Hardly had he turned to the men, ready to spring out upon them, when there came a terrific interruption.  There was a sudden crash in the brush behind him, a menacing snarl, and a huge wolfish brute launched itself at his throat.  The swift instinct of self-preservation turned the weapon intended for the men over the fire upon this unexpected assailant.  The snarling fangs of the husky were gleaming in his face and the animal’s body was against the muzzle of his revolver when Philip fired.  Though he escaped the fangs, he could not ward off the impact of the dog’s body, and in another moment he was sprawling upon his back in the light of the camp.  Before Philip could recover himself Jeanne’s startled guards were upon him.  Flung back, he still possessed his pistol, and pulled the trigger blindly.  The report was muffled and sickening.  At the same moment a heavy blow fell upon his head, and a furious weight crushed him back to the ground.  He dropped his revolver.  His brain reeled; his muscles relaxed.  He felt his assailant’s fingers at his throat, and their menace brought back every ounce of fighting strength in his body.  For a moment he lay still, his eyes closed, the warm blood flowing over his face.  He had worked this game once before, years ago.  He even thought of that time now, as he lay upon his back.  It had worked then, and it worked now.  The choking fingers at his throat loosened; the weight lifted itself a little from his chest.  The lone guard thought that he was unconscious, and Jeanne, who had staggered to her feet, thought that he was dead.

It was her cry, terrible, filled with agony and despair, that urged him into action an instant too soon.  His foe was still partly on his guard, rising with a caution born of more than one wilderness episode, when with a quick movement Philip closed with him.  Locked in a deadly grip, they rolled upon the ground; and, with a feeling of despair which had never entered into his soul before, the terrible truth came to Philip that the old strength was gone from his arms and that with each added exertion he was growing weaker.  For a moment he saw Jeanne.  She stood almost above them, her hands clutched at her breast.  And as he looked, she suddenly turned and ran to the fire.  An instant more and she was back, a red-hot brand in her hand.  Philip saw it flash close to his eyes, felt the heat of it; and then a scream, animal-like in its ferocity and pain, burst from the lips of his antagonist.  The man reeled backward, clutching at his thick neck, where Jeanne had thrust the burning stick.  Philip rose to his knees.  His fist shot out like lightning against the other’s jaw, and the second guard fell back in a limp heap.

Even as the blow fell, a loud shout came from close back in the forest, followed by the crashing of many feet tearing through the underbrush.

XI

Philip and Jeanne stood face to face in the firelight.