xni STIRRING TIMES AT LECUNDI 135 



in their direction. They promptly made themselves 

 scarce, and the enraged animal, having no currents 

 of air to assist him in locating them, kept dashing 

 hither and thither through the bush in an effort to 

 hunt them down. Seizing my double '577, I rushed 

 off, accompanied by my trackers, in the direction of 

 the yell we had heard, and had not gone far, when I 

 encountered my cook tearing headlong through the 

 grass, his eyes starting from his head with sheer 

 terror. In a few words he explained what had 

 occurred, saying that poor Usufu had most likely 

 been killed, for when they had met with the elephant 

 they had scattered in different directions arid the 

 animal had dashed off in pursuit of Usufu. Making 

 the cook accompany me to show me where he had 

 separated from his companion, I hurried along, 

 fearing that the worst had happened, and, on arriving 

 at the spot, listened with strained attention for any 

 sound that might indicate the whereabouts of my 

 boy or the elephant, but a most ominous silence 

 reigned over the scene. As the sun had now sunk 

 behind the hills, and the light was fast failing, we 

 cautiously followed the elephant's spoor, and had 

 made very little progress, when, all at once, we heard 

 a succession of short, shrill screams, and the noise 

 of the animal dashing back through the bush on his 

 own tracks, right in our direction. When he was 

 within a few yards of us, I fired both barrels in his 



