e man's face, his jaws missing and coming together with a metallic
clip. They rolled over and over on the snow, Leclere striking madly with
his fists. Then they separated, face to face, and circled back and forth
before each other. Leclere could have drawn his knife. His rifle was at
his feet. But the beast in him was up and raging. He would do the thing
with his hands--and his teeth. Batard sprang in, but Leclere knocked him
over with a blow of the fist, fell upon him, and buried his teeth to the
bone in the dog's shoulder.

It was a primordial setting and a primordial scene, such as might have
been in the savage youth of the world. An open space in a dark forest, a
ring of grinning wolf-dogs, and in the centre two beasts, locked in
combat, snapping and snarling raging madly about panting, sobbing,
cursing, straining, wild with passion, in a fury of murder, ripping and
tearing and clawing in elemental brutishness.

But Leclere caught Batard behind the ear with a blow from his fist,
knocking him over, and, for the instant, stunning him. Then Leclere
leaped upon him with his feet, and sprang up and down, striving to grind
him into the earth. Both Batard's hind legs were broken ere Leclere
ceased that he might catch breath.

"A-a-ah! A-a-ah!" he screamed, incapable of speech, shaking his fist,
through sheer impotence of throat and larynx.

But Batard was indomitable. He lay there in a helpless welter, his lip
feebly lifting and writhing to the snarl he had not the strength to
utter. Leclere kicked him, and the tired jaws closed on the ankle, but
could not break the skin.

Then Leclere picked up the whip and proceeded almost to cut him to
pieces, at each stroke of the lash crying: "Dis taim Ah break you! Eh?
By _Gar_! Ah break you!"

In the end, exhausted, fainting from loss of blood, he crumpled up and
fell by his victim, and when the wolf-dogs closed in to take their
vengeance, with his last consciousness dragged his body on top of Batard
to shield him from their fangs.

This occurred not far from Sunrise, and the missionary, opening the door
to Leclere a few hours later, was surprised to note the absence of Batard
from the team. Nor did his surprise lessen when Leclere threw back the
robes from the sled, gathered Batard into his arms and staggered across
the threshold. It happened that the surgeon of McQuestion, who was
something of a gadabout, was up on a gossip, and between them they
proceeded