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In the wilderness north of Rat Portage in Northwestern Ontario, two Scotsmen - divinity student Simpson and his uncle, Dr. Cathcart, an author of a book on collective hallucination - are on a moose-hunting trip with guides Hank Davis and the wilderness-loving French Canuck , Joseph Defago.While their Indian cook, Punk, stays to tend the main camp, the others split up into two hunting-parties; Dr. Cathcart goes with Hank, while Defago guides Simpson in a canoe down the river to explore the vast territory beyond.Simpson and Defago make camp, and it soon becomes clear that Defago senses - or at least thinks he senses - some strange and fearful odour on the wind. That night, Simpson wakes to find Defago cowering in terror from something outside the tent. Later Defago runs off into the night, forcing Simpson to go and look for him. He follows his footprints in the snow for many miles, realising that Defago’s are not the only set of tracks. The larger set of footprints are not human, and gradually it seems that Defago’s own tracks have metamorphosed into smaller versions of the larger set. Eventually, both sets of tracks vanish, and Simpson believes he hears Defago’s distant voice calling out from somewhere in the sky above: Oh! oh! This fiery height! Oh, my feet of fire! My burning feet of fire …! Simpson finally manages to make his way back to the main camp, where he is reunited with the others. Dr. Cathcart and Hank go back with him to search for Defago, and when camping once more out in the wilderness, Defago - or some hideous parody of Defago - appears before them before vanishing once again into the night.Conflicted and disturbed about what they have witnessed, they return to the main camp to find that Defago - the real Defago this time - has made his own way back, suffering from delirium, exposure, and frostbite. The poor guide dies soon after, and the three men are left in a state of bafflement and uncertainty about what has occurred. Punk alone could have explained it to them, but he fled home as soon as he caught the terrible odour that Defago carried with him. As an Indian, he instantly understood that Defago had seen the Wendigo.
