Page 93 - Adventures in Africa

W e had exhausted our stock of wood during the
night* and in the morning Jan went oat to procure

a fresh supply for cooking our breakfast. I was em­
ployed in plucking some birds which I had killed 111
the evening, when I heard my companion shouting

lustily for help, and at the same time, a loud crashing
of boughs reached my ears, while the ox. came hurry­
ing up to the camp in evident alarm.

Seizing my rifle, I sprang up, fearing; that a lion
had pounced down upon Jan, while picking up sticks,

and I was fully prepared for an encounter with the
savage brute. Instead of a lion, however, I saw an
elephant, with trunk uplifted, rush out from among
the brushwood. I sprang behind a tree, as the only

place of safety, when what was my dismay, to see, as
he passed, Jan clinging to his hind leg. How the black

had got there was the puzzle, and how to rescue him
from his awkward position was the next question to
be solved. Should he let go, he might naturally
expect to receive a kick from the elephant’s hind foot

which would effectually knock all the breath out of
his body; and yet, should he not get free, he might

be carried miles away and perish miserably. 3Jy
only hope was at once to mortally wound the ele­
phant. Not a moment was to be lost if 1 was to save
poor Jan. Just then the elephant caught sight of the

ox, and stopped as If considering if he should attack
it. Whether he was aware that Jan was clinging to

his leg or not, I could not tell, as the black's weight
no more impeded him than a fly would a man when
running.

The ox, instead of endeavouring to escapc, pre~