of Nature, and had probably
been set up by ancient glacier ice. Up one of its sides there was a
series of projections, by which an active man might climb to the top;
and Ossaroo _did_ climb it, partly out of playfulness, and partly, as he
said, to get a better view of the cliff. The shikaree stayed only a few
minutes on its top; and his curiosity having been satisfied, he had let
himself down again.

CHAPTER NINE.

A RECONNOISSANCE INTERRUPTED.

Though the three had set out that morning with a wholesome dread of the
elephant, and a determination to go about their reconnoissance with
caution, their joy at the discovery of the ledges, and the eagerness
with which they were scanning them, had for the moment banished from
their minds all thoughts of the great quadruped. They were thinking
only of ledges and ladders, and talking loudly of how the latter might
best be made and placed upon the former.

Just then, and just at the moment Ossaroo descended from the obelisk
rock, Fritz, who had been prowling about among the trees, set up a
fearful baying--such another as that to which he had given utterance on
the night when the elephant had paid its visit to the hut.

There was a certain intonation of terror in the dog's voice--as if
whatever called it forth was something that inspired him with fear. The
apprehension that it was the elephant occurred to all three at once; and
with a simultaneous impulse they faced towards the spot whence the
baying of the dog appeared to proceed. Simultaneously, too, they
clutched more firmly their respective weapons--Karl his rifle, Caspar
his double-barrel, and Ossaroo his bow, with an arrow at the string.

It is superfluous to say, that there was a certain amount of
consternation visible in the countenances of all three; which was rather
increased than diminished by the sight of Fritz dashing suddenly out of
the underwood, and running towards them at full speed, with his tail
considerably below the horizontal. Fritz, moreover, was giving
utterance to something that very closely resembled a howl. The dog had
evidently been attacked by some animal that had put him to flight; and
his masters knew that it must be a formidable creature that was causing
the variant Fritz to behave in such an ignominious manner.

They were not kept long in doubt as to the character of Fritz's
conqueror and pursuer: for close behind his hips, almost touching them,
appeared a long, cylindrical, or t