pointed at the other. However, before either of them can shoot, a huge tree collapses onto them, trapping them both beneath the weight of its branches.

In the climax of the story, trapped beneath the huge fallen tree, Ulrich and Georg eventually reconcile. As they wait to be rescued, they allow themselves to contemplate "the wonderful changes that this dramatic reconciliation [will] bring about." However, Ulrich and Georg see "figures coming through the woods," towards where they are trapped. At first they think that the figures are perhaps the friends of one or the other of them, but then Ulrich sees what the figures really are. He laughs "the idiotic chattering laugh of a man unstrung with hideous fear" and utters the word, "Wolves."

This is a tragically ironic climax. Ulrich and Georg have for so long been consumed with an utterly destructive hate for one another, and yet when they finally reconcile and look forward to a better, more peaceful future, that future is cruelly taken from them, or at least seems very much like it will be taken from them, by the wolves. The climax is also a cliff-hanger. We leave the story with the wolves approaching Ulrich and Georg, but we don't see the wolves attack. An optimistic reader might hold on to the faint hope that Ulrich and Georg somehow escape.

Since there are two major conflicts, an argument can be made that there are two climactic moments. With the conflict of Man vs. Man, the climax comes when the two enemies, Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym, reconcile their differences. Then, once they are friends, they are yet engaged in another conflict: Man vs. Nature.

The climax of this conflict comes as the two men shout to beckon what they think are their hunters. Moreover, this climax is really the point of highest intensity in the story, and it comes near the end as is customary for climaxes.

Having reconciled their differences, the two men, enemies who have begun a friendship, decide that since the wind has lessened, they may be able to reach the hearing of their hunters who are patrolling the wooded strip of land. Ulrich suggests,

"Let's shout for help...in this lull our voices may carry a little way."

Georg observes that it will be almost impossible for their voices to carry through the dense forest with its trees and undergrowth: "...but we can try. Together then." And the two men raise their voices together. Soon, Ulrich tells Georg that he has heard something; however, Georg replies that he has heard nothing. After a silence of a few moments, Ulrich cries out joyfully, "I can see figures coming through the woods."

Together both men summon the figures by shouting as loud as they can. After a few moments, Ulrich cries out in joy,

"They hear us! They've stopped. Now they see us. They're running down the hill toward us."

"Who are they?" asks Georg, who hopes his men are on the way so that he can be the first one to extend courtesies to his new friend. But, Ulrich would rather that he did not recognize them, nor have called them: "Wolves."

The climax of “The Interlopers” is the point where Ulrich and Georg agree to work together.

The climax is the moment of greatest emotional intensity, or the turning point in the story.  It can occur anywhere, but will usually be near the end.  It is the point where the problem is solved or changes, and there is a new problem or no problem.

At the beginning of the story, the two men are enemies.

The two enemies stood glaring at one another for a long silent moment. Each had a rifle in his hand, each had hate in his heart and murder uppermost in his mind.

Yet when a tree falls on them, they decide to change their minds.  They are going to stop being enemies.  They realize the pointlessness of it.

We have quarrelled like devils all our lives over this stupid strip of forest, where the trees can't even stand upright in a breath of wind.

At this point, the story has changed.  The men go from being two men who are trying to kill each other to two men who have decided to not be enemies anymore.  At this point, the men agree to work together and call for help—good thing to, because wolves are coming.

The climax of the story is when Ulrich Von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym meet face to face in the forest. A bit of context is important to set up the scene. 

Ulrich and Georg are enemies. Their families have been feuding over a stretch of land. When Ulrich is scouting with a group of his men to make sure that Georg and his men are not poaching, he comes face to face with Georg. This is the moment that Ulrich was waiting for. 

When the men see each other, the climax rises. What will they do? What will happen? Unbeknownst to all, there is a wind that knocks down a tree, which falls on both men. They, therefore, are pinned down, helpless. This is the climax of the story. 

As the men face each other in silence, they finally come to their senses. Ulrich offers wine to Georg, and both men realize that their feud is foolish. They, therefore, become friends and want to move forward. This is the resolution. All seems well, but when they hear footsteps approaching, they realize that these footsteps are not men but wolves. Hence, the story ends with a twist. 

The rising action of "The Interlopers" begins as Ulrich von Gradwitz and his men search for his enemy; soon, they confront each other face-to-face, but the beech tree around which they have moved in opposite directions falls on them, pinning them beneath its large branches. As they lie pinioned, the foes are confrontational with each other until Ulrich offers his flask to Georg.

Here is a definition of the rising action: 

Rising action is a series of episodes in a narrative which occur after the exposition and lead to the climax of the story. Rising action usually comprises the majority of the plot, as the author must include all necessary events and information in the rising action for the eventual climax and denouement to be significant to the reader [Literary Devices]

In Saki's story, then, once the reader is introduced to the characters, Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym, and informed about their feud, the rising action begins.

• Ulrich von Gradwitz and his hunters search for "the poachers." Ulrich strays from his men, hoping to confront his enemy on the wild night that presages a storm.
• Suddenly, Ulrich's wish is fulfilled, but the men hesitate for a split civilized second because

...a man who has been brought up under the code of a restraining civilization cannot easily nerve himself to shoot down his neighbor in cold blood and without a word spoken....

• Just as the men try to regain their composure, "a deed of Nature's own violence" intervenes and the men are caught under a mass of falling branches as the tree is struck by lightning. The two foes fall beneath large branches from which they cannot escape.
• The two enemies argue over whose men will arrive first to rescue them and punish the other. Then, they exchange personal insults.
• As time passes the men give up a useless struggle; instead, they wait and worry about whose men will appear first. Shortly thereafter, Ulrich tries to free one arm that is only partially trapped so that he can reach his flask.
• After he succeeds in swallowing some of the reviving wine, Ulrich looks across "with something like a throb of pity" to where his enemy lies groaning in pain. He asks Georg,

"Can you reach this flask if I throw it over to you?....There is good wine in it....Let us drink, even if tonight one of us dies."

• But, Georg replies that he scarcely can see for all the caked blood over his eyes; with hatred he adds, "...in any case I don't drink wine with an enemy."
• Uncharacteristically, Ulrich is silent as an idea begins to form in his mind. Because of his physical pain, the old hatred seems to be dying.

The rising action of the story is when the men get caught under the tree.

The rising action of the story is when complications start to be introduced.  After the exposition, which introduces that characters and setting, the rising action is when things start to get more and more interesting.

In this story, two families are feuding.  Two members of the feuding families meet in the woods, each trying to protect his claim on the land from the other family.  When they meet each other, trouble seems eminent.

 The two enemies stood glaring at one another for a long silent moment. Each had a rifle in his hand, each had hate in his heart and murder uppermost in his mind. The chance had come to give full play to the passions of a lifetime.

The problem comes when the two men are trapped under a tree.  Their threat to each other is neutralized for the moment, and each can only threaten to have the other killed once his own men rescue him.  As they wait under the tree, they can't get away from each other.  They have to talk to each other, and get to know each other as people and not as nameless, faceless, enemies.

The rising action is the series of events in a story that leads to a climactic moment. In Saki's short story "The Interlopers," the exposition involves the background information regarding the intense family feud between the Gradwitz and Znaeym families over a highly disputed piece of territory. The rising action includes Ulrich von Gradwitz patrolling his territory on a wintry night in search of Georg Znaeym. The rising action also includes the moment when Ulrich stands face-to-face with Georg alone in the forest. Both men had left their hunting parties behind and the intensity of the story is about to peak as they stand across from each other ready to kill their enemy. The climax of the story takes place when a storm knocks over a mass of beech tree onto both men, trapping them beneath a heavy branch. Both men are incapacitated and cannot escape from the tree. It is important to note that the rising action comes to an abrupt end just before the climax of the story takes place.

The rising action of the short story, "The Interlopers," is the face to face encounter of Ulrich Von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym. This is such a short story that the rising action, climax, and resolution take place in fast succession. 

In the beginning of the story, the setting is established. Both Ulrich and Georg dislike each other and this animosity goes back at least two generations. In light of this, Ulrich wishes that he could see Georg face to face to kill him. As Ulrich and his men were scouting for interlopers, namely Georg and his men, Ulrich actually gets his wish. He comes face to face with Georg. This is the rising action.

However, before he could act, the plot takes another step forward and a gush of wind knocks down a tree. Both men are trapped and cannot do anything. So, they just wait until they resolve their differences. 

In the short story, “The Interloper,” by Saki, there are many elements of conflict and rising action. There is definitely rising action as the animals in the forest (even those who don’t usually go out and about at night) are agitated. The weather plays into the rising action as it is so bitterly cold, and the wind is violent. When the two men meet and begin arguing the action continues to rise, and at that moment nature one’s again interjects her harsh soul as the tree falls on both men, pinning them to the ground.

Readers might be tempted to believe that the main conflict in “The Interlopers” is between the two characters, Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym. The families of these men have been feuding for generations, and they are but the two most recent inheritors of the vendetta. When the story begins, Ulrich and Georg are each seeking the other so that he might kill him. When they come face-to-face in the forest, the narrator says that the “chance had come to give full play to the passions of a lifetime.” The conflict between the two enemies is significant, certainly. However, it is not the most significant conflict in the story.

No, the main conflict of this story is between the two men and nature itself. When they meet in the forest, a storm rages, and a falling tree “thunder[s] down on them” both. It traps both men underneath it, helpless and stuck until help arrives. While they wait for help, Ulrich and Georg actually come to a peace and agree to be friends henceforward, but, unfortunately for them, help never does arrive. The “pestilential wind” drowns out their calls for it. Eventually, the “interlopers” of the title arrive on the scene: a pack of wolves. We can assume that the men are eaten by the wolves. Thus, the real antagonist the men face is not one another but, instead, nature, in the form of the storm, the tree, the winds, and the wolves.

The main conflict of the story is between two families. A little context is necessary to understand what is going on. In the short story, there are two families that have been feuding over a strip of forest for decades. The courts ruled in the Gradwitz family's favour but the Znaeym family never accepted this.

This quote will give you the whole story in short:

A famous law suit, in the days of his grandfather, had wrested it from the illegal possession of a neighbouring family of petty landowners; the dispossessed party had never acquiesced in the judgment of the Courts, and a long series of poaching affrays and similar scandals had embittered the relationships between the families for three generations. The neighbour feud had grown into a personal one since Ulrich had come to be head of his family; if there was a man in the world whom he detested and wished ill to it was Georg Znaeym, the inheritor of the quarrel and the tireless game-snatcher and raider of the disputed border-forest. 

What makes the conflict in the story more intense is Ulrich is wandering through the woods and he comes in contact with Georg. They both are armed and ready to use it on each other. But at this moment, there is a blast of wind and a tree happens to fall on them. Both men are pinned down and cannot use their weapons against each other. Here they have to face each other until help comes. Both men hope that someone from their camp will come. Even in the face of possible death, conflict remains.

However, as time progresses, their humanity comes out and they begin to reconcile. When they hear footsteps, they are ready to make amends. The irony is that the steps are the steps of wolves.

The conflict then is between two family, and in particular, between two heads of families.  

I think one of the best parts of this story, is that the "falling action" is left out and therefore purposefully ambiguous (open to reader interpretation).  The story ends quite abruptly at the climax.  Ulrich and Georg, long time generational enemies, have at last, in their life-threatening predicament, become friends.  Calling out together for help shows that they have embraced the idea of unifying.  When they see figures in the distance, then, they believe for a moment (together) that they are saved.  Until:

"No," said Ulrich with a laugh, the idiotic chattering laugh of a man unstrung with hideous fear.

"Who are they?" asked Georg quickly, straining his eyes to see what the other would gladly not have seen.

"Wolves."

This is where the story ends.  In addition to the surprise ending (which is a great example of situational irony), the author leaves the fate of the two men untold.  The audience is left to their imaginations.  Like the original (and arguably better) horror movies, showing and telling less actually produces more.  The human imagination has the ability to end this tale with a much creepier and more chilling image than the author likely could have done with words.

The climax of the story is when the two men, Ulrich and Georg, make their peace and bury their feud.  However, they are still trapped underneath the tree.  The hear voices in the distance, and the hope is that they will be saved by their men, and that the men will go on from hear, friends.  However, before they can see either group of men approaching, they see a pack of wolves gathering.  The readers are left to believe that the men, although having made peace, will now be victim to the violence of the animals.

The denouement of a story is the "final outcome" of the main conflict of the story.  In this case, the denouement of the story is just implied, not actually stated.  The implied denouement is that the two men are going to get eaten by the wolves.

The main conflict in the story has been between the two men -- Ulrich and Georg.  Their conflict has led to them getting trapped under the fallen tree.  The conflict appears to resolve when the two of them decide to end their feud and become friendly.  But a little later, that outcome becomes irrelevant because they see the wolves coming toward them and they have no apparent way to escape.

In “The Interlopers” by Saki, the Znaeyms and the von Gradwitzes are neighboring families that have hated each other forever. Ulrich von Gradwitz owns the forest, and his neighbor, Georg Znaeym, poaches animals from it, as his family has done for ages. Aside from their family hatred, the two men hate each other personally—and have since they were children.

The two men meet in the forest by accident one winter night during a storm, but before they can kill one another, a large tree falls on them, pinning them down. At first they are furious at one another, and each makes threats about what will happen if their men appear first. But as the night wears on, Ulrich offers to share his flask of wine. Georg refuses, but when Ulrich offers his friendship if his men appear first, Georg accepts and agrees to do the same for Ulrich if his own men appear.

The two men shout for help together. It is the first time they have ever worked together, and at first it seems that their unity has saved them: someone is coming. Ulrich thinks that it is his men, but at the very end of the story, he realizes that what he thought were men are actually wolves. It is likely that the two men will die together.