ody than
they expected, and Charteris emerged from a lair in the bushes and came
up to his friend.

"On with you, Hal!" he cried cheerily. "Rukn-ud-din and the hotties
are halted till you come up, for fear the enemy should be waiting for
them at the other end of the defile. I'll retreat upon you gradually,
and keep these beggars back."

"All right!" and Gerrard and his men, now on more open ground, were
able to urge their horses to something beyond a walk. The so-called
path was very rugged, and he wondered how they had been able to get the
elephants along it at all. Indeed, when he reached them, the mahouts
were complaining loudly, and making much display of the wounded feet of
their charges. The nearer sound of firing behind showed that
Charteris's force was nearly up, and Gerrard, sending back a messenger
to see whether he was hard pressed, led the main body on, disregarding
the grumblers. Charteris returned answer that he was getting along all
right, but warned Gerrard again of a possible rush when the end of the
path was reached, and he sent forward scouts to examine the ground. A
burst of firing ahead was his first intimation that Charteris's fears
were justified, and two out of the five scouts came scurrying back to
say that the enemy had evidently evacuated the defile, and were
awaiting the fugitives here. As there was no narrow mouth to hold,
however, they could not command the path from above, and were merely
lying hidden among the rocks and bushes on either side. Gerrard
ordered his men to hold their fire in case of a rush, and was glad he
had done so--unpleasant as was the storm of bullets drawn upon the
column by the easy mark offered by the elephants--when he saw that a
body of the enemy were actually posted in front to block his way. Only
one plan was now possible, and he gave orders to Rukn-ud-din and Badan
Hazari that when the proper moment came, the horsemen should open out
and allow the elephants to break a path. At the sound of his whistle
the horsemen faced outwards, and on either side fired a volley into the
bushes, while the elephants were urged on. For a moment the enemy
stood their ground, and the bullets which met the great beasts maddened
them. Trumpeting loudly, they rushed through the opposing ranks, all
but one, and the rout was completed by the swords of the horsemen who
followed.

It was the hunting-elephant, driven frantic by a bullet in a specially
tender spot, which br