22 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
rush it was—smashing through the long grass, 
jumping over fallen trees and bent and broken 
bamboos; now running, doubled in two under 
a dense canopy of branches, again tearing full- 
speed across small open spaces in the forest ! 
All the while, too, we were keenly alive to the 
possibility that one of the herd might double 
back for us with a rush ; for often a hard- 
pressed elephant will wait absolutely motionless 
in cover until the hunter is quite near, when 
he will charge without any warning scream, 
giving his adversary no time to aim, barely time 
to drive the bullets in his face in the hope 
that one will reach his brain or that their 
impact will make him swerve aside or turn. 
All at once, as we careered madly on, the sharp 
snapping of some bamboos, a few hundred yards 
ahead, warned us that we were in critical proximity 
to our quarry, so we slowed down, and, discovering 
that we were to windward of them, ceased following 
the spoor and made a detour. Spying a large ant¬ 
hill on our right, we very stealthily made our way 
towards it and from its summit, saw, to our joy, the 
four elephants standing about a hundred yards 
away. One of their number, an enormous bull, 
with singularly long tusks, was standing a dozen 
yards behind the others, looking back on the spoor, 
as if awaiting his pursuers. Down we scrambled at 
