spent on my good skates, never thinking that they would one day
prove my only means of safety.

Every half-minute a furious yelp from my fierce attendants made
me but too certain that they were in close pursuit. Nearer and
nearer they came. At last I heard their feet pattering on the
ice; I even felt their very breath, and heard their snuffing
scent! Every nerve and muscle in my frame was strained to the
utmost.

The trees along the shore seemed to dance in an uncertain light,
my brain turned with my own breathless speed, my pursuers hissed
forth their breath with a sound truly horrible, when all at once
an involuntary motion on my part turned me out of my course.

The wolves close behind, unable to stop, and as unable to turn on
smooth ice, slipped and fell, still going on far ahead. Their
tongues were lolling out, their white tusks were gleaming from
their bloody mouths, their dark shaggy breasts were flecked with
foam; and as they passed me their eyes glared, and they howled
with fury.

The thought flashed on my mind that by turning aside whenever
they came too near I might avoid them; for, owing to the
formation of their feet, they are unable to run on ice except in
a straight line. I immediately acted upon this plan, but the
wolves having regained their feet sprang directly toward me.

The race was renewed for twenty yards up the stream; they were
almost close at my back, when I glided round and dashed directly