ch other. For an instant the great
beast seemed disconcerted at this manoeuvre, and appeared unable to make
up his mind which enemy he would pursue, first following one of them for
a yard or two, and then turning in pursuit of the other; but presently
it seemed to dawn upon him that he could not possibly hope to overtake
both, and his final choice was Grosvenor, whom he settled down to chase
in grim earnest, his long trunk outstretched to its utmost limit, his
immense ears flapping furiously, and his small eyes sombre with
concentrated hatred. As soon as Dick saw that the brute had definitely
marked down Grosvenor as his prey he turned his bridle and rode in a
direction parallel with that which was being followed by pursued and
pursuer, and began to shout loudly, in the hope of again causing the
elephant to hesitate, even if he could not altogether divert him from
his pursuit of Grosvenor; but the ruse was vain, the monster glanced
viciously once in Dick's direction, but refused to be diverted from his
fell purpose.

At the beginning of this singular race there had not been the slightest
doubt in Dick's mind as to its ultimate result; he felt absolutely
confident that, suberbly mounted as they were, they would be able to
gallop away from their pursuer and elude him with the utmost ease; but
now, to his consternation, he began to realise that, so far at least as
Grosvenor was concerned, escape was distinctly doubtful, unless
something could be done toward altering the existing conditions. For,
strong and speedy as were the horses, they were frightfully handicapped
in the race by the grass, which at this particular spot happened to be
unusually long--reaching as high as the horses' shoulders--tough, and
tangled, rendering it exceedingly difficult for them to force a passage
through it, while to the huge bulk and momentum of the elephant it
seemed to offer no obstacle at all. The great beast was rapidly gaining
upon Grosvenor, and as rapidly forging ahead of Dick, upon whom it began
to dawn that, unless something were speedily done to prevent it, a
tragedy must inevitably ensue.

He looked anxiously about him, and saw that, at a distance of about a
mile, the patch of long rank grass came to an end and was succeeded by
short smooth turf, over which the going would be everything that could
be desired; but it was much too distant to be of any service in the
present emergency. For the elephant was gaining at every stride