50 BEING LOST IN THE FOREST. 
nuts; dashing them against the trees to break 
the shells, though by doing so he was obliged 
to waste the milky juice. When he had eaten 
as many kernels as he could, he wrapped the 
rest in his jacket, and carried them under his 
arm. 
All at once he thought he heard men shout- 
ing, and made for the place, overjoyed at 
the prospect of meeting with human beings. 
But, alas ! the sound died away, and was not 
repeated; and after running about a mile 
without seeing any trace of his fellow creatures, 
he found himself more than ever entangled in 
the forest. He began to retrace his steps 
towards the river, but to his great alarm three 
elephants were standing full in his way. One 
of them was a young one, and came frolicking 
up to him as if in play. He ran back, and 
looked round for a tree to climb; but the 
branches were all too high for him to reach ; 
and in his haste, his foot slipped, and Ke fell 
all his length under the elephant's nose ! The 
elephant stopped, touched him, smelt him, and 
even turned him over with its trunk. The 
soldier was very much afraid it would trample 
upon him; and, jumping suddenly up, he gave 
