feet
away.

"Sangree's tent," he exclaimed in a loud and startled whisper.

I craned my head round the corner, but at first the effect of the fog
was so confusing that every patch of white driving about before the wind
looked like a moving tent and it was some seconds before I discovered
the one patch that held steady. Then I saw that it was shaking all over,
and the sides, flapping as much as the tightness of the ropes allowed,
were the cause of the booming sound we had heard. Something alive was
tearing frantically about inside, banging against the stretched canvas
in a way that made me think of a great moth dashing against the walls
and ceiling of a room. The tent bulged and rocked.

"It's trying to get out, by Jupiter!" muttered the clergyman, rising to
his feet and turning to the side where the unloaded rifle lay. I sprang
up too, hardly knowing what purpose was in my mind, but anxious to be
prepared for anything. John Silence, however, was before us both, and
his figure slipped past and blocked the doorway of the tent. And there
was some quality in his voice next minute when he began to speak that
brought our minds instantly to a state of calm obedience.

"First--the women's tent," he said low, looking sharply at Maloney, "and
if I need your help, I'll call."

The clergyman needed no second bidding. He dived past me and was out in
a moment. He was labouring evidently under intense excitement. I watched
him picking his way silently over the slippery ground, giving the moving
tent a wide berth, and presently disappearing among the floating shapes
of fog.

Dr. Silence turned to me. "You heard those footsteps about half an hour
ago?" he asked significantly.

"I heard nothing."

"They were extraordinarily soft--almost the soundless tread of a wild
creature. But now, follow me closely," he added, "for we must waste no
time if I am to save this poor man from his affliction and lead his
werewolf Double to its rest. And, unless I am much mistaken"--he
peered at me through the darkness, whispering with the utmost
distinctness--"Joan and Sangree are absolutely made for one another. And
I think she knows it too--just as well as he does."

My head swam a little as I listened, but at the same time something
cleared in my brain and I saw that he was right. Yet it was all so weird
and incredible, so remote from the commonplace facts of life as
commonplace people know them; and more than once it flashed upon me that
th