.
"Tasslehoff!" both human and mammoth cried at the
sight of their friend. "We thought you were dead!" The
woolly mammoth slowed down, allowing Tas to grab
two handfuls of thick fur and haul himself up the ani-
mal's flank. The kender plopped down behind Wood-
row, and Winnie continued to hurtle down the hallway.
"Boy, am I glad to see you guys, too!" Tasslehoff ex-
claimed, craning his head around to get his bearings.
"Which way is out?"
Woodrow grinned foolishly with relief. "We don't
know. But if we try enough doors, we're bound to find
one that leads outside."
"Wahoo!" screamed Tasslehoff as Winnie lowered his
head and smashed through another doorway.
"Uh oh," said both Tasslehoff and Woodrow as the
dust cleared and they saw what was in the room they had
just broken into. On the far side of the room was a large
door that appeared to lead outside. Between the door
and the woolly mammoth stood a giant cat -- a mountain
lion, guessed Tas -- connected to the wall by a thirty-foot
chain. "Turn around. We'll find another door," urged Tas.
But Winnie stood fast. "C'mon, Winnie, that's a
mountain lion," pleaded Woodrow. "You've been locked
up in here all your life. You don't know what a mountain
lion can do. Just back up and we'll find another way out."
But Woodrow underestimated the woolly mammoth.
In spite of years of imprisonment, Winnie's instincts
were still honed. He charged straight toward the moun-
tain lion, which had never seen anything as massive as
Winnie. The cat crouched on its belly and slinked to the
side, expecting to leap on Winnie's flank when the wall
forced the mammoth to stop