FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND ACRES 175 
down those narrow trails, perhaps from two direc¬ 
tions at once, was one that started a copious flow of 
cold perspiration. We waited for several years of 
intense apprehension. There was absolute silence. 
The elephants also were evidently awaiting further 
developments. 
Then we edged slowly onward along the trail, 
approaching each turning with extreme caution and 
then edging on to the next. Somewhere ahead and 
on two sides of us there were real, live, wild ele¬ 
phants that probably were not in a mood to welcome 
visitors from Chicago. How near they were we 
didn’t know—except that the sounds had come 
from very near, certainly not more than a hundred 
yards—and we hoped that we might go safely for¬ 
ward to where the bush would be thin enough to 
alllow us to see our surroundings. But there was 
no clearing. Several times a crash of underbrush 
either ahead or to one side brought us to anxious 
attention with fingers at the trigger guards. At 
last, after what seemed to be hours of nervous ten¬ 
sion, we came to a crossing of trails, down which 
we could see in four directions thirty or forty feet. 
A large tree grew near the intersection of the trails, 
and here we waited within reach of its friendly 
protection. It was much more reassuring than to 
stand poised in a narrow trail with no possibility 
of sidestepping a charge. We waited at the cross¬ 
ing for further sounds of the elephants—waited 
for some time with rifles ready and then gradually 
relaxed our taut nerves. A line of porters with 
