance. ‘They
were evidently searching for something, for parties could
be seen to break off several times, and to enter woods and
copses, the rest halting till they came out again. As the
band had with them enough food for another three days,
they remained for thirty-six hours in their hiding-place,
and then, thinking the search would by that time be dis-
continued, went on again. The next day they killed two
or three goats from a herd, the boy in charge of them mak-
ing off with such speed that, though hotly pursued and fired
at several times, he made his escape. ‘hey carried the
carcasses to a wood, lit a fire, and feasted upon them.
Then having cooked the rest of the flesh, they divided it
among the band.

By this time the wine was finished. The next day they
again saw horsemen in the distance, but remained in hid-
ing till they had disappeared in the afternoon. ‘They then
went into a village, but scarcely had they proceeded up
the street when, the doors were opened, and from every
house men rushed out armed with flails, clubs, and axes,
and fell upon them furiously, shouting “Death to the rob-
bers!” They had evidently received warning that a band
of plunderers were approaching, and everything had been
prepared for them. ‘The band fought stoutly, but they
were greatly outnumbered, and as but few of them carried
firearms they had no great advantage in weapons. Char-
lie and Stanislas, finding that their lives were at stake, were
forced to take part in the fray, and both were with the sur-
vivors of the band, who at last succeeded in fighting their
way out of the village, leaving half their number behind
them, while some twenty of the peasants had fallen. Re-
duced now to twelve men and the captain, they thought
only of pushing forward, avoiding all villages, and only
occasionally visiting detached houses for the sake of ob-
taining flour. The country became more thinly populated