Page 164 - Adventures in Africa

brained us as we slept. However, it seemed doubtful
whether lie had been able to get more than his legs
at liberty. The strap which secured his elbows was

nowhere to be seen. W o traccd his spoor, but this
disappeared along an elephant track— for even Jan

failed to discover the marks of his footsteps. The
night was approaching, and we lost all hope of dis­
covering him. We therefore took up our position in
the thicket we had selected, close to the path the

elephants pursued when going down to the pooh W e
here fully expected to shoot two or three animals.

W e then proposed returning next morning to the
camp, in order to bring two or three of the men with
us to make further search for Hans,

W e had not long taken up our position, when we
caught sight of the huge forms of several elephants

coining through the forest, along the path which we
had discovered. W e saw them sweeping their trunks
backwards and forwards over the ground, evidently-
suspecting something wrong'.

Thirst impelled them forward, however. They
approached elose to where we lay hidden, and I was

just about to fire at the leader, who had magnificent
tusks— Harry having agreed to take the next in order
— when a loud shout rent the air, and a figure started

up directly in front of the animal. It was Hans. His
arms were still bound, but he kept leaping about,

utterly fearless of the elephants before him. I
hesitated for a moment, when the thought struck me,
— should I kill the elephant, I might save the life of

the unhappy being who seemed to be courting his fate.
I pulled the trigger. I could hear the ball strike> but