88 
BEING LOST IN THE FOREST. 
in his way ; or else he digs a pit, and covers 
it over with turf, and the elephant falls in, 
and is caught as in a trap. When he has 
expended his strength in useless struggles, he 
seems to give up the contest, and becomes 
the docile servant of his captor ; or he lets 
fly his poisoned arrow, and the animal falls, 
crashing the trees, and making the very ground 
tremble with his weight. 
It often happens, that, when an elephant is 
alone, he has been driven from the herd, and 
is not in the best of humours. At all events 
the soldier was afraid to pass him. He had 
no desire to feel the tread of his great foot, 
that would crush the strongest man as easily 
as a cat would crush a mouse. So he slipped 
out of his way, and struck off in another 
direction. This new path seemed more open 
than the other ; but in reality it led him 
deeper and deeper into the mazes of the 
forest. He fancied he heard the elephant com- 
ing after him, and ran as fast as the prickly 
brushwood would let him. To add to his alarm, 
it began to get dark, and he felt that he should 
have to spend the night alone in the forest! 
The thought was a very terrible one. The 
