him mercilessly with his fork, and raining
savage blows upon his head, he strove, in a cold rage, to drive him
off; but in vain. But other keepers, meanwhile, had run in with ropes
and iron bars. A few moments more and both combatants were securely
lassoed. Then they were torn apart by main force, streaming with
blood. Blinded by blankets thrown over their heads, and hammered into
something like subjection, they were dragged off at a rush and slammed
unceremoniously into their dens. With them out of the way, it was a
quick matter to dispose of the other fights, though not till after the
white goat had been killed to satisfy that ancient grudge of the
leopard's, and the wolf had been cruelly mauled for having refused to
give up his pedestal to one of the excited lions. Only the pug had
come off unscathed, having had the presence of mind to dart under the
foundations of the frame at the first sign of trouble, and stay there.
When all the other animals had been brought to their senses and driven
off, one by one, to their cages, he came forth from his hiding and
followed dejectedly, the curl quite taken out of his confident tail.
Then word went round among the spectators that Tomaso was not
dead--that, though badly injured, he would recover; and straightway
they calmed down, with a complacent sense of having got the value of
their money. The great cage was taken apart and carried off. The stage
was speedily transformed. And two trick comedians, with slippers that
flapped a foot beyond their toes, undertook to wipe out the memory of
what had happened.

CHAPTER III

The show was touring the larger towns of the Northwest. On the
following day it started, leaving Tomaso behind in hospital, with a
shattered shoulder and bitter wrath in his heart. At the next town,
Hansen took Tomaso's place, but, for two reasons, with a sadly maimed
performance. He had not yet acquired sufficient control of the animals
to dare all Tomaso's acts; and the troupe was lacking some of its most
important performers. The proud white goat was dead. The bear, the
wolf, and one of the lions were laid up with their wounds. And as for
the great puma, though _he_ had come off with comparatively little
hurt, his temper had apparently been quite transformed. Hansen could
do nothing with him. Whether it was that he was sick for Tomaso, whom
he adored, or that he stewed in a black rage over the blows and
pitchforkings, hitherto unknown to him, no one