The season for the menagerie was drawing to its close, and they were about to go East for the winter. The glittering cages had been opened to the public for the last time in a small Western town, where the wondering boys and girls had taken their last look at Lhoks, the panther, and his wild companions. The last cage had been loaded upon the truck, and the long, heavy train started out upon its journey. Old King, the lion, had died, and most of the other animals showed only too plainly the effects of their long confinement and hard life. The tawny coat of poor Lhoks was shabbiest of all. It actually looked moth-eaten in places, and his sides showed plainly enough the scars which the sharp spike had made. His ribs were seen through his lean hide, for he had almost lost his appetite; he felt weak and discouraged. So he just lay stretched listlessly upon the floor of his cage, while the long train jolted and screamed its way across the flat country of the West. Fortunately, the cage of the panther had been placed in such a position that Lhoks soon discovered that by standing upon his hind legs he could actually peer out through his small, grated window at the country through which they journeyed. In this respect, he was more lucky than the others, for the gazelle and hyena cages had been placed with their small, ventilating windows pushed up against the other cages, so they could not look out. For many days, whenever Lhoks chanced to look forth from his small window, they appeared to be passing over the same flat, uninteresting plain, although occasionally he caught a fleeting glimpse of forest and hills in the distance. At night he would lie flat gazing up longingly, managing to catch a peep at the little winking stars, and sometimes, when it was bright moonlight, he would grow very restless and unhappy, pacing up and down, howling dismally. How he hated the commotion and loud noises about the goods yards, when their train was shunted back and forth over points, creaking and squealing, with much loose rattling of rusty iron couplings, and yells from the railwaymen, who swung red-eyed lanterns, and ran swiftly and lightly over the tops of the cages.