which he knew not the meaning, the long, shrill
gathering cry of the pack. This would rouse all the other beasts to a
frenzy of wails and screeches and growls and roars; till Toomey would
have to come and stop his performance by darkening the cage with a
tarpaulin. At the sound of Toomey's voice, soothing yet overmastering,
the great wolf would lie down quietly, and the ghostly summons of his
far-ravaging fathers would haunt his spirit no more.

After one of these long journeys, the show was halted at an inland
city for a stop of many weeks; and to house the show a cluster of
wooden shanties was run up on the outskirts of the city, forming a
sort of mushroom village flanked by the great white exhibition tents.
In one of these shanties, near the centre of the cluster, Lone Wolf's
cage was sheltered, along with the cages of the puma, the leopard,
and the little black Himalayan bear. Immediately adjoining this shanty
was the spacious open shed where the elephants were tethered.

That same night, a little before dawn, when the wearied attendants
were sleeping heavily, Lone Wolf's nostrils caught a strange smell
which made him spring to his feet and sniff anxiously at the suddenly
acrid air. A strange reddish glow was dispersing the dark outside his
window. From the other cages came uneasy mutterings and movements, and
the little black bear, who was very wise, began to whine. The dull
glow leaped into a glare and then the elephants trumpeted the alarm.
Instantly the night was loud with shoutings, and tramplings, and
howlings, and rushings to and fro. A cloud of choking smoke blew into
Lone Wolf's cage, making him cough and wonder anxiously why Toomey
didn't come. The next moment Toomey came, with one of the keepers, and
an elephant. Frantically they began pushing and dragging out the
cages. But there was a wind; and before the first cage, that of the
puma, was more than clear of the door, the flames were on top of them
like a leaping tiger. Panic-stricken, the elephant screamed and
bolted. The keeper, shouting, "We can't save any more in this house.
Let's git the lions out!" made off with one arm over his eyes,
doggedly dragging the heavy cage of the puma. The keeper was right. He
had his work cut out for him, as it was, to save the screeching puma.
As for Toomey, his escape was already almost cut off. But he could not
endure to save himself without giving the imprisoned beasts a chance
for their lives. Dashing at the thre