As soon as the wolves fled, the gentleman turned to Charlie, and,
flinging down his weapons, threw his arms round his neck.
"You have preserved us from death, sir. You have saved my wife and
child from being torn to pieces. How can I express my thanks to
you?"
"It was fortunate that we happened to be here," Charlie said, "and
that we had this fire handy."
A cry from the child called off the gentleman's attention, and he
ran to his wife, who had sunk fainting on the ground; and Charlie,
not a little pleased at this diversion, turned to Ladislas and his
men, who were looking on with the most intense astonishment at the
scene. Charlie leapt over the branch, and grasped Ladislas by the
hand.
"You have arrived at the nick of time, Ladislas. Another three
minutes, and it would have been all over with us."
"Yes, I could see it was a close thing as soon as I caught sight of
you. We have been wondering all night what became of you, and set
out as soon as it was light. We fired a shot occasionally, but we
listened in vain for your three shots."
"We fired them half an hour after daylight," Charlie said; "but, as
we had then only five charges left between us, and there were
wolves all round, we dared not waste them.
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