e herd,
watching the fight, and I knew she was the prize of this battle.
First they put their trunks together and bellowed. Then the two
mountains of flesh bounded at each other as if hills were
striking hills. As I have said before, Kari's tusks were not long
enough to be of any use, so every time they crushed against each
other Kari had to be very careful to avoid the other's tusks.

At last their trunks came together and their bodies were tightly
pinioned. They looked like a great mountain spinning round and
round. There was a pause and Kari rose on his hind legs and held
his front legs up. That instant the wild elephant let go of his
trunk and leapt to cut Kari's trunk with his tusks, but before he
could do that, Kari struck him on the head and he went reeling
into the distance. He would have fallen if he had not struck
against a tree, and if an elephant falls, that is the end of the
battle.

As Kari thought he had struck his opponent down, he stood there
feeling victorious and I could see a shiver of relief going
through his body. The other elephant, however, gauged the
distance and came upon him again with great momentum. Before Kari
realized what had happened, the elephant gored him with his
tusks. Kari gave a painful yell, and walking backwards drew his
neck from the tusks of his opponent. I could feel a quake go
through him as a tree which has just been cut throbs before it
falls.

The herd yelled, and shook their heads with great glee,
whispering, "We have won." Then Kari began to walk in a circle.
The other elephant did likewise and they faced each other. Now
and then they would come close together; their trunks would
strike each other, then they would separate and go around again.

By this time the sky was black and the livid tongue of the
lightning flickered on the crest of the clouds. But the rumble of
the thunder could not be heard because the two elephants were
trumpeting so loudly.

Again they locked trunks and bodies and spun around. Quickly Kari
released his trunk and stood aside, leaving the other elephant to
go spinning against the herd. That instant Kari ran forward and
struck the side of the other elephant, giving him a broad-side
blow and throwing him on the ground. The herd scattered and a
clamor of wonder spread from elephant to elephant. Kari rose on
his hind legs and fell upon his opponent with his forefeet, as he
started to rise. The oldest elephant said, "It is done." At this
the