He then glanced from her face to her
hands, and noticed with a spasm of horror that the tips of her long and
beautifully shaped nails were dripping with blood, and that there was
blood, too, on her knees and feet, blood all over her. He then looked at
the driver and saw the wretched man's clothes had been partially
stripped off, and that there were great gory holes in his throat and
abdomen.

"Oh, I am so glad you have come!" the woman cried, addressing him in a
strangely peculiar voice, that thrilled him to the marrow of his bones.
"It is the wolves. Do come and see what they have done. I saw them, from
a distance, attack this poor man, and leaving my sleigh, for my horses
came to a dead halt, and nothing I could do would induce them to move, I
ran to his assistance. But, alas! I was too late!" Then, looking at her
dress, from which Hans could scarcely remove his eyes, she cried out:
"Ugh! How disgusting--blood! My hands and clothes are covered with it. I
tried to stop the bleeding, but it was no use"; and she proceeded to
wipe her fingers on the snow.

"But why did you venture here alone?" Hans inquired, "and why unarmed?
How foolhardy! The wolves would have made short work of you had you
encountered them!"

"Then you cannot have heard the report of my gun!" the woman cried, in
well-feigned astonishment. "How strange! I fired at the wolves from over
there"; and she pointed with one of her slender, milky-white fingers to
a spot on the ice some fifty yards away. "Fortunately, they all made
off," she continued, "and I hastened hither, dropping my gun that I
might run the faster."

"I can see no gun," Hans exclaimed, shading his eyes with his hand and
staring hard.

The woman laughed. "What a disbelieving Jew it is!" she said. "The gun
is there; I can see it plainly. You must be short-sighted." And then,
straining her eyes on the far distance, she shrieked: "Great Heavens! My
sleigh has gone! Oh! what shall I do? What shall I do?"

Giving way to every gesture of despair, she looked so forlorn and
beautiful that Hans would have been full of pity for her, had not
certain vague suspicions, which he could neither account for nor
overcome, entered his heart. Sorely perplexed, he did not know what to
do, and stood looking at her in critical silence.

"Won't you come with me?" she said, clasping her hands beseechingly.
"Come with me to look for it. The horses may only have strayed a short
distance, and we might overtak