MAULED BY AN ELEPHANT 95 



the brutes. These boys had been my compan- 

 ions on many an elephant hunt, and I had the 

 utmost confidence in them, knowing well that, 

 if it were necessary, they would not hesitate to 

 give up their lives to save mine. 



"I don't care how many elephants a man 

 may have encountered, while he is sneaking 

 upon his game a feeling of uneasiness steals 

 over him until the critical moment arrives; then 

 things happen so quickly and his brain works 

 so rapidly that all sense of fear is for the mo- 

 ment lost. 



"With both hammers of my rifle raised, I 

 cautiously sneaked nearer and nearer, my faith- 

 ful boys following at my very heels. At last 

 we were within fifty feet of the elephant, and 

 as he moved toward me I could see the top of 

 the grass swaying violently from side to side. 

 Suddenly fate turned against us, for a shifting 

 current of air must have warned the brute of 

 danger. I saw a huge trunk rise above the 

 grass, heard a shrill, deafening trumpet, and 

 knew that the fight was on. The grass parted 

 as though a snow-plough were being driven 

 through it, and the next instant there loomed 

 up, not twenty feet away, a monster head with 



