heard the curious ZIP--ZIP--ZIP of snowshoes approaching his blood ran
no faster than it had in the preceding minutes of his expectation, so
sure had he been that the man he was after would soon loom up out of
the starlight. In the brief interval after the passing of the wolves he
had made up his mind what he would do. Fate had played a trump card
into his hand. From the first he had figured that strategy would have
much to do in the taking of Bram, who would be practically unassailable
when surrounded by the savage horde which, at a word from him, had
proved themselves ready to tear his enemies into pieces. Now, with the
wolves gorging themselves, his plan was to cut Bram off and make him, a
prisoner.

From his knees he rose slowly to his feet, still hidden in the shadow
of the spruce. His rifle he discarded. In his un-mittened hand he held
his revolver. With staring eyes he looked for Bram out where the wolves
had passed. And then, all at once, came the shock. It was tremendous.
The trickery of sound on the Barren had played an unexpected prank with
his senses, and while he strained his eyes to pierce the hazy starlight
of the plain far out, Bram himself loomed up suddenly along the edge of
the bush not twenty paces away.

Philip choked back the cry on his lips, and in that moment Bram stopped
short, standing full in the starlight, his great lungs taking in and
expelling air with a gasping sound as he listened for his wolves. He
was a giant of a man. A monster, Philip thought. It is probable that
the elusive glow of the night added to his size as he stood there.
About his shoulders fell a mass of unkempt hair that looked like
seaweed. His beard was short and thick, and for a flash Philip saw the
starlight in his eyes--eyes that were shining like the eyes of a cat.
In that same moment he saw the face. It was a terrible, questing
face--the face of a creature that was hunting, and yet hunted; of a
creature half animal and half man. So long as he lived he knew that he
would never forget it; the wild savagery of it, the questing fire that
was in the eyes, the loneliness of it there in the night, set apart
from all mankind; and with the face he would never forget that other
thing that came to him audibly--the throbbing, gasping heartbeat of the
man's body.

In this moment Philip knew that the time to act was at hand. His
fingers gripped tighter about the butt of his revolver as he stepped
forward out of the shadow.

B