An hour later Philip looked at his watch.

It was close to midnight.

In that hour his nerves had been keyed to a tension that was almost at the breaking point.

Not a sound came from off the Barren or from out of the scrub timber that did not hold a mental and physical shock for him.

He believed that Bram and his pack would come up quietly; that he would not hear the man's footsteps or the soft pads of his beasts until they were very near.