Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/40

10 The brutes after a while let go their grip and

each stepped back a little. Sudhakar's spirit was fully roused. Losing sight of his opponent he turned to vent his wrath on the prince standing by. Trumpeting fiercely, the moving mountain charged Aurangzib. The Prince, then only fourteen years old, calmly stood his ground, kept his horse from turning back, and flung his spear at the elephant's head. All was now con- fusion and alarm. The crowd swayed this way and that, men stumbling on one another in their eagerness to flee. The nobles and the servants ran about shouting, fireworks were let off to scare away the elephant, but all to no effect. The animal came on and felled Aurangzib's horse with a sweep of his long tusk. But the prince jumped up from the ground, drew his sword, and faced the raging beast. The unequal combat would have soon ended fatally for the heroic boy, but succour was at hand. His brother Shuja forced his way through the crowd and smoke, galloped up to the elephant, and wounded it with his spear. But his horse reared and he was thrown down. Rajah Jai Singh, too, came up, and while managing his shying steed with one hand attacked the elephant with the other from the right side. Shah Jahan