hat
terrible army; and he smiled, tenderly yet proudly. His arm drew the girl
beside him still closer to him, as he murmured:

"He comes to save us for each other, beloved!"

Nothing was heard, save the dull thunder of the giant feet. Then from the
village the high-pitched shriek of a woman pierced the air and shattered
the eerie silence of the terror-stricken crowds. Murmurs, groans, swelled
into shouts, wild yells, the appalling uproar of panic; and strong and
weak, hale men and those from whose wounds the life-blood dripped, turned
and fled. Fled past their dead brothers, past the little group of leaders
whose power to sway them had vanished before this awful menace.

Petrified, rooted to the ground as though their quaking limbs were
incapable of movement, the Rajah and his satellites stood motionless before
the oncoming elephants. But when the leader almost towered above him,
Chunerbutty was galvanised to life again. In mad panic he raised a pistol
in his trembling hand and fired at the great beast. The next instant the
huge tusk caught him. He was struck to the earth, gored, and lifted high in
air. An appalling shriek burst from his bloodless lips. He was hurled to
the ground with terrific force and trodden under foot. The Rajah screamed
shrilly and turned to flee. Too late! The earth shook as the great phalanx
moved on faster and passed without checking over the white-clad group,
blotting them out of all semblance to humanity.

The dying yell of the renegade Hindu, arresting in its note of agony,
caused the fleeing crowds to pause and turn to look. And as they witnessed
the annihilation of their leaders they saw a yet more wondrous sight. For
the dark array of monsters halted as the leader reached the house; and with
the sea of twisted trunks upraised to salute him and a terrifying peal of
trumpeting, they welcomed the white man who walked out from the shot-torn
building towards the leader of the vast herd. Then in a solemn hush he was
raised high in air and held aloft for all to see, beasts and men. And in
the silence a single voice in the awestruck crowds cried shrilly:

"_Hathi ka Deo ki jai!_ (Victory to the God of the Elephants!)"

In wonder, in dread, in superstitious reverence, hundreds of voices took up
the refrain: _"Hathi ka Deo! Hathi ka Deo ki jai!"_

And leaving his thousand companions behind, the sacred elephant that all
recognised now advanced towards the shrinking crowds, bearing the dread
wh