They beat the earth with their feet until
the ground trembled, and some of them rushed at the gate, which had
fallen shut behind them, as they hurried into the trap to get away
from the noise.
But the gate, which had no ditch in front of it, was the strongest
part of the trap, and the elephants could not batter it down, try as
they did. Tusker and the others banged into it, but the gate held
firmly.
"Well, if we can't get out, what are we going to do?" asked Umboo of
his mother.
"We shall have to stay here until the hunter-men come, I suppose,"
answered Mrs. Stumptail.
"Will they shoot us?" asked Umboo.
"I hope not," his mother said.
But Umboo need not have been afraid of that. Elephants in India are
worth too much to shoot. They can be sold to circuses and park
menageries.
But, better than this, the elephants in India do much work. They pull
great wagons, that many horses could not move, and they work in lumber
yards, piling up the big, heavy logs of teakwood, from which those
queer, Chinese carved tables and chairs are made, and which wood is
also used in ships.
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