The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-08-10
THE STRANGE STORY
Allan Quatermain'SV Wife
by II. RIDER I;AGGARD,
AUTHOR OF "SnE," ''kING ScLoMoN's
MISEs," "JssS," "CLEo-
PATRA," ETC.
A NEW AFRICAN ROMANCE

A NEW AZ KHAN NVM ANIL
communicated my decision to 1ndaba-
zimbi and the other kattirs. The latter
were not 10th, for your Kafiir loves hunt
ING, which means plenty of meat and
conrenial occupation, but lndaba-zlmbl
would o-press no opinion. saw MN
retire Io little fire that he E"d llS 1or
himself and go through &.;Ac mysterious
performances with bones and clay
mixed with ashes, which were watched
with the greatest interest by the other
Kafirs. At length hc rose. and, coming
forward, informed HE that it was all
rirht, and that did well to go and hunt
the elephants, as should get plenty OF
ivory; but h. advised me to so on foot.
I said should DO nothing Of the sort,
but meant 20 ride. an wiser now; that
was the first aad last time that ever
attemrted to hunt elephants on horse
back.
Accordingly we started at dawn, l, In
daba-zimbi and tilG"o men; the rest
left with the wagon: : Vas Oh horseback,
and so was my driver, good rider and
skillful shot for KaIir, but lndaba-
zimbi and the others walked. From dawn
till midday we followed the trail OF the
herd, which was as plain as high road.
Then we oif-saddled to let the horses
rest and feed, and about three o'clock
started on again. Another hour or SO
passed, and still there was no sign OF
elephants. Evidently the herd had
travelled fast and far, and l began to
think that We should have to give 1t up
when suddenly l caught sight OF q
brown mass moving through the thorn
trees on the side of a slope about quar-
ter of mile away. My heart seemed to
lump into my mouth. Where IS the
hunter who has not felt like this at the
sieb1 of his fist elephant? I called a
halt, and then, the wind being right,
We set to work TO stalk the bull. Very
quietly I rode Gown the hither side OF the
slope till We c.,Tl2 ID tEa h@:to'A, "Alcn
was densely cov@r2l wiz. IL i. .!":a
saw the elephants had b>2;: fccaiEG, ior
broken branches and u?turlcd trees lay
I'll about. did not take much notice,
however, for all my thoughts were fixed
upon the bull was stalking, when sud-
denly my horse made violent start that
nearly threw me from my saddle, and
there came a mighty rush and upheaval
of something in front of me. | looked.
There was the hinder part of second
bull elephant not four yards of. l could
Just catch sight of his outstretched ears
projecting on either side. | had dis
turbcd it sleeping, and it was running
away. Obviously the best thing TO do
would have been to let it run, but was
Young in those days and foolish, and IN
the exitement of the moment lifted my
sroer'' or elephant gun and fired atthe
brute over my horses head. The recoil
of the heavy gun nearly knocked me OF
the horse. I recovered myself, how
ever, and as I did so saw the bull lurch
forward, for the impact of three-ounce
bullet in the hanks will quicken the
movements even of an elephant. by this
ttmc uao rea1tzeu the 1o11y OF the Shot,
and devoutly hoped that the bull would
take no further notice OF 1t. But he had
a different view of the matter. Pulling
himself up in q series Of plunges, ne
spun round and came for me with out
stretched ears and uplifted trunk,
screaming terribly. Twas quite defense
less, for my gun was empty, and my
first thought was of escape. dug my
heels into the sides of my horse, but he
would not move an inch. The poor ami.
nal was paralyzed with terror, and he
simply stood still, his fore legs out
stretched, and quivering all over like
leaf.
On rushed the elephant, awful to see;
I made one more vain effort to stir the
horse. Now the trunk of the great bull
swung aloft above my head. A thought
flashed through my brain. Quick as
light rolled from the saddle. BY the
side of the horse lay fallen tree, as
thick through as q mans body. The
tree was lifted a little off the ground by
the broken bougEs, which took its
weight. ard with a single movement, Sc
active is one in such necessities, flung
myself beneath it. AS l did so l heard
the trunk Of the elephant descend with
mighty thGd on the back OF my poor
horse, and the next instant was almost
in darkness, for the horse, whose back
was broken, fell over across the tree
under which lay ensconsed. But he did
not stop there long. In ten seconds
m re the bull had got his trunk round
my dead nag's neck, and, with a mighty
effort, hurled him clear Of the tree. l
wrigglcd backwards as far as could
towards the roots OF the tree, for l knew
what he was after. Presently s.w the
red tip of the bulls trunk stretching
itself towards mo. II he could manage
to hook it round any part OF me was
lost. But in the position | occupied
that was lust what he could not do, al