Over he jumped, however, and the wall covering him
from my sight, I had no means of judging how badly he was hurt; so on I
went, and charged the wall with a tight rein, and a steady pull; and
lucky for me was it, that I had a steady pull; for under the lee of the
wall there was a heap of rugged logs into which Bob plunged gallantly,
and, in spite of my hard hold on him, floundered a moment, and went
over. Had I been going at top speed, a very nasty fall must have been
the immediate consequence--as it was, both of us rolled over; but with
small violence, and on soft snow, so that no harm was done.
"As I came off, however, I found myself in a most unpleasant
neighborhood; for my good friend the wolf, hurt pretty badly by the last
shot, had, as it seemed, ensconced himself among the logs, whence Bob's
assault and subsequent discomfiture had somewhat suddenly dislodged him;
so that, as I rolled over on the snow, I found myself within six feet of
my friend, seemingly very doubtful whether to fight or fly! But, by good
luck, my bullet had struck him on the hip-bone, and being of a rather
large calibre, had let his claret pretty freely loose, besides
shattering the bone, so that he was but in poor fighting trim; and I had
time to get back to the gray--who stood snorting and panting, up to his
knees in snow and rubbish, but without offering to stir--to draw my
second pistol, and to give Isegrin--as the Germans call him--the coup de
grace, before he could attain the friendly shelter of the dingle, to
which with all due speed he was retreating.
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