Freddie nodded. "Yes. Lots of people will come to feel like that if this war drags on for years without any sign that there may ever be a finish to it; but even if we did make that sort of peace Europe would remain an armed camp, so the Germans wouldn't dare to proceed with their plans any further."
'That's where you're utterly wrong, Gregory declared. "We had riots in our Army after the last war because the men were anxious to get home and they couldn't be demobilized quickly enough. The same thing would happen again and all the business people would start pressing for a reduction of taxation. Our Army, Navy and Air Force would dwindle and we should cease to manufacture the latest types of planes and munitions. Everybody would say that we had all we needed and our types would become obsolete, because Germany would not react in the same way at all. Hitler would be training another generation of German youth for the battlefield; Goebbels would be stuffing them with his propaganda; Goering would be improving his aeroplane designs and turning out better models than ours as hard as he could go.
"Within a year Hitler would be ahead of us again and ready to make his next move with impunity or, if need be, to fight another nine months' war. That is why this document has got to be placed in the hands of my old friend, Sir Pellinore Gwaine-Cust, who will put it before the Cabinet and the Allied War Council. He will vouch to them for my integrity; that if I say I got it from Goering's safe I did get it from Goering's safe. As it is irrefutable proof of Germany's intentions it may be the means of checking any move towards peace until Germany is down and out and split up into little pieces once and torah. It must reach them at the earliest possible moment. Therefore, I intend to leave for England to morrow."
Had a Russian plane dropped a bomb in the clearing at that moment it could not have caused a greater consternation among Gregory's listeners.
"But you can't, darling! " Erika exclaimed. "We're snowed up here."
"Of course he can't " Angela supported her. "We don’t even know the way to the nearest village and it may be fifty miles away. He'd be frozen to death long before he got there."
Freddie sat silent with a strained look on his face. The girls continued their chorus of protest, but it was clear that their arguments were not having the least effect on Gregory and when at last they petered out in a miserable silence Freddie said:
"I do understand now, old chap, how important this thing is. From what you said it's quite' clear that by making any premature peace we should only be falling into Hitler's trap, and it's got to be a fight to the finish. I doubt if one of us could get through alone, but two of us might, and I'd willingly come with you if only there was some way in which we could leave the girls with a reasonable hope that they could remain here in safety."
There was an awful' silence as Angela stared at him wide eyed, but Gregory said at once: "I'll manage somehow, Freddie; you must stay and look after them."
Erika sighed. "You know, we've been very happy here; but fate didn't mean our happiness to continue. It couldn't with everything which we hold dear in the world at stake; and when the thaw came we should have felt drawn back anyhow. I don't believe that Gregory could get through alone, either, and I think I should be tempted to kill myself if I had to stay on here not knowing what had happened to him. But if we all went we could take the sleigh, drive and sleep by turns, collect wood to make fires when we have to halt and cook meals."
Angela nodded. "I know that Freddie feels he ought to go; and although I suppose we could manage for ourselves I'm not staying without him. Besides, it's up to us as much as the men to stop the Nazi terror bringing misery to countless people all over the world, and we've learnt to do so much in these last two months that I'm sure we should be a help rather than a hindrance."
"Very well, then," Gregory said quietly. "I wouldn't allow any of you to budge from here if I didn't know that your coming with me would enormously increase my chances of getting back to civilization with these grimy bits of paper. But as you're game to risk death with me I accept your offer. We start to morrow,"
Once the decision had been taken they began their preparations immediately. It was important that the sleigh should be kept as light as possible, in order not to overburden the horses, so they made out a list of things they might require, carefully assessing the value of each item before deciding to take it with them. Fur rugs to keep out the devastating cold, spades for digging the sleigh out if it got stuck in a snowdrift, hatchets for
chopping wood to make fires, paraffin with which to light them easily, and arms for their protection, were all essential. The rest of the load was to consist of various utensils and food and fodder enough to last them a week.
Having completed their list they turned in and went to sleep wondering uneasily where the following night would find them; but they were all up early the next morning and, concealing the anxiety which they could not help feeling under a rather forced gaiety, they set to loading the sleigh.
Over breakfast their light small talk petered out and it was a very silent party that harnessed the horses to the troika half an hour later. They had many regrets at leaving their Arctic refuge and little elation at the prospect that in a few days they might be back in civilization again. Between them and safety lay the possibility of capture by the Russians or worse of their getting lost in the limitless forests and dying from cold and hunger.
It was still dark when they started and Freddie, who had taken the reins for the first spell, drove the troika in a zigzag course between the trees to avoid the great snow covered barrier they had erected across the track. The road was now only a big snow filled gully between the two masses of trees, but in its centre, where there were no drifts, the surface was even and hard enough for the horses to trot on without burying their hooves further than the fetlocks.
Freddie turned the sleigh to the right on reaching the road as it had been decided to head towards Petsamo until they could find a side road leading west, in the direction of the frontier. Apart from losing their way their main danger lay in the possibility of running into Russian detachments which might be patrolling that section of the broken battle front, but owing to the rigours of the climate such detachments must be rare, so they hoped to get through unchallenged.
If they managed to get back into Finnish territory there was still a risk that the two men might be arrested for murder, but over two months had elapsed since the charge had been brought against them and the Finnish police must since have had a multitude of more urgent matters to attend to. Unless they had the unlikely misfortune of running into Monsieur Wuolijoki, or the. Chief of Police himself, they did not feel that they had to worry very much on that score; particularly as they had no intention or trying to get back to Helsinki but meant to strike across Northern Finland into Norway.
Resting the horses for ten minutes in each hour they drove for three hours but during all that time they saw no sign of a side road leading to the west; so Gregory decided that they had better enter the next wide break among the trees where they could strike west across country. Half an hour later they turned left along a clearing which penetrated the forest as far as they could see, finding little difference between the snow covered grassland and the snow covered surface of the road.
As they advanced the clearing widened until the trees had fallen back a mile or more on either side of them; but after another hour the ground became broken and uneven, which slowed up the pace of the horses. Ten minutes later they became stuck in a snowdrift. They soon had the sleigh free and the work of digging it out warmed them; but they were not so pleased at having to exert themselves when it got stuck again a hundred yards further on.
In the next hour they had to dig the sleigh out of snowdrifts six times and in their heavy furs it was a wearing business, but at last they struck hard snow and were able to move on again at a decent pace.
The short day was now over and full dusk had come when they reached a barrier of forest lying right across their path, where the trees were so thick that it was impossibl
e for the sleigh to be driven between them. Gregory said that they must turn south but that as long as it was dark they might pass another gap in the trees by which they could get further westward; whereas they would later have the moon which would be full that night to light their way; so their best course was to eat and afterwards sleep for a few hours.
Having put on the horses' nosebags and rugged them up they made a meal of a portion of the cooked food they had brought with them; then snuggled down together under the furs in the sleigh, burying themselves under the great heap to keep in the warmth as much as possible.
At ten o'clock they roused up and set off again, driving south along the edge of the forest until a clearing opened in it. Turning west they drove on in a zigzag course from clearing to clearing, or sometimes across broad stretches of open land, until one o'clock in the morning.
They had reached another impasse and Gregory felt that, even allowing for the evening halt, enough had been asked of the horses in one day. In the clear Arctic night with a moon only occasionally hidden by scudding clouds they proceeded to form a camp. The men collected and cut branches while the girls got a fire going and it was soon blazing well enough for them to melt snow in saucepans for drinking water for themselves and the horses. They had to wait a little until part of it had died down sufficiently for them to cook on. By making a separate pile of part of the red embers Angela was able to heat up some tins of soup and warm up some coffee. After they had eaten they piled the fire high with all the branches they could find and, curling up in the sleigh, went to sleep.
When they awoke next morning their vitality was very low. The frightful cold had penetrated even their heavy coverings and immediately they crawled out from beneath the rugs frost from their breath rimed their eyebrows. Their sleep had not refreshed them for they felt drowsy and their extremities were numb. While they tried to warm themselves by violent exercise they wondered miserably if after another night like the last they would fail to wake in the morning and remain frozen in their sleigh, with the snow for a canopy, until someone found them in the spring. Angela, forgetting that it was dangerous to touch metal when the thermometer was so many degrees below zero, burnt her fingers through removing her glove to open a tin; Erika was crying from the cold and her tears froze as they ran down her blue cheeks.
Snow was falling gently but, urged by an instinctive effort of self preservation, they managed to get another fire going and cook themselves some breakfast. After they had eaten they felt a little restored. The hardy Arctic ponies had taken less harm from the cruel night than the humans and, having harnessed them to the sleigh, the party set off once more.
All through the short day they continued their tourney, often having to turn south but sooner or later always finding an opening that led them further to the west. The girls were dumb from the agony they felt and Freddie, who loved winter sports and exercise, had been reduced to a state of despondency in which he was too dejected even to blaspheme each time they had to dig the sleigh out of deep snow. It was the indomitable spirit in Gregory's lean body that kept them all going as he mocked or cussed them into making a fresh effort whenever they got stuck and encouraged them with the belief that they must sight a village in another mile or two. He was feeling the cold as acutely as any of them but he would not show it and it seemed as if he was made of steel.
The days were lengthening slightly but dusk still fell before four o'clock, an d when it came they halted once more, to eat again and rest before making the second daily stage of their journey, by moonlight.
It was about eleven o'clock and their last camp was an hour behind them when Erika caught the first distant howl of a wolf. A moment later it came again and the others heard it. Gregory was driving and he cast an uneasy glance over his shoulder. A lone wolf was nothing to be frightened of as it would never dare to attack them; but even he was not proof against a spasm of fear at the thought that they might be hunted by a pack.
The howling came again, this time from a slightly different direction another wolf had taken it up. Within five minutes the forest, from being dead with an unearthly silence, was filled with a horrid baying in their rear.
The horses had heard the threatening note before the humans. Gregory had no need to urge them on. They were straining at the harness. For ten minutes the sleigh was carried across the snow at a faster pace than any they had made since leaving the trapper's house.
Suddenly another barrier of trees loomed up before them in the moonlight and Gregory had to swerve south along it. Churning up the snow, which glistened in the moonlight like two sheets of spray as it flew out on either side of them, the sleigh sped on for another five minutes. But the howling of the wolves was nearer now much nearer. They had decreased their distance by cutting across the corner formed by the sleigh's track.
Freddie and the girls had crawled out from underneath the rugs and were straining their eyes through the semi darkness in their wake. Another moment and they could just make out a black shadow that seemed to dance upon the snow in the distance. It was the pack that now had them in sight and was in full cry after them.
Another gap opened in the woods. Straining at the reins Gregory cornered it at such speed that the sleigh nearly overturned. A breathless second and they had straightened out again to continue their wild career.
Not one of them had spoken, but a ghastly fear filled all their hearts. They were miles from any form of help or shelter. If they struck another snow drift, or the wolves once caught up with them, the horses would be torn to pieces and they, in turn, would suffer a frightful death as they fell fighting under the tearing fangs of the ravenous pack.
Chapter XXVI
Hunted By Wolves
GREGORY dared not look behind again; it was all he could do to control the sweating, terror maddened horses. The troika was flying over the ground at such speed that in spite of his fears he felt all the exhilaration which he would have got out of driving a Roman racing chariot; but it needed iron muscles to guide the three stampeded beasts and an unswerving eye for the ground ahead. Any hummock in the snow might conceal a tree stump and overturn the whole outfit, leaving them a defenceless prey to the famished beasts which were hunting them so relentlessly.
The others had got out the arms they had brought and Freddie was lying with a rifle over the back of the sleigh. The wolves were now less than two hundred yards behind; a dark, undulating patch that seemed to streak along the white carpet of snow. It was impossible to count them but he reckoned that there were anything from seventy to a hundred. Another few minutes and he could distinguish the leaders; see their fiery eyes gleaming in the moonlight.
Still no one spoke. Driver and passengers were all frantically racking their wits for some way to escape the terrible death that menaced them. It was useless to drive in among the scattered trees on the fringe of the forest in the hope of throwing the pack off. Wherever the sleigh could go the wolves would follow. For a second the idea came to Gregory that they might pull up and climb a tree. But even if in their mad flight he could have selected a tree which it would have been easy for them to climb they had not sufficient lead to do so now before the wolves would be upon them; and if they could have fought them off long enough to scramble up to safety it would have meant
sacrificing the horses.
That thought gave him an idea which he was horribly reluctant to carry out; but their lives were at stake and it might mean a temporary respite during which he could perform the seemingly impossible and think of some other plan to save them. Now that he had his full mental capabilities back, to think was, once again, to act.
Rolling the reins round his left hand, with his right he drew the trapper's sharp hunting knife from his belt and, stooping, swiftly severed the leather thongs by which the breast harness of the off side horse was attached to the sleigh. Directly it felt itself free of the weight it was dragging it bounded forward with a new spurt of energy nearly jerking Gregory out of the sleigh by the single rein which was all
that now held it. But he had been expecting such a movement and had thrown himself backwards at the same instant, partially counteracting the pull. The other horses reared and the sleigh was almost brought to a standstill. Sheathing his knife lie eased the reins and, as the sleigh started forward again, released the rein of the off horse altogether. As it broke away, outdistancing the others, he pulled his gun. For a moment the horse streaked ahead of them, its harness flapping wildly. Gregory swerved the sleigh a little to the left and did the horrible thing he had to do. Aiming his pistol at the horse he had freed he put three rounds into its buttocks.
An almost human scream of pain went up from the wounded animal. It faltered slightly in its gallop, its pace lessened. As they raced past Gregory put another bullet into its head in the hope that his last flying shot might kill it. He could not turn to see what happened; but the others saw. The horse plunged on, reeling from side to side for fifty yards, then fell. A howl of exultation went up from the pack and the poor beast was submerged under them.
For a few minutes it seemed as though the sacrifice had saved them so Gregory hauled on the reins of the two remaining horses to ease their pace and conserve their flagging energy. The evil baying of the wolves fell away in the distance; but it was never quite lost and soon they realized that it was drawing nearer again. For a pack of seventy to a hundred wolves a single horse was far from sufficient to satiate their ravenous appetites. The carcase had been picked clean and the pack was now hunting further prey.
Ahead another barrier of thick, impassable forest loomed up and Gregory knew that they must turn again; so he swerved to the south a few hundred yards before they reached it. Once more the others, peering out of the back of the sleigh, could see that sinister black patch undulating across the snow in their rear. The speed of the sleigh had diminished now that it had only two horses to draw it and they had already spent their best efforts; but the raw flesh that the wolves had just devoured did not seem to have lessened their pace. Very soon they were near enough again for' their gleaming eyes to be seen sprinkling the black patch they formed as they loped swiftly forward.
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