eyes in a new and dazzling excitement.
Outside they could hear Bram. The girl turned again and looked through
the window. Then she began talking, swiftly and eagerly, in a language
that was as strange to Philip as the mystery of her presence in Bram
Johnson's cabin. She knew that he could not understand, and suddenly
she came up close to him and put a finger to his lips, and then to her
own, and shook her head. He could fairly feel the throb of her
excitement. The astounding truth held him dumb. She was trying to make
him comprehend something--in a language which he had never heard before
in all his life. He stared at her--like an idiot he told himself
afterward.

And then the shuffle of Bram's heavy feet sounded just outside the
door. Instantly the old light leapt into the girl's eyes. Before the
door could open she had darted into the room from which she had first
appeared, her hair floating about her in a golden cloud as she ran.

The door opened, and Bram entered. At his heels, beyond the threshold,
Philip caught a glimpse of the pack glaring hungrily into the cabin.
Bram was burdened under the load he had brought from the sledge. He
dropped it to the floor, and without looking at Philip his eyes
fastened themselves on the door to the inner room.

They stood there for a full minute, Bram as if hypnotized by the door,
and Philip with his eyes on Bram. Neither moved, and neither made a
sound. A curtain had dropped over the entrance to the inner room, and
beyond that they could hear the girl moving about. A dozen emotions
were fighting in Philip. If he had possessed a weapon he would have
ended the matter with Bram then, for the light that was burning like a
strange flame in the wolf-man's eyes convinced him that he had guessed
the truth. Bare-handed he was no match for the giant madman. For the
first time he let his glance travel cautiously about the room. Near the
stove was a pile of firewood. A stick of this would do--when the
opportunity came.

And then, in a way that made him almost cry out, every nerve in his
body was startled. The girl appeared in the doorway, a smile on her
lips and her eyes shining radiantly--straight at Bram! She partly held
out her arms, and began talking. She seemed utterly oblivious of
Philip's presence. Not a word that she uttered could he understand. It
was not Cree or Chippewyan or Eskimo. It was not French or German or
any tongue that he had ever heard. Her voice was pure and soft.