nt
glance at me when I finished; "very well,"--and for one swift second his
eye took in Sangree,--"for what we have to deal with here is nothing
more than a werewolf--rare enough, I am glad to say, but often very sad,
and sometimes very terrible."

I jumped as though I had been shot, but the next second was heartily
ashamed of my want of control; for this brief remark, confirming as it
did my own worst suspicions, did more to convince me of the gravity of
the adventure than any number of questions or explanations. It seemed to
draw close the circle about us, shutting a door somewhere that locked us
in with the animal and the horror, and turning the key. Whatever it was
had now to be faced and dealt with.

"No one has been actually injured so far?" he asked aloud, but in a
matter-of-fact tone that lent reality to grim possibilities.

"Good heavens, no!" cried the Canadian, throwing down his dishcloths
and coming forward into the circle of firelight. "Surely there can be no
question of this poor starved beast injuring anybody, can there?"

His hair straggled untidily over his forehead, and there was a gleam in
his eyes that was not all reflection from the fire. His words made me
turn sharply. We all laughed a little short, forced laugh.

"I trust not, indeed," Dr. Silence said quietly. "But what makes you
think the creature is starved?" He asked the question with his eyes
straight on the other's face. The prompt question explained to me why I
had started, and I waited with just a tremor of excitement for the
reply.

Sangree hesitated a moment, as though the question took him by surprise.
But he met the doctor's gaze unflinchingly across the fire, and with
complete honesty.

"Really," he faltered, with a little shrug of the shoulders, "I can
hardly tell you. The phrase seemed to come out of its own accord. I have
felt from the beginning that it was in pain and--starved, though why I
felt this never occurred to me till you asked."

"You really know very little about it, then?" said the other, with a
sudden gentleness in his voice.

"No more than that," Sangree replied, looking at him with a puzzled
expression that was unmistakably genuine. "In fact, nothing at all,
really," he added, by way of further explanation.

"I am glad of that," I heard the doctor murmur under his breath, but so
low that I only just caught the words, and Sangree missed them
altogether, as evidently he was meant to do.

"And now," he cri