The elephants, a score or more, totally unconscious of the nearness of their deadly foe--man--were contentedly feeding. In this case they need have nothing to fear, for the hunting party of our friends was not organized for needless slaughter. One beast for food was what they had limited themselves to. It was a curious sight, and as Blake reeled off the film he could not but feel glad that he had the opportunity of seeing the huge beasts in their native wild. Some were feeding, and others were rubbing themselves against trees to scratch their thick hides, often infected with ticks or other jungle parasites. They ate in a peculiar manner. Reaching up with their trunks they would pull off big branches. Holding to one end of these they would put the foliage of the branch in their mouths and pull it out as one would a bunch of currants, thus stripping off the tender leaves, which they munched contentedly, casting aside the now useless branch. Blake was making picture after picture, getting some rare ones. The wind continued to blow from the elephants to the boys, bringing with it a strong animal odor, but preventing the huge beasts from scenting their watchers. On the ground below stood C. C. Piper, Mr. Hotchkiss and Mr. Duncan, with their guns ready for any emergency. They were going to try for a shot at the beasts when the films were completed. “I guess I’ve got enough,” said Blake. “I’ll get down now. The elephants are getting uneasy and it seems as if they were going to start off again.” “Go ahead,” suggested Joe. “I’ll stay for a while and maybe I can get something different.” Blake had lowered his camera to the ground and was about to descend himself, when, a short distance down, he slipped and fell with a crash. He was stunned for the moment, though not much hurt; but he made considerable noise. Instantly the herd of elephants became aware of danger. The leader, a big bull, trumpeted shrilly and the others gathered together ready for a rush into the jungle. “Get that view, Joe!” called Blake, as he staggered to his feet. As he did so he became aware of a sharp pain in his right ankle. He could not walk. At that instant the big bull, hearing the lad’s voice, became aware of the location of his foes. Raising his trunk high and with open mouth, his big tusks standing out, the huge fellow rushed straight at Blake. “Shoot! Shoot!” cried Mr. Duncan, who was so nervous that he realized it would be useless for him to try. “Both together!” said Sergeant Hotchkiss, in a low voice to Mr. Piper. “We’ve got to stop him short!” They aimed quickly. On came the elephant, trumpeting with rage, while the others in the herd joined in. They all began to move toward Blake, who was hopping away as fast as he could on one foot, having abandoned his camera. Joe was still in his tree, but could easily be shaken out of it. “Ready!” cried the sergeant. “Fire!”