Page:A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields.djvu/91

60 More closely to regard the sand we trod, For sand it was at present. Soon he rose And in a low voice said, that thrilled through all— For never had he been in error yet On such a subject—that the recent marks Announced the steady gait and powerful claws Of two wolves full-grown, followed by two cubs. We then got ready our broad-bladed knives And polished guns, and striving to conceal The flashing lustre of the steel that shone Too white in the surrounding darkness, moved Step after step, pushing the boughs aside That stretched across our path. Three stopped,—and then While straining to find out what they had seen, At once I saw two blazing eyes like coals, And then four forms, agile, and lithe, and gaunt, That danced in the faint moonlight on the furze Like joyous greyhounds, such as oft are seen Clamorous around their master from the chase At eve returned. Similar was their form And similar the dance; only the wolves And cubs gambolled in silence, as though they felt The neighbourhood of man, their mortal foe. The male stood on his feet, and farther on, Against a tree the female wolf reclined— A marble image, like the one adored By the old Romans as the heaven-sent nurse Of Romulus and Remus, demi-gods, Who from her shaggy side drew nourishment. A slight noise, and the male wolf was alert, His hooked nails buried in the sand, he looked Intent around, then judged himself for lost. He was surprised, and all retreat cut off!