made her understand. "It won't do any good
and when they see another man they may possibly get the idea in their
heads that you're not here. There can't be many of them or they'd make
quicker work of the wolves. I should say not more than--"

"Se! Se!"

The warning came in a low cry from Celie's lips. A dark head was
appearing slowly above the top of the stockade, and Philip darted
suddenly out into the open. The Eskimo did not see him, and Philip
waited until he was on the point of hurling his javelin before he made
a sound. Then he gave a roar that almost split his throat. In the same
instant he began firing. The crack of his pistol and the ferocious
outcry he made sent the Eskimo off the stockade like a ball hit by a
club. The pack, maddened by their inability to reach their enemies,
turned like a flash. Warned by one experience, Philip hustled Celie
into the cabin. They were scarcely over the threshold when the wolves
were at the door.

"We're sure up against a nice bunch," he laughed, standing for a moment
with his arm still about Celie's waist. "A regular hell of a bunch,
little girl! Now if those wolves only had sense enough to know that
we're a little brother and sister to Bram, we'd be able to put up a
fight that would be some circus. Did you see that fellow topple off the
fence? Don't believe I hit him. At least I hope I didn't. If they ever
find out the size of this pea-shooter's sting they'll sit up there like
a row of crows and laugh at us. But--what a bully NOISE it made!"

He was blissfully unmindful of danger as he held her in the crook of
his arm, looking straight into her lovely face as he talked. It was a
moment of splendid hypocrisy. He knew that in her excitement and the
tremendous effort she was making to understand something of what he was
saying that she was unconscious of his embrace. That, and the joyous
thrill of the situation, sent the hot blood into his face.

"I'm dangerously near to going the limit," he told her, speaking with a
seriousness that would impress her. "I'd fight twenty of those little
devils single-handed to know just how you'd take it, and I'd fight
another dozen to know who that fellow is in the picture. I'm tempted
right now to hug you up close, and kiss you, and let you know how I
feel. I'd like to do that--before--anything happens. But would you
understand? That's it--would you understand that I love every inch of
you from the ground up or would you think I was just