For he dominated the Bo'sun's Mate, taking the measure of her ignorance
with infinite patience; he keyed up Joan, stirring her courage and
interest to the highest point for her own safety; and the Reverend
Timothy he soothed and comforted, while obtaining his implicit
obedience, by taking him into his confidence, and leading him gradually
to a comprehension of the issue that was bound to follow. And Sangree--here his wisdom was most wisely calculated--he neglected
outwardly because inwardly he was the object of his unceasing and most
concentrated attention. Under the guise of apparent indifference his
mind kept the Canadian under constant observation. There was a restless feeling in the Camp that evening and none of us
lingered round the fire after supper as usual. Sangree and I busied
ourselves with patching up the torn tent for our guest and with finding
heavy stones to hold the ropes, for Dr. Silence insisted on having it
pitched on the highest point of the island ridge, just where it was most
rocky and there was no earth for pegs. The place, moreover, was midway
between the men's and women's tents, and, of course, commanded the most
comprehensive view of the Camp. "So that if your dog comes," he said simply, "I may be able to catch him
as he passes across." The wind had gone down with the sun and an unusual warmth lay over the
island that made sleep heavy, and in the morning we assembled at a late
breakfast, rubbing our eyes and yawning. The cool north wind had given
way to the warm southern air that sometimes came up with haze and
moisture across the Baltic, bringing with it the relaxing sensations
that produced enervation and listlessness. And this may have been the reason why at first I failed to notice that
anything unusual was about, and why I was less alert than normally; for
it was not till after breakfast that the silence of our little party
struck me and I discovered that Joan had not yet put in an appearance. And then, in a flash, the last heaviness of sleep vanished and I saw
that Maloney was white and troubled and his wife could not hold a plate
without trembling. A desire to ask questions was stopped in me by a swift glance from Dr. Silence, and I suddenly understood in some vague way that they were
waiting till Sangree should have gone. How this idea came to me I cannot
determine, but the soundness of the intuition was soon proved, for the
moment he moved off to his tent, Maloney looked up at me and began to
speak in a low voice. "You slept through it all," he half whispered. "Through what?" I asked, suddenly thrilled with the knowledge that
something dreadful had happened. "We didn't wake you for fear of getting the whole Camp up," he went on,
meaning, by the Camp, I supposed, Sangree. "It was just before dawn when
the screams woke me." "The dog again?" I asked, with a curious sinking of the heart. "Got right into the tent," he went on, speaking passionately but very
low, "and woke my wife by scrambling all over her. Then she realised
that Joan was struggling beside her. And, by God! the beast had torn her
arm; scratched all down the arm she was, and bleeding." "Joan injured?" I gasped. "Merely scratched--this time," put in John Silence, speaking for the
first time; "suffering more from shock and fright than actual wounds." "Isn't it a mercy the doctor was here?" said Mrs. Maloney, looking as if
she would never know calmness again. "I think we should both have been
killed." "It has been a most merciful escape," Maloney said, his pulpit voice
struggling with his emotion. "But, of course, we cannot risk another--we
must strike Camp and get away at once--"

"Only poor Mr. Sangree must not know what has happened. He is so
attached to Joan and would be so terribly upset," added the Bo'sun's
Mate distractedly, looking all about in her terror. "It is perhaps advisable that Mr. Sangree should not know what has
occurred," Dr. Silence said with quiet authority, "but I think, for the
safety of all concerned, it will be better not to leave the island just
now." He spoke with great decision and Maloney looked up and followed
his words closely. "If you will agree to stay here a few days longer, I have no doubt we
can put an end to the attentions of your strange visitor, and
incidentally have the opportunity of observing a most singular and
interesting phenomenon--"

"What!" gasped Mrs. Maloney, "a phenomenon?--you mean that you know what
it is?" "I am quite certain I know what it is," he replied very low, for we
heard the footsteps of Sangree approaching, "though I am not so certain
yet as to the best means of dealing with it. But in any case it is not
wise to leave precipitately--"

"Oh, Timothy, does he think it's a devil--?" cried the Bo'sun's Mate in
a voice that even the Canadian must have heard. "In my opinion," continued John Silence, looking across at me and the
clergyman, "it is a case of modern lycanthropy with other complications
that may--" He left the sentence unfinished, for Mrs. Maloney got up
with a jump and fled to her tent fearful she might hear a worse thing,
and at that moment Sangree turned the corner of the stockade and came
into view. "There are footmarks all round the mouth of my tent," he said with
excitement. "The animal has been here again in the night. Dr. Silence,
you really must come and see them for yourself. They're as plain on the
moss as tracks in snow." But later in the day, while Sangree went off in the canoe to fish the
pools near the larger islands, and Joan still lay, bandaged and resting,
in her tent, Dr. Silence called me and the tutor and proposed a walk to
the granite slabs at the far end. Mrs. Maloney sat on a stump near her
daughter, and busied herself energetically with alternate nursing and
painting. "We'll leave you in charge," the doctor said with a smile that was meant
to be encouraging, "and when you want us for lunch, or anything, the
megaphone will always bring us back in time." For, though the very air was charged with strange emotions, every one
talked quietly and naturally as with a definite desire to counteract
unnecessary excitement. "I'll keep watch," said the plucky Bo'sun's Mate, "and meanwhile I find
comfort in my work." She was busy with the sketch she had begun on the
day after our arrival. "For even a tree," she added proudly, pointing to
her little easel, "is a symbol of the divine, and the thought makes me
feel safer." We glanced for a moment at a daub which was more like the
symptom of a disease than a symbol of the divine--and then took the path
round the lagoon. At the far end we made a little fire and lay round it in the shadow of a
big boulder. Maloney stopped his humming suddenly and turned to his
companion. "And what do you make of it all?" he asked abruptly. "In the first place," replied John Silence, making himself comfortable
against the rock, "it is of human origin, this animal; it is undoubted
lycanthropy." His words had the effect precisely of a bombshell.