Meanwhile, however, something uncommon happened. For one morning, as I
have heard, when Lord Wittich saw out of the window that the daughter of
his fisherman, a child of sixteen, whom he had diligently pursued, went
into the coppice to gather dry sticks, he went thither too; wherefore, I
will not say, but every one may guess for himself. When he had gone some
way along the convent mound, and was come to the first bridge, where the
mountain-ash stands, he saw two wolves coming towards him; and as he had
no weapon with him, save a staff, he climbed up into a tree; whereupon the
wolves trotted round it, blinked at him with their eyes, licked their
lips, and at last jumped with their fore-paws up against the tree,
snapping at him; he then saw that one was a he-wolf, a great fat brute
with only one eye. Hereupon in his fright he began to scream, and the
long-suffering of God was again shown to him, without, however, making him
wiser; for the maiden, who had crept behind a juniper-bush in the field
when she saw the Sheriff coming, ran back again to the castle and called
together a number of people, who came and drove away the wolves, and
rescued his lordship. He then ordered a great wolf-hunt to be held next
day in the convent wood, and he who brought the one-eyed monster, dead or
alive, was to have a barrel of beer for his pains. Still they could not
catch him, albeit they that day took four wolves in their nets, and killed
them. He therefore straightway ordered a wolf-hunt to be held in my
parish. But when the fellow came to toll the bell for a wolf-hunt, he did
not stop a while, as is the wont for wolf-hunts, but loudly rang the bell
on, _sine mora_, so that all the folk thought a fire had broken out, and
ran screaming out of their houses. My child also came running out (I
myself had driven to visit a sick person at Zempin, seeing that walking
began to be wearisome to me, and that I could now afford to be more at
mine ease); but she had not stood long, and was asking the reason of the
ringing, when the Sheriff himself, on his grey charger, with three
cart-loads of toils and nets following him, galloped up and ordered the