eter had seen the light that
flamed up now in his master's eyes. That, and the strange thrill in
Jolly Roger's voice, stirred him more than the words to which he
listened, and tried to understand.

"And we're _going_ to," finished McKay, almost fiercely, his hands
clenching as he leaned toward Peter. "We have made a big mistake,
_Pied-Bot_, and it has taken us a long time to see it. It will be hard
for us to leave our north country, but that is what we must do. Maybe
Yellow Bird's good spirits meant that when they said we would find
happiness with Nada in a place called The Country Beyond. There are a
lot of 'Countries Beyond,' Peter, and as soon as the spring break-up
comes and we can travel without leaving trails behind us we will go
back to Cragg's Ridge and get Nada, and hit for some place where the
law won't expect to find us. There's China, for instance. A lot of
yellow people. But what do we care for color as long as we have _her_
with us? I say--"

Suddenly he stopped. And Peter's body grew tense. Both faced the round
hole, half filled with softly packed snow, which McKay had cut as a
door into the heart of the big drift. They had grown accustomed to the
tumult of the storm. Its strange wailings and the shrieking voices
which at times seemed borne in the moaning sweep of it no longer sent
shivers of apprehension through Peter. But in that moment when both
turned to listen there came a sound which was not like the other sounds
they had heard. It was a voice--not one of the phantom voices of the
screaming wind, but a voice so real and so near that for a beat or two
even Jolly Roger McKay's heart stood still. It was as if a man,
standing just beyond their snow barricade, had shouted a name. But
there came no second call. The wind lulled, so that for a space there
was stillness outside.

Jolly Roger laughed a little uneasily.

"Good thing we don't believe in ghosts, Peter, or we would swear it was
a _Loup-Garou_ smelling us through the wall!" He thumbed the tobacco down
in his pine, and nodded. "Then--there is South America," he said. "They
have everything down there--the biggest rivers in the world, the
biggest mountains, and so much room that even a _Loup-Garou_ couldn't
hunt us out. She will love it, _Pied-Bot_. But if it happens she likes
Africa better, or Australia, or the South Sea--Now, what the devil was
that?"

Peter had jumped as if stung, and for a moment Jolly Roger sat tense as
a carven Indian. T