one to Dijon to bring a surgeon with all speed to the chateau,
the other to tell the marquise that Ernest had been hurt, and that
everything was to be got in readiness for him; but that she was not
to make herself uneasy, as the injury was not a serious one. The
messengers were charged strictly to say nothing about the death of
the demon wolf.

The marquise and her daughters were at the entrance as the party
arrived. The sight of the litter added to the anxiety which Ernest's
mother was feeling; but the marquis rode on a short distance ahead
to her.

"Do not be alarmed, Julie," he said; "the lad is not very seriously
hurt. He has been torn a bit by a wolf, and has behaved splendidly."

"The messenger said he had been hurt by a wolf, Edouard; but how
came he to put himself in such peril?"

"He will tell you all about it, my dear. Here he is to speak for
himself."

"Do not look so alarmed, mother," Ernest said as she ran down to
the side of the litter. "It is no great harm, and I should not have
minded if it had been ten times as bad."

"Bring up the wolf," the marquis said, "and Harry, do you come
here and stand by Ernest's side. Madam la marquise," he went on,
"do you see that great gray wolf? That is the demon wolf which has
for years been the terror of the district, and these are its slayers.
Your son and M. Sandwith, they, and they alone, have reaped the