CHAPTER XV
A Wonderful Sight
"We'll hit it, sure!" cried Joe, rapidly losing his nerve as he gazedfearfully ahead. "Oh, I guess this is the end!"
Already the shrill whistle of the locomotive was shattering thesilence. But even the loud warning was futile. The elephant remainedwhere it was, not as much as moving an ear.
Bob and Joe and their fathers were gripped with fear as they sawthemselves speed closer toward the huge brute. Let them once strikethe animal, and their doom would probably be sealed!
The explorers heard a wild shout from the engineer. Then there was acreaking and grinding noise, and the train's speed was checkedsomewhat. But even with the application of the emergency brake theheavy engine plunged on.
"Jump!" cried Mr. Lewis in a wild voice. "It's the only way toescape!"
Obeying the command at once, Bob and Joe watched their chance andleaped far over to the left of the train, while their fathers went tothe right. The train was not traveling rapidly, and so there was nodanger of injuring themselves.
The youths rolled over on the soft ground, not receiving as much as ascratch.
"Look, Joe! Look!" yelled Bob.
The locomotive slid on and with a tremendous crash struck the massiveelephant. The impact knocked the front trucks of the engine completelyoff the track, while the huge beast went to the ground with aresounding thud.
The force of the collision literally brought the train to a completestop. But the scene of the mishap was one of frenzied disorder.
Kicking and trumpeting horribly, the elephant vainly tried to get toits feet. But, despite its frantic efforts, it could not do so.Apparently it had been injured severely.
Mr. Holton ran around to the youths, followed by Joe's father.
"Boys! Are you all right?" the latter asked anxiously.
"Yes," Bob reassured him. "But, say, that was a whale of a smash-up,wasn't it?"
"The elephant appears to be mortally wounded," Mr. Lewis said, with ashake of his head. "It seems only humane to put it out of its misery."
He unstrapped his rifle and took aim at the animal's heart. A momentlater he pulled the trigger.
The naturalist never fired a more accurate shot. With a horriblegroan, the great beast collapsed into a heap--dead. The high-velocitybullet, following its previous injury, finished it instantly.
Long before, the engineer and fireman of the locomotive had joined theexplorers and were viewing the scene with a terrible awe.
"We're in a fine mess," groaned Bob, directing his gaze at the deadelephant.
"Mess is right, fellow," came from the engineer. "It's up to me now toget word back to Mombasa to send out a relief train. We're in luck,too. There's a station only a short distance up the track."
He left the others and hurried ahead, intent upon telegraphing as soonas possible.
In less than an hour he was back, and announced that another trainwould arrive from Nairobi, a city less than sixty miles away. Reliefwas expected inside of three hours.
"While we're waiting," said Bob, speaking to his chum, "suppose wetake a short jaunt into the surrounding country. We ought to seeplenty of interest."
"Be careful, boys," warned Mr. Holton. "And remember. Don't shoot anyanimal unless, of course, you have to. This is a game preserve, youknow."
Delighted at such a chance, the youths strode off through the highgrass, keeping their eyes ready to single out anything of interest.
Almost at every step they saw some strange and interesting creature.Birds of brilliant plumage flew overhead, large herds of sleek, agileantelopes coursed across the plain, and at one time the boys caught aglimpse of a buffalo.
"Strange that there aren't any lions," mused Joe. "Where there's somuch of everything else, looks like there ought to be at least a few."
"I suppose they keep their distance," said Bob. "Been hunted so much,maybe."
In little over two hours, Bob and Joe returned to the train, to findtheir fathers sitting on the cowcatcher of the engine.
"What did you see?" Mr. Lewis inquired drowsily.
"Plenty," answered Bob. "There's about every kind of animal imaginablein this region. But we weren't able to stir up a lion."
"I don't wonder," Mr. Holton said. "The king of beasts is keeping hisdistance at present."
"What do you mean, 'at present'?" inquired Joe.
"The natives around here have been up in arms against lions," Mr.Holton explained. "You see, the fact that this is a protectorate hasmade the lions very bold, and so the natives have taken steps to killoff a few that have been causing the most trouble. It seems----"
He was interrupted by the sound of a distant locomotive whistle andpeered up the track expectantly. Undoubtedly this was the relieftrain, and that was what the two naturalists desired above all elsejust at this time. For every moment of delay was maddening to them.
At last the train came in sight and in a short time had stopped notfar from the dead elephant. The engine was in the rear of a flat caron which was a huge crane.
"Now for the fun," smiled Joe, looking doubtfully at the crane. "Looksto me like it would take more than one of those things to move thatelephant."
But much to Joe's surprise the crane proved very effective, liftingthe elephant slowly but surely off the track. It was also used just aseffectively to place the front truck of the engine back on the rails.
"All over," laughed Bob, placing the motion-picture camera back in hispocket. "I took some movies of that, too. Ought to be plenty good." Heclimbed back on the cowcatcher of the locomotive.
"I don't know whether it will be safe to sit there, Bob," said hisfather. "We might strike another animal."
"Ah, gee, Dad," came from Bob pleadingly. "This is a wonderful placeto watch the scenery."
The engineer came to his rescue.
"You don't need to fear anything more happening," he told Mr. Holton."This elephant smash-up was the first to bother us this year. Go aheadand sit on the cowcatcher."
The naturalist took hope from the trainman's words and decided to riskit. For, if the truth be known, he and Mr. Lewis were as anxious asthe boys to ride at the front of the locomotive.
Ten minutes later they were speeding along toward Lake Victoria,following the wrecking train.
Nothing more happened until they reached Nairobi, the halfway point onthe way to the lake. Here their journey aboard this train came to anend, and they were forced to wait for another.
The next morning they were again on their journey, this time aboardanother train, the engine of which did not have the convenientcowcatcher seat. But Bob and Joe didn't mind. They became so absorbedin the unusual sights about them that they completely forgot it.
A short distance from Nairobi they got their first glimpse of reallyprimitive natives. A group of blacks, led by one big fellow who wasundoubtedly the chief, waved a friendly greeting as the train passed.
"Did you notice their teeth?" asked Joe, when the natives had beenleft behind.
"Yeah. They were filed to sharp points. And did you see their hair?"
"Hair? That's a good one," laughed Joe. "They didn't have any. Wasevery bit shaved off."
At last the train entered a region of misty rain forests. Occasionalmountains became visible, their peaks towering into the distant skies.
The time passed slowly but brought much of interest. Then one day theexplorers found themselves in Port Bell, at the edge of famed LakeVictoria.
Bob and Joe went with their fathers down to the water's edge to get aglimpse of the lake.
Then their eyes almost burst from their heads.