Of course, in the excitement which followed the wreck, no one thought of looking for the panther; for, as it happened, he was the only animal which had managed to escape alive. Lhoks could not travel so very fast at first, for he had a touch of rheumatism, and his legs were almost stiff from long confinement, while his usually sharp claws were quite worn off and dulled. So he skulked along the ground, hiding himself in some deep, wooded retreat far away from the shouts of the railwaymen. Having rested he finally began to take some interest in his appearance, groomed his roughened coat and sharpened his dull claws upon a log. Suddenly he realized that he was hungry. Oh, how delightedly did he quench his thirst at a beautiful, fern-grown pool. Then one day he discovered the trail of a lone wood-cutter and followed it for hours, because he began to feel lonely, and also was hungry. Perhaps he imagined that the man would feed him, as had his keeper. It was lucky for poor, trusting Lhoks that the man did not spy him, or he might have been shot, for the man would surely have supposed the panther was trailing _him_ for its prey. Lhoks forsook the man's trail finally, and that day he managed to catch a rabbit, which served him very well. For weeks so wandered the poor, solitary panther all alone over the wild forest trails. Each day fresh strength and courage came to him; already his tawny coat had lost its roughness; the new hair was coming in, filling the deep scars upon his sides with soft, fine fur. Suddenly he began to feel so very happy that for sheer playfulness, and because of his loneliness, he would play kittenishly, rolling and pawing about a round stone which he found; springing high in the air he would often chase his own shadow down the moonlit trails; occasionally, he would strive to gain some almost forgotten scent, then he would lift his black muzzle and utter a long, lonely yell--a cry in the night, once heard, never forgotten, this yell of a panther--just a pleading cry for his lost companions for whom he yearned.