He reached out and seized a chunk of bannock, and was about to bite into it when with the snarl of a wild beast Bram dropped his meat and was at him.  Before Philip could raise an arm in defense his enemy had him by the throat.  Back over the sledge they went.  Philip scarcely knew how it happened—­but in another moment the giant had hurled him clean over his head and he struck the frozen plain with a shock that stunned him.  When he staggered to his feet, expecting a final assault that would end him, Bram was kneeling beside his pack.  A mumbling and incoherent jargon of sound issued from his thick lips as he took stock of Philip’s supplies.  Of Philip himself he seemed now utterly oblivious.  Still mumbling, he dragged the pile of bear skins from the sledge, unrolled them, and revealed a worn and tattered dunnage bag.  At first Philip thought this bag was empty.  Then Bram drew from it a few small packages, some of them done up in paper and others in bark.  Only one of these did Philip recognize—­a half pound package of tea such as the Hudson’s Bay Company offers in barter at its stores.  Into the dunnage bag Bram now put Philip’s supplies, even to the last crumb of bannock, and then returned the articles he had taken out, after which he rolled the bag up in the bear skins and replaced the skins on the sledge.

After that, still mumbling, and still paying no attention to Philip, he reseated himself on the edge of the sledge and finished his breakfast of raw meat.

“The poor devil!” mumbled Philip.

The words were out of his mouth before he realized that he had spoken them.  He was still a little dazed by the shock of Bram’s assault, but it was impossible for him to bear malice or thought of vengeance.  In Bram’s face, as he had covetously piled up the different articles of food, he had seen the terrible glare of starvation—­and yet he had not eaten a mouthful.  He had stored the food away, and Philip knew it was as much as his life was worth to contend its ownership.

Again Bram seemed to be unconscious of his presence, but when Philip went to the meat and began carving himself off a slice the wolf-man’s eyes shot in his direction just once.  Purposely he stood in front of Bram as he ate the raw steak, feigning a greater relish than he actually enjoyed in consuming his uncooked meal.  Bram did not wait for him to finish.  No sooner had he swallowed the last of his own breakfast than he was on his feet giving sharp commands to the pack.  Instantly the wolves were alert in their traces.  Philip took his former position on the sledge, with Bram behind him.