the thrill and stir died in the air, and the
moonlight was beautiful on the spruce.

The wolves had gone. Fenris's three brethren had slipped away, perhaps
wholly mystified and deeply awed by their madness of a moment before;
and from the ridge top they had called for their leader to join them. He
had done his work, he had avenged the base blow that had seemed to
strike at his own wild heart, he had received the caress he had
craved,--and there was no law for him to stay. The female called
enticingly; the wild game was running for his pleasure on the trails.

Ben had watched the struggle in his fierce breast, and Beatrice's eyes
were soft and wonderfully lustrous in the subdued light as she gave the
wolf a parting caress. But he could not stay with them. The primal laws
of his being bade otherwise. His was the way of the open trails, the
nights of madness and the rapture of hunting--and these were folk of the
caves! They were not his people, although his love for them burned like
fire in his heart.

He could not deny the call of his followers on the ridge. It was like a
chain, drawing him remorselessly to them. Whining, he had sped away into
the darkness.

The fire had been built up, Beatrice had rallied her spent strength by
full feeding of the rich, dried meat, and had done what she could for
Neilson's injury. Ben, exhausted, had lain down in some of the blankets
of his enemy's outfit. Neilson was not, however, mortally hurt. The
bullet had coursed through the region of his shoulder, missing his heart
and lungs, and although he was all but unconscious, they had every
reason to believe that a few weeks of rest would see him well again.

Beatrice bathed the wound, bandaged it the best she could, then covered
him up warmly and let him go to sleep. And the time came at last, long
past the midnight hour, that she crept once more to Ben's side.

There was little indeed for them to say. The stress of the night had
taken from them almost all desire to talk. But Ben took her hand in his
feebly, and held it against his lips.

"We're safe now," Beatrice told him, her eye's still bright with tears.
"We've seen it through, and we're safe."

Ben nodded happily. It was true: there was nothing further for them to
fear. With the aid of the rifles of the three fallen, they could procure
meat in plenty for their remaining time at Back There; besides, the
store of jerked caribou and moose was enough to hold them over. When the
r