So great was the fear of him, indeed, that the people in the
neighborhood he frequented scarcely dared stir out of doors, except
in parties of five or six. We had had several hunts after him, but,
like all man eaters, he was old and awfully crafty; and although
we got several snap shots at him, he had always managed to save
his skin.
"In a quarter of an hour after the receipt of the message Charley
Simmonds and I were on the back of an elephant which was our joint
property; our shikaree, a capital fellow, was on foot beside us,
and with the native trotting on ahead as guide we went off at the
best pace of old Begaum, for that was the elephant's name. The village
was fifteen miles away, but we got there soon after daybreak, and
were received with delight by the population. In half an hour the
hunt was organized; all the male population turned out as beaters,
with sticks, guns, tom-toms, and other instruments for making a
noise.
"The trail was not difficult to find. A broad path, with occasional
smears of blood, showed where be had dragged his victim through
the long grass to a cluster of trees a couple of hundred yards from
the village.
"We scarcely expected to find him there, but the villagers held
back, while we went forward with cocked rifles.
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