could be done to make his position more secure ? He 

 looked about him in the hope of finding a tree better suited 

 to withstand the severe shocks he had experienced, but 

 could not see one that he had any means of climbing. 

 Then the idea of getting down and making his way through 

 the forest occurred to him, but only to be dismissed as 

 hopelessly impracticable ; for, in the first place, he was 

 not at all sure that he could find his way to the village 

 where his own elephant was, and there was no other refuge 

 for him. Secondly, for all he knew, the " rogue " might 

 have worked his way round to the very jungle through 

 which his path lay. No ; there was nothing to be done 

 but to stay where he was and to go through the long 

 anxious hours with all the fortitude he could summon. 

 So, hauling in what remained of the dangling rope, which 

 had so nearly proved fatal to him, he sat down on the 

 platform and commenced his long and anxious vigil. 

 Sleep was, of course, out of the question, for even had he 

 felt drowsy he dared not yield to the feeling, for if the 

 elephant returned, obviously his only chance was to be 

 fully prepared for him, and if possible to give him a fatal 

 shot or cripple him before he had time to charge. But, 

 as a matter of fact, sleep was the last thing he thought of ; 

 the events of the night had been far too exciting, and the 

 recollection of the horrors he had so recently undergone 

 were more than sufficient to dispel any feelings of somno- 

 lence. 



Hour after hour dragged slowly on, each one seeming 

 longer than the last, but happily they brought so sign of 

 the " rogue's " return. At last the dawn appeared, and 

 shortly afterwards a distant rustling told of something 

 approaching and soon the heavy tread and crashing of 



branches left little doubt as to what it was. P , 



seizing his rifle, started up. " The rogue again ! " was 

 naturally his first thought, but now the sound of human 

 voices reached his ears, and a minute or two later, instead 

 of the truculent " tusker " he had expected, there appeared 

 in the river-bed the benign countenance of the good 

 tempered old lady off whose back he had scrambled the 

 night before into his uncomfortable and perilous position 

 in the tree. 

 102 



