the night before. The animal paused a moment, uttering low whines of eagerness, then charged.
I stood motionless, paralyzed with fear of I knew not what. A dimly seen gray shape moved silently across the glade toward me. When it was only a few feet away, Egide charged.
With a deep growl, she flung herself toward the skulking form which half rose to meet her attack. I could hear vicious jaws snap, and then the two beasts rolled on the ground, locked together in desperate battle.
The conflict recalled me to myself. I remembered the rifle in my hands and rushed to Egide's aid. I bent over the struggling heap, looking for a chance to use my weapon. Suddenly it came. Egide rolled undermost, and for a moment the wolf was plainly visible in the moonlight.
It took me only an instant to throw up my rifle and fire. The beasts did not move, and I am certain that my aim was true, but as I shot a sharp whimper came from Egide. I had missed my quarry and struck her.
I dared not fire again. Instead I drew the heavy knife from my belt and bent over the combatants, waiting for a chance to plant the blow which would end the battle.
Again the wolf rolled uppermost. I drove the knife at its hairy throat. As the blade flashed in the moonlight, the wolf dodged away and flung up one paw, as if to protect its head. The knife struck bone. A terrific howl of pain came from the wolf. It tore loose from Egide's grip and rolled back. I moved forward to strike again, but the wolf scrambled to its feet and was gone, Egide in swift pursuit.
"Egide!" I shouted. "Egide! Come here!"
There was a sound of renewed battle in the woods, and I dashed toward it, calling again and again to the borzoi. At last her training triumphed over her hatred for her hereditary enemies. She came to me, carrying something in her mouth. I took the trophy from her, then dropped it with a cry of horror. It was a human hand!
I found my flashlight and examined it. One glance told me to whom it belonged, for on the third finger gleamed the ring I had seen that morning on Count Valedi's hand.
A sudden feeling of contrition shot through me. I had felt bitter toward the Count for forsaking me, but in view of the horrible fate that had overtaken him, my rancor vanished. Probably he had only meant to joke with me—and I had the only weapon. I must find his body if possible.
Egide led me into the forest for a quarter of a mile, then came to a halt before a heap on the ground, and howled mournfully. A stench of death and corruption hung heavy on the air.
Flashlight in hand, I bent over the torn remains of what had been a man. Horror and sorrow nearly overcame me. I recognized the form. It was Boris Valedi, the man I had come to aid. There was no mistaking his bloated, half-eaten features. A scar I knew well still showed on his cheek, and on his dead finger gleamed the ring of the Valedis, the wolf crest showing banefully in the light.
A sudden thought struck me. With Boris and the Count dead, Valeska was alone in the castle. It was thither I must hurry.
"Come, Egide," I said sharply. "Home."
My eagerness communicated itself to the borzoi, and she dashed off without hesitation. I stumbled along after her in the deceiving moonlight. Luckily in two hundred yards the wood thinned, and we
