ram would have seen him then, but in that same instant he had flung
back his head and from his throat there went forth a cry such as Philip
had never heard from man or beast before. It began deep in Bram's
cavernous chest, like the rolling of a great drum, and ended in a
wailing shriek that must have carried for miles over the open
plain--the call of the master to his pack, of the man-beast to his
brothers. It may be that even before the cry was finished some
super-instinct had warned Bram Johnson of a danger which he had not
seen. The cry was cut short. It ended in a hissing gasp, as steam is
cut off by a valve. Before Philip's startled senses had adjusted
themselves to action Bram was off, and as his huge strides carried him
swiftly through the starlight the cry that had been on his lips was
replaced by the strange, mad laugh that Pierre Breault had described
with a shiver of fear.

Without moving, Philip called after him:

"Bram--Bram Johnson--stop! In the name of the King--"

It was the old formula, the words that carried with them the majesty
and power of Law throughout the northland. Bram heard them. But he did
not stop. He sped on more swiftly, and again Philip called his name.

"Bram--Bram Johnson--"

The laugh came back again. It was weird and chuckling, as though Bram
was laughing at him.

In the starlight Philip flung up his revolver. He did not aim to hit.
Twice he fired over Bram's head and shoulders, so close that the
fugitive must have heard the whine of the bullets.

"Bram--Bram Johnson!" he shouted a third time.

His pistol arm relaxed and dropped to his side, and he stood staring
after the great figure that was now no more than a shadow in the gloom.
And then it was swallowed up entirely. Once more he was alone under the
stars, encompassed by a world of nothingness. He felt, all at once,
that he had been a very great fool. He had played his part like a
child; even his voice had trembled as he called out Bram's name. And
Bram--even Bram--had laughed at him.

Very soon he would pay the price of his stupidity--of his slowness to
act. It was thought of that which quickened his pulse as he stared out
into the white space into which Bram had gone. Before the night was
over Bram would return, and with him would come the wolves.

With a shudder Philip thought of Corporal Lee as he turned back through
the scrub to the big rock where he had made his camp.

The picture that flashed into his mind of t