I'll make a pal of her!" In that moment, as he listened to the gloating passion and triumph in Quade's brutal voice, something broke in the brain of John Aldous.

It filled him with a fire that in an instant had devoured every thought or plan he had made, and in this madness he was consumed by a single desire--the desire to kill.

And yet, as this conflagration surged through him, it did not blind or excite him.

It did not make him leap forth in animal rage.

It was something more terrible.