Presently, with a long sigh, James Douglas opened his eyes.
"Where are the wolves?" he said, with a grimace of disgust. Sholto
told him how all that were left alive had, for the present at least,
disappeared.
"Ugh, the filthy brutes!" said Lord James. "I fought till the stench
of their hot breaths seemed to stifle me. I felt my head run round
like a dog in a fit, and down I went. What happened after that?"
"This," said Malise, sententiously, pointing to the heaps of dead
wolves which were becoming more apparent as the night ebbed and the
blue flame rose and fell like a fluttering pulse along the horizon.
"Then to one or the other of you I owe my life," said Lord James
Douglas, reaching a hand to both.
"Sholto dragged you from under half a dozen of the devils," said
Malise.
"My father it was who brought you to," said Sholto.
"I thank you both with all my heart--for this as for all the rest. I
know not, indeed, where to begin," said James Douglas, gratefully.
"Give me your hands. I can stand upright now."
So saying, and being assisted by Malise, he rose to his feet.
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