296 THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 



moved, or waved its ears, I got ready to dive for the 

 "last safe place.'' That, it seemed to me, was about 

 eight miles back. 



Then, very near — about fifteen yards — and slightly 

 to our left, the screen of leaves was pushed aside and 

 the bow of the Mauretania thrust itself through. 



"Run!" breathed Cuninghame. 



We doubled up and ran. From the edge of the woods 

 we looked back. The elephant had stopped and was 

 feeling about in the air with the tip of its trunk. 



"That old girl is suspicious," whispered Cuning- 

 hame, "but she didn't see us." 



She said something to the others, and they all waked 

 up. An animated discussion took place. N'jahgi 

 quietly climbed a tree. The elephant insisted on her 

 point. The others were skeptical, but finally seemed 

 to acquiesce. The whole lot swung deliberately and 

 disappeared in the forest. 



^^ That's all right," said Cuninghame in relief. 

 "Thought they might come our way." 



I was glad, too. For the moment I had quite lost 

 sight of the fact that I wanted to shoot an elephant. 



"What next?" I inquired. 



"Follow 'em," said Cuninghame, "and try to find a 

 bull." 



So we followed 'em. Evidently they had not put 

 much faith in the alarmist, for they had gone only half a 

 mile. We could hear them in all directions. Unfortu- 



