phant used for carrying teak
logs, passing through the centre of the host up a wide lane which had
been left, I suppose for his convenience, and intelligently avoiding the
pitfalls filled with dead. I thought that he would stop among the first
ranks. But not so. Slackening his pace to a walk he marched forwards
towards our fortifications. Now, of course, I saw my chance and made
sure that my double-barrelled elephant rifle was ready and that Hans
held a second rifle, also double-barrelled and of similar calibre,
full-cocked in such a position that I could snatch it from him in a
moment.

"I am going to kill that elephant," I said. "Let no one else fire. Stand
still and you shall see the god Jana die."

Still the enormous beast floundered forward; up to that moment I had
never realized how truly huge it was, not even when it stood over me in
the moonlight about to crush me with its foot. Of this I am sure, that
none to equal it ever lived in Africa, at least in any times of which I
have knowledge.

"Fire, Baas," whispered Hans, "it is near enough."

But like the Frenchman and the cock pheasant, I determined to wait until
it stopped, wishing to finish it with a single ball, if only for the
prestige of the thing.

At length it did stop and, opening its cavern of a mouth, lifted its
great trunk and trumpeted, while Simba, standing up in his chair, began
to shout out some command to us to surrender to the god Jana, "the
Invincible, the Invulnerable."

"I will show you if you are invulnerable, my boy," said I to myself,
glancing round to make sure that Hans had the second rifle ready and
catching sight of Ragnall and Harut and all the White Kendah standing
up in their trenches, breathlessly awaiting the end, as were the Black
Kendah a few hundred yards away. Never could there have been a fairer
shot and one more certain to result in a fatal wound. The brute's head
was up and its mouth was open. All I had to do was to send a hard-tipped
bullet crashing through the palate to the brain behind. It was so easy
that I would have made a bet that I could have finished him with one
hand tied behind me.

I lifted the heavy rifle. I got the sights dead on to a certain spot at
the back of that red cave. I pressed the trigger; the charge boomed--and
nothing happened! I heard no bullet strike and Jana did not even take
the trouble to close his mouth.

An exclamation of "O-oh!" went up from the watchers. Before it had
died away t