"I knew you would come back, Beric, because you promised me; but
you have been a long time in keeping your word."

"I am not my own master at home, any more than I was here, Berenice,"
he said, "and my mother would not hear before of my leaving her. I
have only come now for an hour's visit, to see that all goes well
in this house, and to tell you that I had not forgotten my promise;
the next time I hope to pay a longer visit. At daybreak tomorrow
we have a party to hunt the wolves, which have so multiplied as to
become a danger in the forests of late."

"I should like to go out to see a wolf hunt, Beric."

"I fear that would not be possible," he said; "the woods are thick
and tangled, and we have to force our way through to get to their
lair."

"But last winter they came close to the town, and I heard that some
came even into the streets."

"Yes, they will do so when driven by hunger; but they were hunting
then and not being hunted. No, Berenice, I fear that your wish to
see a wolf hunt cannot be gratified; they are savage beasts, and
are great trouble and no loss to us. In winter they carry off many
children, and sometimes devour grown up people, and in times of
long snow have been known to attack large parties, and, in spite
of a stout resistance by the men, to devour them. In summer they
are only met singly, but in winter they go in packs and kill numbers
of our cattle."