Page:Dapples of the Circus (1943).pdf/129

 Here he was just out of the reach of the elephants and in full view of the fight,—a sort of reserved seat, as he afterwards told Mr. Williams.

As they fought, dealing blows with their great trunks that would have broken any but the thickest skulls, and thrusting with their mighty tusks with the force of battering-rams, they shrieked with pain and rage and roared with anger. Such blood-curdling sounds poor Freckles had never heard. Presently the Emperor gave ground and they crashed into a high board fence at the side of the road. It was leveled to the ground as though it had been made of straw. Round and round they went in the open lot, thrusting, striking, and bellowing with rage and pain. Then the fight swayed back into the road and another section of the fence went down. At this point one of the manager's helpers galloped up on a panting horse. Seeing the desperate character of the fight, he galloped away to the freight yards for the