THE ESCAPE
Night came; fires dotted with their red flames the entire extent of the
camp; the smoke mounted straight in the tranquil air; I saw around the
camp-kettles the men crouching, their forms showing dark against the
light; then there were dances, songs, and music. They were celebrating
the victory by drinking, shouting and quarrelling; they even acted over
again their hand-to-hand struggles, which grew so furious that blood
flowed.
Then, little by little, silence fell; all was dark; a heavy sleep
weighed upon the evening of the battle!
_Then I rose up on my feet_.
There was no moon, only the great stars palpitated in the sky. I
listened; I peered into the obscurity. The tents formed little dark
hillocks, undulating away, as far as the eye could reach. No sound,
but the intermittent call of distant sentinels, who could not be seen.
Before the tent where my Master was imprisoned two soldiers in white
tunics marched slowly with guns on their shoulders. I could see clearly
their long white robes, and their muslin turbans. Sometimes the barrel
of their gun sparkled, reflecting the ray of a star.
Kill these two men? Deliver my Master? and escape with him? Would such
a thing be possible?...
The sentinels marched slowly around the prisoner's tent, walking in
opposite directions from each other, so that all sides of the tent were
constantly under observation.
How to seize them without their being able to give the alarm?...
Standing motionless in the darkness, I followed them with my eyes,
striving to understand their movements, and the different positions
they occupied while coming and going.
I observed that one soldier in crossing his companion turned his back
to me, and then disappeared behind the tent, and at the same instant
the other soldier also had his back to me, while making the circuit. A
short moment only elapsed before the first one would reappear and be
facing me.
I could not strike the two guards at one time; and if one saw me attack
the other he would have time to give the alarm, and awaken the whole
camp.
It was, then, during this one brief moment that I must act.
About twenty paces separated me from the tent, and this was an added
difficulty--shortening still more the available time during which I
would be unseen; but the attempt must be made.
I tried to undo the rope that tethered my foot. I could not succeed;
but with a single jerk I pulled up the stake to which I was attached.
I was free.
Choosing a favourable moment I took some steps towards the tent. Then I
waited for the soldiers to make another turn--and moved still nearer.
I preserved the attitude of a sleeping elephant; and they failed to
notice in the darkness that I had drawn closer.
Now was the time. I must make the attempt--at the next turn, thought I.
But my heart beat so violently that I was compelled to wait. My one
fear was that I might not succeed; then, too, I felt a repugnance to
slaying--by treachery as it seemed--these two unknown human beings. But
after all, was it not men who had set me the example of ferocity? To
save my Master I would have destroyed without remorse the entire army
of the enemy!
My self-possession returned; and it was with the greatest coolness that
I executed my plan.
The first soldier was seized by my trunk and strangled, with no sound
except the cracking of his bones. I had just thrown aside his corpse
when the other came face to face with me.
He did not cry out--terror prevented him; but he instinctively jumped
backward, and so hastily that he fell.... The unfortunate man never
rose; my enormous foot falling upon him crushed him to a bloody mass.
I drew a long breath; then I listened; in the distance could still be
heard the occasional call of the sentinels who guarded the outskirts of
the camp, of which we occupied the centre; no doubt they would soon be
relieved--and perhaps also the guards of the Prince; there was not a
moment to spare.
Yet I dared not approach my Master suddenly, lest he might utter an
exclamation of surprise.
Was he sleeping, the dear Prince, worn out with fatigue? Or was he
grieving silently over the loss of his liberty, and his life?
I was at a loss what to do; and the anguish of knowing that the moments
were slipping by made my skin creep!
All at once an idea came to me. I pulled up on one side the stakes that
held the tent, and taking the canvas by the lower edge, I turned it
half-way over, just as a strong wind might have done. There remained
nothing between us, and I saw the Prince seated on the ground, his
elbow on his knee, his head resting on his hand. He raised his head
quickly, and saw my giant form outlined against the starry sky.
"Iravata! my friend, my companion in misfortune!" murmured he.
Tears came to my eyes; but there was no time for anything of that kind!
I touched the chains of my Master, feeling them to judge of their
weight. They were nothing for me. With one blow they were broken--first
those on the feet, and finally the heavier one, which, attached to a
belt of iron, chained the Prince to a gallows.
"What are you doing? How is it that you are free?" said Alemguir, who,
by degrees, was recovering from his prostration.
All at once he understood; he sprang to his feet.
"Why! you are liberating me!--You are going to save me!"
I made a sign that it was so, but that we must be quick. Calm and
resolute now, he cast off the remnants of his shackles. I showed him
the tether on my foot, and the stake that dragged after it. He stooped
down and unfastened the cord; then I helped him to mount up on my
neck.... Oh! what joy to feel him there again! But we were far from
being out of danger.
He spoke no more. He concentrated all his attention upon directing our
flight through the darkness.
Coming out of the obscurity of the tent, he could see all the better,
and from on high he could look about him, listen to the voices of the
sentinels, and ascertain something of the arrangement of the camp, and
of its extent, and its nearest limits.
He bent forward, darting his looks in every direction; but it was
impossible to pierce the darkness for more than a hundred feet in
advance.
Avenues had been formed between the tents, which had been placed in
fairly even lines; but these pathways would naturally be guarded, and
the Prince judged it would be safer to glide behind the tents in their
confused and indistinct shadows.
Notwithstanding our appearance of heaviness, and our massive
corpulence, we have the faculty of walking as noiselessly as a cat or
a panther. A whole herd of elephants on the march, if they suspect
any danger, can avoid snapping a twig, or rustling a leaf. The most
acute hearing will fail to detect the sound of their footsteps; and
whoever sees them filing past by hundreds would take them for phantoms.
It would be quite proper to say "as _light_ as an _elephant_"--but I
imagine the idea never occurred to any one.
This peculiarity explains how I was enabled to circulate between these
thousands of tents, scarcely seeing my way, and obliged very often
to pass through an opening barely larger than my own person, without
running against, or overturning anything, and without making a noise
that would have betrayed us.
We had now reached the limits of the encampment, which were by no means
easy to pass, for they had been rapidly fortified, ditches had been
dug, and entrenchments thrown up. But the work having been hastily done
was not very solid.
The Prince leaned down close to my ear, and said to me:
"Try to break down the earth wall, and turn it into the ditch so as to
fill it up."
I understood, and went to work. The ground was still soft and yielded
readily; but I could not prevent a dull thud when it fell into the
ditch. It was a very feeble smothered sound ... and yet to me it seemed
tremendous!
At last the opening was made. I passed through, plodded across the mud
in the bottom of the ditch, and succeeded in climbing up the other side.
_We were out of the camp_, and I joyfully quickened my pace.
But a cry resounded--a cry of alarm. They had seen us in the open
space, which I was crossing now at full speed.... "Beware, Master!" I
seized him and placed him cross-wise upon my tusks, supporting him with
my trunk, and without slackening my pace. My quick ear had detected the
sound of loading guns--they were going to fire upon us; but my Prince,
protected by the bulk of my great body would be in no danger.
A sudden light flashed in the darkness; there was a rattling volley of
shots, and a shower of bullets struck my crupper. They bounded off, for
these little leaden pellets are incapable of penetrating the tough hide
of an elephant. They merely stung me like little pricks of red-hot iron.
A second discharge fell short, with the exception of a single ball
which grazed my ear, and carried off a small piece.
I ran still faster, hoping to gain the shelter of a thicket which at
least would protect us from the bullets.
Just as I reached it I heard the sound of galloping horses.
"We are pursued," said Alemguir. He had resumed his place on my neck. I
plunged into the thickest of the woods, making a pathway by the aid of
my tusks, crushing the branches under my feet. But this delayed us; it
also betrayed our course, and left an open road for our enemies.
There seemed no way of meeting this danger, and I trembled with an
anxiety that for the moment paralyzed me.
My Master, full of courage, spoke soothingly to me.
"Calm yourself," said he, "there is no cause for despair; you know how
horses fear you; if they reach us you have only to turn and fall upon
them to terrify them, and put them to flight!"
But although I could not say so in words, my thought was, _The shots
can reach my Master_!
However, I took courage, and managed to push on still faster. The day,
which comes so early in summer, began to break. A dull continuous noise
now became audible, and drowned the sound of the horses' hoofs.
"That must be a river," said Alemguir. "If we can but reach it and put
it between us and our pursuers, we shall be saved."
I raised my trunk, snuffing the air to discover the direction of
the water, and changed my course. The wood now became less dense; I
advanced more easily between the young trees and saplings which I
crushed under foot; and we soon found ourselves beside a rapid river
which flowed in the depths of a ravine. The water, which boiled in
places and ran with a dizzy swiftness, had dug for itself a bed in the
clayey soil, and flowed as it were between two walls.
"Alas!" said the Prince; "that which I hoped would be our salvation is
going to be our ruin! It will never be possible to descend to the level
of this river."
To my mind it was difficult--but not impossible. And as there was no
time to waste in reflection, I went to work at once digging the clay
with my tusks, stamping it down with my feet, and throwing it right and
left, in a way to form a sort of incline; but when I thought I might
risk myself upon it the earth crumbled away, and, sliding down the
sticky mud, I shot into the water more quickly than I had intended,
with a tremendous _splash_ that sent the water up into the air to an
amazing height. Luckily, my Master had been able to cling to my ear,
and was none the worse. So I was soon relieved, though astounded at my
sudden descent.
The current now carried us along, and I floated with it. It saved me
all exertion, and I reposed deliciously in the cool refreshing water,
which restored my strength. The Prince also was invigorated. He leaned
over several times to drink out of the hollow of his hand.
Suddenly he turned his head.
"Here come our enemies!" said he.
The horsemen, following the pathway which I had made in the woods,
had reached the banks of the river; they saw us, and riding along the
borders they started in pursuit of us.
The Prince watched them closely.
"They are taking aim," cried he, "give your _War-cry_!"
I tore up from the bottom of my lungs the most terrible yell in my
power! It was a success; and the echoes repeated it as if they would
never stop. It did not fail to produce the effect my Master expected.
The horses were terrified and reared in disorder, and the shots
scattered, without reaching us.
"We know how to defend ourselves for the present," said Alemguir;
"some of the men are unhorsed, and the others have all they can do to
control their animals."
Having my back turned, I could see nothing, but was greatly rejoiced at
what I heard.
The current continued to carry us on, and there was no way of landing
on the other side, which presented only a straight wall, while on the
side of our foes the shore was becoming less and less steep.
The soldiers of Mysore, having succeeded in quieting their steeds,
now gained rapidly upon us; but it was a peril of another kind that
suddenly alarmed me. I felt the water beginning to draw me on with
increasing swiftness, as though being attracted towards a gulf.
I struggled vigorously against the current, endeavouring to draw
backwards, but I could affect but little its course, which had become
fearful in its rapidity. The Prince shared my anxiety.
"Help me," said he, "to stand upright on your neck, so that I can see
what is this new danger."
I held up my trunk, and he leaned against it, steadying himself by
means of it.
"Don't hesitate," shouted he in a trembling voice. "Throw yourself
onto the shore where our enemies are--the river is going to fall in a
cataract down into a horrible abyss!"
I swam with all my might towards the shore; but a force greater than
mine drew me towards the fall, from which we were now distant only
about a hundred yards.
"Courage! courage!" called my Master.
I made a desperate effort, straining every muscle, and putting forth
every ounce of strength that I possessed. But I was out of breath,
stunned by the fearful roar of the cataract, now so near, and blinded
by the spray of the boiling waters.
[Illustration: TRANSPORTED WITH RAGE I RAN AT HIM, SEIZED HIM WITH MY
TRUNK AND DRAGGED HIM FROM THE SADDLE]
I felt that hope was at an end. And I was about to abandon effort when
I felt the ground under my feet. That revived me; in two strokes I was
within a few yards of the shore, standing on a bottom of solid rock, my
flanks panting with a cruel lack of breath.
[Illustration: A SPLENDID PROCESSION WAS FORMED AND BEGAN ITS MARCH. I
FOLLOWED NEXT AFTER THE KING.]
The Prince, whose limbs I could feel still trembled, stroked me with
his hand and spoke gently to me. The water ran foaming between my legs
as though they were the piers of a bridge; but it could no longer carry
me away.
The soldiers now rode up with shouts of joy, and were preparing to aim
at their ease, when "_Charge them!_" ordered my Master.
I thundered my war-cry, and rushed at them from the water, with my
trunk uplifted.
The horses took fright, plunging and seizing the bit; a number of them
ran off "ventre-à-terre."
The captain of the soldiers was furious; mastering his horse by means
of the spurs, he fired. The ball passed so close to the head of
Alemguir that it singed his hair. At this, transported with rage, I ran
at him; I seized him with my trunk, and dragged him out of the saddle.
At the shriek which he uttered his companions, instead of coming to his
rescue, left him and fled.
For a moment I balanced him in the air, like a trophy; then I tossed
him into the middle of the river, where he fell with a splash almost
as great as the one I myself had made recently.
The wretch struggled for a moment, and then was swept on and dashed
over the cataract.
[Illustration]