would mean death or enchantment for
then. We'll get on our first elephant trail!"

The old hunter went into the cabin for his big game gun, while Tom
hastened to get out his electric rifle. Now he would have a chance
to try it on the powerful beasts which he had come to Africa to
hunt.

Amid the excited and joyous shouts of the natives, the hunters filed
out of the village, led by the dusky messenger who had brought the
news of the elephants. And, as Tom and the others advanced, they
could hear a distant trumpeting, and a crashing in the jungle that
told of the near presence of the great animals.

CHAPTER XIV

A STAMPEDE

"Look to your guns, everybody!" cautioned Mr. Durban. "It's no joke
to be caught in an elephant herd with an unloaded rifle. Have you
plenty of ammunition, Mr. Damon?"

"Ammunition? Bless my powder bag, I think I have enough for all the
elephants I'll kill. If I get one of the big beasts I'll be
satisfied. Bless my piano keys! I think I see them, Tom!"

He pointed off through the thick jungle. Surely something was moving
there amid the trees; great slate-colored bodies, massive forms and
waving trunks! The trumpeting increased, and the crashing of the
underbrush sounded louder and nearer.

"There they are!" cried Tom Swift joyously.

"Now for my first big game!" yelled Ned Newton.

"Take it easy," advised Mr. Anderson. "Remember to aim for the spot
I mentioned to you as being the best, just at the base of the skull.
If you can't make a head shot, or through the eye, try for the
heart. But with the big bullets we have, almost any kind of a shot,
near a vital spot, will answer."

"And Tom can fire at their TOES and put them out of business,"
declared Ned, who was eagerly advancing. "How about it, Tom?"

"Well, I guess the electric rifle will come up to expectations. Say,
Mr. Durban, they seem to be heading this way!" excitedly cried Tom,
as the herd of big beasts suddenly turned and changed their course.

"Yes, they are," admitted the old elephant hunter calmly. "But that
won't matter. Take it easy. Kill all you can."

"But we don't want to put too many out of business," said Tom, who
was not needlessly cruel, even in hunting.

"I know that," answered Mr. Durban. "But this is a case of
necessity. I've got to get ivory, and we have to kill quite a few
elephants to accomplish this. Besides the brutes will head for the
village and the natives' grain fields, and trample them down