ed
Carlin so far as Skag was concerned.

He didn't think of his own danger now. It wasn't that he ignored it;
rather that he had entered upon a new dimension of his power. He had
no thought of failure. No thought came to him that Carlin would have
prevented his entering had she been near. This was different from
anything he had ever been called to do, but his power was different.
The thing that engaged his mind was utterly clear from every angle. He
couldn't have missed the novelty from the unusual stress of Nels'
manner. The big Dane was actually burning with excitement. His eyes
were filled with firelight and back of the smoky burning was a dumb
appeal turned to his chief. Hyenas alone had been able to break Nels'
nerve for himself, but he was frightened now for the man. The big bony
jowl was steadily pressed like a knuckled hand against Skag's knee, the
body only half lifted from the dry stones and cramped with tension.

Skag's eyes were turned up toward the mouth of the lair and his left
hand fell to the Dane's head. The beast actually shook because his
eyes were covered a second.

"Of course you're to stay outside, Nels," he said softly as he rose.

The dog lowered his breast to the stones. It was like a blow to
him--the one thing he had feared most.

"Don't, Nels!" the man muttered. "You're to stand at the mouth of the
lair and watch there. I need you there--outside, of course."

The dog followed him heavily up the slope past the high-water mark.
Skag turned with a cheering whisper, shielding his eyes from the light
for a moment before peering in. There was a sound like blown paper
across a marble floor and then another sound--low, soft, prolonged,
like the hiss of escaping steam.

Skag shoved himself into the narrow, rocky aperture. He could see
nothing for the moment. The taint was oppressive at the first breath
of the still air. There were kittens--no doubt of that. He heard
their scurrying; he felt their eyes and the sort of melting panic in
the place that would have utterly unstrung any but a perfectly keyed
set of nerves.

It was a cave, the mouth higher than the floor. The way down was
jagged and precipitous. Skag, advancing softly, had to feel for each
step and yet give no distracting attention to keep his footing, for the
full energy of his faculties was directed ahead.

The sound of blown paper was from the kittens--that was clear enough.
Yet the hissing continued and this