St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-20
THE RUSE.
An Adventure of Young English
Officer in India.
BY G. F. HOLDER.

from civil life. and was not merely
young, but inexperienced, and his
brother officers naturally got into the
habit of calling him the ''babe"-a
christening that fell to the youngest
man in every regiment.
Mr.. Requart came from what was
known as hunting family. His father,
grandfather and all his uncles had
served in India. and stories of their
proweSs were club talk to that day.
Even the feminine side of his family
were renowned as followers of NimrOd,
and one of his aunts was the finest
croSs-country rider in Ireland, and had
a collection of brushes" eQualed by
none in the United Kingdom.
1t would have been strange. all things
considered, if the young officer had not
inherited the tastes of his ancestors, and
from the moment he set foot on Indian
soil his ambition had been to bring down.
single-handed tiger, and to face the
charge Of an Indian elephant.
Mr.. RequaTt was Of small stature. and
it was the opinion of many of his friends
that he would make about two bites for
a big tiger; but this opinion the young
man did not share, and one of his
first official acts was to apply for leave
to visit the country of big game in the
interior. In the regiment was one of
the most inveterate of practical jokerS.
who happened as well to be a fine shot
and an authority on matters of the
field. To this gentleman Mr.. Requart
was referred for points" on the sports
and games of India, and with solemn
visage the old soldier told the young
man the most remarkable tales, the re-
suit of a very vivid Imagination.
Among the points thus imparted.were
some which related to the capture of
elephants, subject upon which the
young hunter was ignorant.
Il can fix you out" said the old Off
Ger, ''in shape that will enable you to
bring down your first elephant without
doubt. You see, the great difficulty is
to approach them without being dis
couered. Now | have the skin of
young elephant, which was used last
year by some of the men in masque-
rade. propose that you take this up
to the elephant country, and when you
get in the vicinity of herd to place
yourself in the skin, taking the fore
legs, and have one of your men or gun
bearers take the part of the hind legs.
The herd will think you young eIe-
plant, and you can approach them
easilysand pick out your game at les-
ure."
Mr.. Requart jumped at the PROPOSE
ton. and two days later he was on his
way to the upper country with the ele-
phant skin carefully packed among his
traps. lie had letters of Introduction
to gentleman who held an official DO
Sition in India in connection with the
elephants, and so was soon put on the
right track, literally, for one day after
proving through the Jungle some time
a native came creeping back holding I'D
his hand to enjoin silence, and told the
hunter that not 100 yards away there
was herd of elephants feeding. The
elephant skin, which had been borne
by two natives, was carefully brought
up and spread upon the grass. But
now an unforeseen accident occurred.
The native who had been hired and
trained for the hind legs refused to
serve and neither threats nor offers of
money could prevail upon him to get
into the skin. Finally a substitute was
found. who, after he had been guaran-
teed large sum and his widow a COM
petence, expressed himself as willing to
accept the position.
1t occurred to Mr.. Requart at this mo-
ment that there might be some danger
in the adventure, but it was too late to
back out. so, STOPPING down in front of
the hind legs, the skin of the Young
soon tied or laced so that it looked as
natural as life, indeed, some of the men
said it was more SO. The mouth of the
elephant was open, and through this
Mr.. Requart thrust his rifle and pre-
pared to fire.
There was but one drawback, and
that was the hunters were obliged to
walk i'll STOPPING position, which, to
say the least, was uncomfortable and
tlreSome, but. by taking frequent rests,
they could easily manage. Then, too, a
young elephant would naturally move
along slowly i'll feeding, and, perhaps.
lie down. A native was now sent out.
all being ready, to recOnnoitre. and
upon reporting that the elephants were
still there, the bogus baby moved ahead
slowly through the grass.
Fortunately. they were what is called
''down the wind" from the great game.
so that they would not be scented. and
in a short time were Oh the edge OF
clearing, Overgrown with reeds or high
grass in which the herd could be
plainly seen. They young man peered
through the eyeholeS of the elephant
skin and saw for the first time a wild
elephant. The colossal animals were
grazing, moving slowly along, innocent
OF the presence of danger, and Mr.. Re
quart could not but wonder what thew
would do when they saw ore of their
own kind, a baby elephant, rear up on
its hind legs and emit fire and smoke
from its mouth.
There was not much time for Observa-
ton. The big animals were passing on,
SO the bogus elephant boldly walked out
of the bush and moved along in the
same direction. For some time the herd
did not notice it, but finally an old ele-
phant caught sight of the bogus baby
and stopped. uttering a curious note
that Immediately attracted the attention
OF the rest. The elephants stood facing
MN, presenting a noble spectacle: but
MI. Requart wished to get nearer to
make a sure shot; so the baby moved
on, pretending TO feed, until it was
within hundred feet of one of the
largest Of the herd.
For some moments the animals had
been watching the supposed elephant.
perhaps deceived, when suddenly the
hind legs stumbled and the bogus baby
assumed so curious an appearance that
the elephants dashed away-with one
exception. This was an old tusker. and
he seemed tranSfiXed with amaZement
as the baby seemed to rise OH its hind
legs. Then came puff of smoke from
the baby's mouth.
What happened next was described
by some lookerS-on. The big tuSker
lowered his head, and with Shrek of
rage or terror charged upon the baby.
Another puff of smoke and another bull
let sped at the huge form, but the hind
legs, in frantic efforts to escape, discon-
certed the aim of the fore legs, and the
next moment the baby elephant was
flying into the air. For a second two
guns, two men and all empty elephant
skin appeared suspended over huge
elephant. Then the latter disappeared
in the bush, While the hunters found
themselves sitting OH the grass, where
they had fallen, shaken up, yet unin-