REMINISCENCES OF SONEPORE. 28l 



the hope of baksish to capture him. While the mahouts tried 

 to lasso him, the Europeans in front endeavoured to distract 

 his attention from the game that was being played behind, but 

 at last he woke up to what was going on and letting out, he 

 caught one too venturesome Aryan lifting him full ten feet to 

 the rear, but no bones were broken and he picked himself up 

 all right, but now the elephant's monkey was really up and 

 before you could say sword he was in motion. 



Lifting his trunk high in the air and trumpeting louder 

 than any twenty bulls of Basan could be capable of, he came 

 down at the charge. Great Scot how the heroes did scoot !! 

 Vaughan sought shelter up a mango tree, Little Slack fell into 

 a deep muck hole, but still brandishing his peeler's baton he 

 yelled out to the mahouts to be quick and capture the brute 

 in the Queen's name, but neither he nor anyone else were 

 fated to be crushed to death, for just in front of the malodor- 

 ous resting place of the Collector, Willie Dixon tripped over a 

 mango tree root and thinking his last moment had come, with 

 a brilliancy of resource, which did him infinite credit under 

 such trying circumstances, he held up both his feet. It was 

 enough yea more than enough. One glance and his pursuer 

 took them for the shadow of the enemy who had given him 

 such a drubbing in the morning and with a bellow of terror he 

 turned and fled, till he pulled up and stood trembling with funk 

 under a small mango tree. The Native Inspector pulled out the 

 Collector and rubbed him down as clean as he could, cursing the 

 elephant's female relatives volubly as a solace to his master's 

 wounded dignity. Willie Dixon got on to his pedal extremi- 

 ties once more, the Manchester officers reformed their men, 

 Harry crept out from a clump of bamboos and all pretended 

 they'd not been in the least bit of a funk and sternly repudia- 

 ted any hint that they had bolted from the battlefield. But 

 they thanked Willie heartily for saving their lives and asked 

 him to have his boots photoed, so that they might never forget 



