rt.
The donkey which he was holding stopped also, and the others
did the same. The Italian boy looked with a face of consternation
after the runaway. All the rest looked with vague fears in
the same direction, and with a half hope that Bob might stop
the animal, or turn him.

"_E perduto!_" exclaimed the Italian boy; and though they did
not understand Italian, yet there was something in his tone,
and look, and gesture, which told them the meaning of those
words--"He's lost!"

CHAPTER VI.

_Flight of Bob.--Difference between a tame Donkey and a wild
Ass.--Carried off to the Mountains.--The Headlong Course.--The
Mountain Pass.--The Journey's End.--Ill-omened Place.--Confounded
by a new Terror.--The Brigands._

When the donkey first bounded off, the feelings of Bob were nothing
but pure, unmitigated delight. As his spirited animal, roused from
his indifference, burst through the crowd and reached the head,
Bob's heart swelled with triumph. As he rushed along the road, far
ahead of the rest, his triumph increased. He turned his head, and
waved his hands to his friends. Then he waved his cap in the air,
and shouted, "Hurrah!" Then he rode side-saddle fashion for a little
while, then he drew both legs up in front, and then he indulged in
a series of absurd and fantastic tricks.

All this Bob did because he supposed that he was riding ahead
of his friends, and that they were following him, and admiring
him. He had not made any calculation as to the great rate of
speed at which his donkey was carrying him, and had no idea
how quickly he was leaving all the rest behind. So, while he
had been indulging in his pranks for the amusement of those
whom he supposed to be following him, he was, in reality,
already beyond the reach of their eyes.

For his donkey was an animal very far superior to the common herd.
He was not a donkey--he was an ass--spirited, slender, sinewy, and
fleet as a race-horse. There was something so peculiarly easy in
the ass's gait that it deceived the rider. It seemed to him to be
a gentle ambling trot, or something midway between that and a
canter. In reality this easy pace was exceedingly swift, and before
long Bob was out of sight of his friends. This discovery burst
upon him as he turned, with the intention of shouting back some
nonsense to them, when, to his utter amazement and consternation,
he saw no signs of them whatever.

It must be confessed that the shock which this discovery gav