A PLUCKY "MAHOUT" 



have escaped ; but, his senses coming back to him, he 

 made a slight movement, whereupon the animal rushed 

 at him again, and trampling him under foot, seized the 

 body with its trunk and hurled it to some distance, then, 

 following quickly up, stood over it, as if watching for any 

 spark of life remaining. 



Meanwhile its mahout, who, accompanied by the 

 others, had followed the maddened brute, now pluckily 

 attempted to re-establish his authority. Alone, and armed 

 only with the spear, he advanced towards the animal, 

 shouting out his orders in loud and threatening tones. 

 But this seemed to increase the fury of the beast, which 

 again attacked its victim, and kneeling on the body, 

 soon reduced it to a mass of shapeless flesh. Finally, as 

 if unsatisfied with the havoc it had wrought, it again 

 seized the poor remains, and, lifting them high in the air, 

 dashed them to the ground, then, turning suddenly, 

 charged down upon the mahout. Fortunately the latter, 

 realizing that the animal was now beyond his power to 

 control, had already retired to some distance, and his 

 companions, seeing the elephant making for him, shouted 

 loudly, arresting its progress for the moment, and enabling 

 him to rejoin them. Then, as the beast again advanced, 

 they retreated in a body, the elephant following them till 

 checked by the ponies, as described. 



But although the danger was over for the moment, the 

 situation was critical in the extreme ; for night was now 

 approaching, and, with a savage elephant at large, and not 

 a tree or any other shelter within a mile, there was no means 

 of escape, should the animal attack the camp, as was more 

 than probable it would in its present dangerous condition. 

 To add to the gravity of the situation the night was 

 likely to be unusually dark, for there was no moon, and 

 heavy clouds were gathering overhead, which would shut 

 out what little light the stars might otherwise have afforded. 

 Under these circumstances there was but one thing 

 to be done, and that quickly, for the beast's disordered 

 brain might at any moment prompt it to charge into the 

 tents. As there was no knowing from which direction 

 it would come, the only protection possible was to surround 

 the camp with fires. A stack of wood was fortunately 



39 



