there none. We must go that way!"

And this is just what the hunters wanted. They made no noise in front
of the elephants on purpose so they would rush that way. For, in that
direction, was the strongly fenced-in stockade, or trap, with long
barriers on each side leading to it.

To the elephants, who were frightened by the shooting and clapping
noises behind, and on both sides of them, the silence in front of them
seemed just what they wanted. Toward it they ran, not knowing that the
trap was waiting for them.

Into it they rushed, the noise behind them sounding louder and louder
now, with more guns shooting and more clappers clapping. Into the
quiet of the stockade rushed Tusker, Mr. and Mrs. Stumptail, Umboo,
Keedah and all the others.

And then, when they were safely in the trap, a great big door of logs,
as strong as the fence of trees of which the stockade was built, fell
with a bang behind them, shutting the elephants in. Then the shooting
and clapping stopped.

For a moment it was quiet in the jungle, the only sound being the wind
blowing in the trees, or the rubbing of the rough-skinned elephants'
bodies, one against the other, making a queer, shuffling noise. The
big animals crowded together in the middle of the stockade trap, and
waited for what would happen next.

"Is this the salt spring, Mother?" asked Umboo.