I felt myself doomed; the
few thoughts that rush through men's minds in such hopeless positions,
flew through mine, and I resolved to wait for him till he was close upon
me, before I fired, hoping that he might lower his trunk and expose his
forehead.
He rushed along at the pace of a horse in full speed; in a few moments,
as the grass flew to the right and left before him, he was close upon
me, but still his trunk was raised and I would not fire. One second
more, and at this headlong pace he was within three feet of me; down
slashed his trunk with the rapidity of a whip-thong! and with a shrill
scream of fury he was upon me!
I fired at that instant; but in a twinkling of an eye I was flying
through the air like a ball from a bat. At the moment of firing. I had
jumped to the left, but he struck me with his tusk in full charge upon
my right thigh, and hurled me eight or ten paces from him. That very
moment he stopped, and, turning round, he beat the grass about with his
trunk, and commenced a strict search for me. I heard him advancing close
to the spot where I lay as still as death, knowing that my last chance
lay in concealment.
