"Ho! ho!" laughed Boris. "Now what do you think of that! Here is a brave young man turning sick just because he has swallowed a piece of horse. Ho! ho!" He laughed long and loudly. "Won't you please keep quiet?" asked Jack, getting sicker every minute. "Horse! Ugh!" Realizing that the lad really and truly didn't like such talk, the Russian desisted. He arose and walked to the window. Without, but some distance from the hut now that the fire was blazing freely in the open place, stood the gaunt, gray wolves. Boris called Jack to him. "They'll stay there as long as this fire is kept burning," he explained. "But there is no need for both of us to stand guard. One can watch and keep the fire going and the other can sleep. We'll divide the night into four-hour watches. You lie down on the pallet there in the corner. I'll stand the first watch." Jack did as Boris suggested and was soon asleep; and all through the long night, inside the hut one stood guard as the other slept--and the break of day did not come any too suddenly. CHAPTER XXIII. CAPTURED BY NEW ENEMIES. Dawn came early in Boris' second watch. The wolves still maintained their vigil without. The Russian kept the fire blazing brightly. He determined to let Jack sleep an hour longer. But this was not to be. Glancing from the window, Boris saw the wolves suddenly begin to move away. It was strange and the Russian was unable to account for it. But he was not long making out the cause of the trouble. Came the sound of footsteps without--not a sound made by a single man, but rather by a large body of men. Boris became instantly apprehensive, and tip-toeing across the room, he aroused Jack quietly. As the lad opened his eyes the Russian laid a warning finger to his lips: "Sh-h-sh," he said softly. "What's the matter now?" demanded Jack. "Wolves?" Boris shook his head. "Surgoff?" whispered Jack. "Can't tell yet," was the reply. "There are men outside. Perhaps they will pass by without looking in." "No such luck, with those dead wolves out there," said Jack. The lad was right. Suddenly there came a voice from without, raised in surprise. "Ho! There must be men within the hut--dead or alive. See the dead wolves? There must have been a battle. We shall go in." The footsteps approached the door. A moment later there was a loud knock. "Shall we open the door?" whispered Jack. "May as well," replied Boris. "If we don't, they will break the door in." Came a second heavy knock on the door and a voice called: "Is there any one there?" "One moment and I shall unbar the door," Boris called back. The door opened at last, three men, cloaked in the uniform of Russian officers, strode in. They eyed Jack and Boris keenly. "What are you doing here?" demanded one, evidently the commander.