The screaming of jays and ravens above his head quickened his speed, as it heralded the rapid advance of the flames; and the unexpected apparition of a bounding body, flattened and flying over the yellow plain, told him that even the secure retreat of the mountain wild-cat had been invaded.

A sudden recollection of Teresa's uncontrollable terror that first night smote him with remorse and redoubled his efforts.

Alone in the track of these frantic and bewildered beasts, to what madness might she not be driven! The sharp crack of a rifle from the highroad turned his course momentarily in that direction.

The smoke was curling lazily over the heads of a party of men in the road, while the huge bulk of a grizzly was disappearing in the distance.

A battue of the escaping animals had commenced! In the bitterness of his heart he caught at the horrible suggestion, and resolved to save her from them or die with her there.
How fast he ran, or the time it took him to reach the woods, has never been known.