population of
the town was engaged in an enthusiastic puma hunt. But King was
already far away, and making progress that would have been impossible
to an ordinary wild puma. His life among men had taught him nothing
about trees, so he had no unfortunate instinct to climb one and hide
among the branches to see what his pursuers would be up to. His idea
of getting away--and, perhaps, of finding his vanished master--was to
keep right on. And this he did, though of course not at top speed, the
pumas not being a race of long-winded runners like the wolves. In an
hour or two he reached a rocky and precipitous ridge, quite impassable
to men except by day. This he scaled with ease, and at the top, in the
high solitude, felt safe enough to rest a little while. Then he made
his way down the long, ragged western slopes, and at daybreak came
into a wild valley of woods and brooks.

By this time King was hungry. But game was plentiful. After two or
three humiliating failures with rabbits--owing to his inexperience in
stalking anything more elusive than a joint of dead mutton, he caught
a fat wood-chuck, and felt his self-respect return. Here he might have
been tempted to halt, although, to be sure, he saw no sign of Tomaso,
but beyond the valley, still westward, he saw mountains, which drew
him strangely. In particular, one uplifted peak, silver and sapphire
as the clear day, and soaring supreme over the jumble of lesser
summits, attracted him. He knew now that that was where he was going,
and thither he pressed on with singleness of purpose, delaying only
when absolutely necessary, to hunt or to sleep. The cage, the stage,
the whip, Hansen, the bear, even the proud excitement of the flaming
hoops, were swiftly fading to dimness in his mind, overwhelmed by the
inrush of new, wonderful impressions. At last, reaching the lower,
granite-ribbed flanks of old White Face itself, he began to feel
curiously content, and no longer under the imperative need of haste.

Here it was good hunting. Yet, though well satisfied, he made no
effort to find himself a lair to serve as headquarters, but kept
gradually working his way onward up the mountain. The higher he went,
the more content he grew, till even his craving for his master was
forgotten. Latent instincts began to spring into life, and he lapsed
into the movements and customs of the wild puma. Only when he came
upon a long, massive footprint in the damp earth by a spring, or a
wisp of pun