AN ELEPHANT 239 



before I discovered myself alone. Sneaking for- 

 ward as swiftly as possible, anc). as cautiously, I 

 wormed my way towards where I could hear the 

 breaking branches. I had just reached the edge 

 of a comparatively open piece of jungle, on the 

 other side of which I could see indistinctly several 

 elephants, when there came a report followed by a 

 tremendous crashing, and then suddenly from out 

 this space, and well to my left front, came Jin 

 scrambling through the mud, minus that prideful 

 turban, minus gun, and running for very dear life 

 straight for the trees at the right of this oasis. 

 After him, not over twenty-five feet away, at a 

 gait that resembled pacing, charged an elephant 

 with head held high and trunk tightly curled (not 

 stretched aloft like a broom handle as often I have 

 seen written), and brushing aside the jungle 

 growth as though it were so much grass. As the 

 elephant broke from the jungle on my left, I gave 

 it both barrels of the 12-bore in back of the shoulder 

 just as its foreleg came forward, which decidedly 

 staggered me, but seemed to have little effect on 

 the elephant, except that it trumpeted shrilly. 

 Dropping the 12-bore, as there was no time to load 

 it, especially with one of the ejectors out of shape, 

 and swinging my 50 from my shoulder, where on a 

 strap I had carried it since the day when my Malay 

 deserted me, I sent a ball into the elephant's ear 



