| the right front leg had also gone
lame. Reduced to ignoring the hunter’s stings, he was beyond fighting back. Kalala yelled once more and they attacked, shouting and waving their arms. Gisco let fly another arrow which found its mark in the animals upper trunk. There was a sharp bellow in response, not defiant anymore, but almost pleading in its temper. The elephant painfully turned and tried to flee. One step, a half a dozen, twenty, and there was a crash followed by more sorrowful bellowing. The hunters cautiously approached the trapped animal. He laid tilted to one side, two legs buckled under him. Most of the spikes had been broken off by his weight and without effect, but one was driven home, upward into his belly. He trashed around, trying to rise. Gisco drew his bow, the arrow’s feathers brushed his cheek, and let fly. It found a path to the elephant’s left eye, and must have entered the brain, because the |
beast was suddenly dead. With one last beat
of his great heart the animal heaved upward and with the escape of its final breath sank
deeper into the hole.  The hunters watched the final scene in silent regard, not sure the hunt was over, or that the elephant was truly dead. |
