Chapter 25 Chapter Nine One Hundred to One

His Excellency Edward Morrow was right.Now, a team of 150 to 60 elephants has followed behind the car.The queue was very crowded, and the first few rows were quite close to the "steam room", less than ten meters away, so it was possible to observe them carefully. The elephant walking at the head of the line was the largest, though certainly not more than three meters measured vertically from the shoulders.But as I said, Indian elephants are smaller than African elephants, some of which can be as tall as four meters.Likewise the tusks of Indian elephants are much shorter than those of their African counterparts. "" Lie Zi·Tang Wen" says: "The beginning of things has no end, and the beginning of things has no end." "In the Northern Song and Zhou dynasties, the exposed curved part generally did not exceed 1.5 meters, and the tooth column at the root was about 40 centimeters wide. Although some elephants can be seen in Ceylon Island being pulled out of their tusks and losing their wonderful weapons that they mastered flexibly , but these "Mikras"--the proper name for them--are extremely rare in Hindustan proper.

Behind the head elephant are several female elephants, who are the real guides of the caravan.If it weren't for the "steam house", they would be in the vanguard, and the male elephant would definitely stay behind, with the others.It is true that "Karl Marx's Economic Theories", "Karl Marx's Historical Contributions", and Xiong Xiang know nothing about leading the team.They also don't take care of the baby elephants at all - they don't know when they have to stop to let the "babies" rest, and they don't know what kind of camp environment is suitable for them.The mother elephant then assumed the responsibility of the guardian of the family out of morality, and at the same time guided the large-scale migration.

At present, it is difficult to answer the reasons for this procession: the need to leave the depleted pastures, or the need to escape the bite of some poisonous mosquitoes, or just want to follow our strange caravan, which makes them cross the desert. the various valleys of Vandias?unknown.This area is quite open-scale war, a necessary way to fight for the final victory. , while elephants are out of the forest and used to travel during the day.So, when night falls, do they do what we must—stop and rest?Will find out soon. "Captain Ord," I asked my companion, "this elephant guard is going from strength to strength! Are you not at all worried?"

"Pfft! Why do these animals want to offend us? They're not tigers, are they, Fox?" asked the captain. "Not even a leopard!" replied the orderly, who, of course, always agreed with his superior. However, I saw Carragani shook his head dissatisfied, although he could not agree with the peace of mind of the two hunters. "Caragani, you look very concerned," said Bonkers, who was also watching him. "Can't the train go faster?" the Indian simply asked. "Quite difficult," said the engineer, "but let's try." Bonkers then left the rear porch and returned to the turret where Stoll was in charge.Soon, the panting of the "steel behemoth" became rapid, and the train picked up speed.

But it didn't help - the road was too rough.Even though the speed has been doubled, the situation has not changed in the slightest.Because the herd also quickens its pace.In fact, they did so, and the distance between the "steam house" and the elephants did not shorten. A few more hours passed and we were still in the same situation.After dinner, everyone went back to sit down on the veranda of the second car. At this point, the road behind appears as a straight line at least two miles long, so the view is no longer limited by the turns. How anxious we were to see another increase in the number of elephants within an hour!There are no less than a hundred of them.

Depending on the width of the road, two or three elephants line up side by side, walking silently, it can be said that they are all in the same pace, some with their trunks raised high, and some with their tusks bared.The whole elephant herd is like the fine waves stirred up by the huge swell of the seabed.Not violently, but what a risk we would be in if a storm should stir up this mobile army! The night is coming on,—it will be a night without moon or star.For there is a mist covering the sky. Bonkers has already said that if the night is too dark, he can't insist on walking this rather difficult mountain road, but must stop.As soon as there appeared a larger opening of the valley, or a wider depth of the canyon, which would allow the dangerous procession to flank the train and continue its southward migration, the engineer decided to stop.

But would elephant herds do it?Will it stop and rest right where we camp? This question is quite critical. Also, as night fell, the elephants could be seen showing some kind of fear that hadn't been seen during the day.A powerful but dull growl emanated from their huge bodies.And after this disturbing noise, there was another strange sound. "What's that sound?" asked Colonel Moreau. "It's the sound an elephant makes when it meets an enemy!" Karagani replied. "That's us, and it can only be us that they regard as the enemy?" Bonkers asked.

"I'm afraid it is!" said the Indian. The sound was like distant thunder.Reminiscent of the sound made by rubbing hanging irons backstage during a performance.Elephants rubbed the ground with the tip of their long trunks and exhaled the thick breath accumulated by deep breathing.The gripping and deep noise like thunder is thus produced. It was nine o'clock at night. We are on a small, roughly circular flat with a radius of about half a mile, next to a road leading to Lake Putiria. Karagani originally planned to camp by the lake, but because there are still fifteen kilometers to go, God Don't even think about arriving before it's dark.

Bonkers had to issue a stop signal. The Iron Behemoth stopped, but we didn't unload the truck, and we didn't even put out the fire in the furnace.Stoll was ordered to stick to his post, and the train was ready to start at any time.Indeed, every emergency needs to be met. Colonel Moreau retired to his cubicle.Bonkers and Captain Ord didn't want to go to bed, I'd rather be with them.The staff on the car also did not rest.But what can we do if the herd of elephants does attack the Iron Behemoth? At the beginning of the vigil, there were still slight noises around the camp. Obviously, those huge animals have also arrived at this small plain one after another. Will they pass through and continue their journey southward?

"After all, it's a possibility," Bonkers said. "And it's highly probable," added Captain Ord quickly, with a well-tested optimism. Around 11 o'clock, the commotion became smaller and smaller, and after another 10 minutes, there was no sound outside. The night seemed very quiet.Any unusual bells and whistles are also sent to our ears.Yet nothing could be heard except the dull rumble of steam in the darkness of the Iron Behemoth.Nothing to be seen save the occasional spout of sparks from its steel proboscis. "How, am I right? These upright elephants have already left." Captain Ord said.

"Bon voyage!" I said. "Going away?" Bonkers asked while shaking his head. "Let's verify it!" Then he shouted to the mechanic: "Stoll, turn on the locomotive headlights." "Soon, Mr. Bonkers!" After 20 seconds, the binoculars of the "steel behemoth" emitted two beams, which were automatically projected in every direction on the ground plane. The elephants are all there, lying in a big circle around the "steam room", motionless, as if they are asleep, maybe they are falling asleep.The lights randomly illuminate their dark and huge bodies, seeming to endow them with a kind of supernatural vitality.Due to optical illusions, the elephants illuminated by the strong lights appear extraordinarily huge, almost comparable to the figure of the "steel behemoth".Stimulated by the bright light, the elephants jerked to their feet as if hit by a flaming goad.With their trunks stretched forward and their tusks bristling, they almost jumped at the train.There was also a hoarse roar from the huge jawbone.Soon this sudden rage spread to all the elephants, and there was a deafening chorus around us, as if a hundred bugles were blowing at once. "Turn the lights off!" Bonkers yelled. The current was cut off immediately, and the noise stopped almost instantly. "They're all there, resting in a circle, and they'll be there at dawn," said the engineer. "Hmm!" Odd sighed softly, and I felt his confidence was somewhat shaken. How to do it?Everyone asked Carragani for his opinion, and he made no secret of his anxiety. What if he escaped from here quietly in the dark of night?Almost impossible.And what is the benefit of doing so?Elephants will definitely follow us and the roads will be more difficult than during the day. So we agreed to start again in the early morning.At that time, we will try our best to set off cautiously and quickly, so as not to disturb this terrible escort. "What if these guys are still stubbornly following us?" I asked. "We're going to try to get to a 'steam house' where we can avoid the elephants," Bonkers replied. "Will such a place be found before going out of Vandias Mountain?" Captain Ord asked again. "There is one," replied the Indian. "Where?" Bonkers asked. "Lake Putiria." "how far?" "About nine miles." "But elephants can swim," said Bonkers, "and probably better than any other quadruped! I've seen some elephants float on water for more than half a day! Isn't that worrying Will they keep chasing us over Lake Putiriya, making things more dire for the Steam House?" "Besides that, I see no other way to escape their attacks!" said the Indian. "Try it then!" replied the engineer. That's really the only way.Perhaps, the elephants dare not venture into the water under these conditions; perhaps, we will outpace them in speed. So everyone anxiously waited for dawn.Day soon dawned, but, although there were no more unusual signs that night, none of the elephants left at dawn, and the "steam house" was still surrounded on all sides. Suddenly there was a huge commotion in the resting place, and the elephants seemed to be manipulated by a certain password.They shook their trunks, rubbed their tusks on the ground, sprayed water to wash their bodies, and then ate a few handfuls of grass in this lush pasture. Finally, they surrounded the "steam room" again, so close that they could throw a standard from the window. Shoot them. But Bonkers made it clear that we must never offend the elephant herd.Beware of giving a raid any excuse. A few elephants are getting closer to our "steel behemoth".They obviously want to see what this big, motionless guy is.Will it be considered its own kind?Do you suspect that there is an incomparably powerful force in it?Yesterday, they didn't get a chance to see it at work because the first few rows of elephants always kept a certain distance from the train. However, when they heard the long sound of the siren and saw the "steel behemoth" spraying air from its long nose and moving its huge and jointed feet on the road, pulling up the two-wheeled cart behind it, they would feel How do you react? Colonel Moreau, Captain Ord, Caragani, and I were at the front of the train, and Sergeant Mark Reel and his companions were at the rear. Kalut stood in front of the furnace of the boiler and continued to fill it with fuel, even though the steam had reached five atmospheres. Bonkers sat next to Stoll in the conning tower, one hand on the trigger. The time to go has come.As soon as Bonkers gave an order, the mechanic turned the control handle, only to hear the siren blare. The elephants all pricked up their ears, and then they stepped back a little, giving up a few steps. The cylinder had been filled with clean water, a stream of air shot out from the elephant trunk, all the gears of the machine were turned, and the four legs of the "steel giant" were activated, and the whole train shook. If I say that the initial reaction of the elephant crowded in front was "extremely surprised", I believe that none of the partners will raise any objection.They parted to give way to a wider passage, which looked wide enough for Steam House to pass at the trot of a horse. But the group of "proboscises,"--Captain Ord's phrase--moved suddenly forward and backward.The various teams in front acted as the vanguard of the convoy, and those behind us still followed our train.They all seemed determined not to give up. At the same time, on both sides of this wider road, there are also some elephants accompanying us, like knights waiting beside the carriage of the lady.They are mixed male and female, with different sizes and ages: there are 25-year-old strong elephants, 16-year-old middle-aged elephants, 100-year-old old elephants, and some clinging to female elephants. , using the lips - not the nose as people sometimes think - to hold the mother's breast, and walk like a baby while sucking.The whole team was orderly, calmly adjusting their pace according to the speed of the "steel behemoth". "If they escort us all the way to the lake in this way, I can still agree..." Colonel Moreau said. "Yeah...but what if the road gets narrower?" Caragani interjected. The danger lies here. The next three hours were uneventful, we covered twelve kilometers and about fifteen kilometers from the camp to Putiriya Lake.Only two or three times, a few elephants were lying in the middle of the mountain road, as if they wanted to block the road; but the sharp tusks of the "steel giants" pointed straight ahead, and they drove towards them, and the steam they exhaled sprayed directly into their bodies. On the face, the elephants hurriedly dispersed to let it go. By 10 o'clock in the morning, there are only four or five kilometers left to reach Lake Putiriya.There at least—hopefully—we'll be relatively safe. Before reaching the lake, if there was no greater hostility from this large procession, Bonkers planned to pass by the east side of Lake Puteria without stopping, so as to get out of the Vandias Mountains the next day.Then it's just a matter of hours to get to Jubilapor station. Let me add here that this country is not only very remote, it is quite desolate.Not a single village, not a single pasture,—the result of the lack of vegetation, not a single caravan or even a single traveler.We have not encountered a single living being since our entry into this mountainous region of Bendalkhand. Near 11 o'clock, the valley selected by the "steam room" between two towering mountain ridges began to shrink.As Caragani had expected, the road narrowed again before reaching Pu Lake. The already dire situation will only get worse. Of course, the difficulty is not increased if the elephants are only marching in front of or behind the vehicles.But the elephants walking alongside the train could no longer maintain their original formation.They either smashed against the rocky walls our car was bumping into, or fell into the abysses that were everywhere along the roadside.So out of instinct, they must run to the head or the tail of the line, and the result is that the train can neither move forward nor back. "It's complicated," said Colonel Moreau. "Yeah, now, we have to run into the herd," Bonkers replied. "Okay, go, let's go forward!" Ode shouted. "Hmph! The steel ivory of the monster is better than the bone ivory of these stupid things!" "Proboscis" was another "stupid thing" to the capricious captain. "Naturally," Sergeant Mark Rael echoed Ord, adding: "But we're one to one hundred!" "Forward, anyway!" cried Bonkers, "or the herd will overtake them all!" The "steel behemoth" spewed out several streams of air one after another, moving faster.As a result, an elephant walking in front was stabbed in the buttock by its tusk. The animal let out a roar of pain, and the whole herd stirred angrily.A battle of uncertain consequences looms. We have taken up arms: rifles loaded with cones, carbines loaded with blasters, revolvers loaded with bullets.In short, be prepared to repel every attack. A huge male elephant with a ferocious appearance was the first to provoke. It fixed its tusks and supported the ground with its two hind legs, turning around to face the "steel behemoth". "It's a 'Gunez'," Carragani called. "Come on! Only one tusk!" Captain Ord shrugged contemptuously. "This is even more powerful!" The Indian said. Caragani's term for the elephant was a term hunters used to refer to a male with only one tusk.They are especially revered by Indians, especially the one with the missing tusk on the right.The present one was so, as Calagani said, as terrible as its kind. We can clearly see the actions of "Juneshi": first, it uttered a long cry, then rolled up its trunk, which was never used for fighting, and rushed towards our "steel behemoth" ferociously. Its fangs naturally touched the iron sheet of the train's belly, and bit by bit it penetrated.However, when it finally hit the thick and hard iron armor of the internal equipment, it broke immediately. The whole train shook because of it.But at the same time, the accumulated momentum still pushed it forward, pushing forward against the vain resistance of the bull. The male elephant's call for help was also heard and understood by his companions.The first half of the elephant herd suddenly stopped, forming an insurmountable wall of flesh.The herd of elephants behind the "steam room" continued on its way, slamming into the verandah at the rear of the train. At the same time, several elephants walking on the side raised their trunks and hooked the pillars of the carriage to shake violently.How to resist such a force that intends to destroy everything? Can't stop, but must fight back.It was impossible to hesitate any longer.We aimed our rifles and carbines at the incoming "enemy". "Don't miss a single shot!" cried Captain Ord. "Friends, it's the most effective way to shoot at the base of their noses or the hollows under their eyes." Odd walks the walk.After a few gunshots, the elephant wailing in pain was heard. Three or four of them were being hit fatally in the back and sides of the train, and fell dead,--and that was all the better, because the bodies wouldn't block the road.Also, the elephant in front moved back a little bit, allowing the train to move on. "Reload and wait to shoot!" Odd issued another order loudly. If he meant to wait for a possible general attack by the herd, the wait was short.Moreover, the fierceness of its offensive made us think that it was about to fail miserably. Angry and hoarse roars merged into one scene and burst out suddenly.As if from the mouth of the war elephant which the Hindoos, by special means, called "Mus" - "Rage".It was so terrifying that even the most intrepid Elephant Riders, who had been trained at Jigovar to deal with these fearsome animals, would now be terrified by the assailants of the Steam House. "Forward!" Bonkers yelled. "Fire!" Ord yelled. So, along with the train's more rapid panting, what was heard was the endless sound of loud gunshots.However, in this chaotic scene, aiming and firing like the captain ordered was very difficult to do.Although every bullet hit the elephant's body, it couldn't kill them.The wounded elephants became even more angry. Facing our firepower, they charged back with their tusks, and many walls of the "steam room" were pierced. To the continuous whistling of carbines firing to the front and back of the train and the explosion of bullets fired into the elephant's body, was added the hiss of the steam of the train heated by the man-pulled wind.The air pressure is still increasing. The "steel behemoth" took advantage of the momentum to rush into the elephant herd, split a road, and pushed all the elephants back.Its long teeth tore through the pile of flesh in front of it, and its flexible proboscis waved up and down like a great stick, inflicting double damage on those blocking the way. The road is very narrow.The wheels slipped on the ground a few times, but the jagged rims always picked up again, and we finally reached the lake. "Hurrah!" Ord yelled like a soldier in the middle of a scuffle. "Ulla! Ulla!" We cheered along with him. Just then, a trunk suddenly swooped down on the porch in front of the car.In an instant, I saw that Colonel Moreau had been caught by the noose and was about to be caught under the elephant's hoof. —He must have died in this way, if Calagani hadn't rushed over and chopped off the elephant's trunk with a click of an axe. Obviously, while participating in the collective defense, the Indian did not relax his attention to Mr. Edward Morrow.Judging from his behavior of swearing allegiance to the colonel to the death, it seems that Caragani believes that the colonel is the first protection object among us. Ah!What kind of energy is contained in the body of our "steel behemoth"!It rushes into the enemy line with might and confidence, like a wedge, and its penetration is simply enormous!Moreover, because the elephant behind us pushed us with its head, the train went forward even more without shaking, and it drove faster than we expected. Suddenly, amidst the uproar, we heard another noise that caught everyone's attention. It was the second car that was crushed by several elephants on the rocks on the side of the road. "Come here! Come over to us!" Bonkers yelled at his comrades fighting in the back of the Steam Room. Sergeant Gummi and Fox quickly withdrew from the second car. "Where's Palazzard?" Captain Ord asked. "He won't give up the kitchen," Fox answered. "Tie him away! Forcibly evacuate!" Our head chef no doubt considered it a disgrace to relinquish the post entrusted to him.Wanting to break free from Gumi's strong arms was tantamount to trying to break free from the two jaws of a pair of large scissors, so Mr. Palazzade was "clamped" and placed in the dining room. "Is it all there?" Bunks called. "Yes, sir." Gumi replied. "Cut off the shaft!" "Throw away half the train?..." Captain Ord exclaimed. "Must be!" Bonkers replied. The shaft was cut off, and the small wooden bridge between the two cars was smashed with a few axes, and our second car was left behind. It was done at just the right time: the carriage was shaken, raised, and overturned violently in a blink of an eye. The elephants rushed over and trampled wildly, and the carriage was completely destroyed, leaving only a pile of ugly scrap iron, blocking the mountain road. "Hmph!" Captain Ord's tone made us laugh, "If the situation permits, who said that these guys would not even trample a small bug to death!" At this point, if the frenzied herd treats the first car as it does the second, the fate that awaits us cannot be imagined. "Intensify the fire, Karut," the engineer ordered. There is still half a kilometer to go, and with one last effort, Lake Putiriya may arrive. Under the control of Stoll, our powerful "steel behemoth" maximizes its horsepower, and will never disappoint the master's expectations for this last-ditch effort.It broke a gap in the barrier of elephant bodies—the rear of the elephants pushed down, like the fat buttocks of the overturned horses in Salvador Rocha's paintings of battle scenes.Our steed is not content with stabbing with its tusks, it also throws scalding steam as a sword at the enemy, just as it used to deal with the pilgrims who came to the mountain in Legu, and it spits out a whip like boiling water, Beat everyone around! ...it's really amazing! The lake finally emerged at the last bend in the road. If we can hold on for ten minutes, our train will get there in relative safety. Evidently the elephants were aware of this too--it confirmed Captain Ord's original view of their intelligence.They wanted to make one last attempt to overturn our carriage. But our guns fired again.Bullets rained down on the elephant herd in front of the car.Only five or six elephants were still in the way, and most of them were shot and fell down. The wheels passed by on the blood-soaked ground, making harsh sounds. There were only a hundred paces to the lake, and yet the few elephants that formed the last line of defense had to be driven back. "Go on! Go on!" Bonkers yelled at the mechanic. The "steel behemoth" panted heavily, as if there was a silk reeling machinery factory in its body.Steam is constantly ejected at a pressure of eight atmospheres.Filling it with fuel, even a little bit, would cause the already trembling boiler to explode.Thankfully it doesn't have to be.For the Behemoth is now immensely powerful.Pushed by the piston, it literally leaps forward.The rest of the train followed it, running over the litter of elephant carcasses and risking tripping over it—an accident that would have killed the crew of the Steam House. No disaster befell us, we reached the bank at last, and soon the train was floating on the calm water. "Thank God!" Colonel Moreau couldn't help it. Two or three elephants, dazed with rage, also rushed into the lake, in a vain attempt to overtake by water these foes which they had failed to destroy on solid ground. However, the "behemoth" has all four legs.The train drifted away from the embankment, and then a few well-placed bullets freed us from the 'sea monsters', whose proboscis was nearly drawn into the back verandah. "Hey, Captain," Bunks called, "what do you think of the Indian elephant's 'gentleness'?" "Hmph!" spat the captain, "after all, it's no match for wild beasts! If thirty tigers instead of a hundred stupid elephants block the way, and if one of us survives to go back and describe the adventure, then I will be withdrawn." rank."