o helpless all of a sudden, those two girls, while the
great beast crept past them again, trotting to the door. Marcelle had
taken a fagot from the fire, and cast it at him, but he only shook it
off, and growled savagely, bounding out into the snow.

"Ah, madame, it was terrible--terrible; and yet, as Leontine always
says, God is good.

"For while Marcelle was crying by the empty cradle, and the snow was
sweeping into the room and putting out the fire, Leontine had sprung to
the door, and had flung herself to the ground, with her brave white face
not two inches from the wolf's glaring eyes; she stretched out her hands
and caught him by his shaggy coat, twisting her strong fingers into his
matted hair. She still held her knife firmly, but she dared not use it.

"She succeeded in her wish, madame, however; the wolf was surprised and
angry. With a low, fierce growl, that made Marcelle's heart beat to
suffocation, he dropped the baby.

"Leontine has told me often that she never knows how she came living out
of that terrible struggle; she says she remembers crying aloud to God to
keep the baby safe, and to take the life she offered up so willingly
instead. She remembers striking with her knife at the great body that
fell upon her, blinding and suffocating her; then there came to her ears
a dim faint sound like music, and my cries--_I_ was the baby, you have
guessed, madame--and then silence, such silence as Leontine says she
thinks will be like the silence of death.

"But it was not death. Ah, no--there is Leontine, you see, coming up
with her pitcher from the well; and the wolf, the last wolf killed in
St. Privat, lies buried not a foot from where we stand; but Leontine
will carry her trophy of victory to her dying day. Some people say that
her face would be very beautiful but for the scar; but for me, madame, I
think that it is the scar that makes her face so beautiful."

[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX]

Our young friends must not be impatient if their communications are not
noticed immediately. Our space is limited, and we answer or print
letters in the order in which they are received. The following pleasant
note comes from a young correspondent in Paterson:

DEAR "YOUNG PEOPLE,"--If all the boys and girls were as glad to see
you as I was, you must have received a very flattering welcome. We
have felt the want of a cheap, first-class weekly paper so much
that we are able to appreci