TREED BY AN ELEPHANT 233 



being cheated of their pay by the elephants? " I 

 ventured. "Don't you consider it a little risky, 

 this prowling about after five-ton monsters with 

 tusks that have gored scores of hunters, feet 

 that have stamped out many a man's life, and a 

 trunk that acts like the tentacles of an octopus? 

 Isn't there a slight element of danger in ram- 

 ming about through the jungle, the bamboo, 

 and the tall elephant-grass, chasing such crea- 

 tures as these?" 



"Certainly there is, but it's part of the game. 

 Every elephant hunter understands that, and 

 it is up to him to play a trump card every time 

 or else be euchred. But still there's no more 

 danger here in the wilds of Africa than there 

 would be in any large city. 



"Take, for instance, the automobiles; they 

 are continually blowing their horns and tooting 

 their whistles, danger or no danger, and you get 

 so accustomed to them you become careless. 

 But when you hear an elephant trumpeting you 

 sit up and take notice. You can shoot an ele- 

 phant if he comes too close, but you can't shoot 

 a 'bally' chauffeur, can you? so there you 

 are!" 



"Did you ever have to shoot an elephant 



