"Shan't," said Hal, laughing. "I'm not going to begin till I've had my breakfast. I'm so hungry I could eat old Sree."
CHAPTER XXXI
COMING HOME TO ROOST
That day passed away quietly enough, the enemy making no sign; but scouts reported that they were in hiding in all directions.
"They mean to starve us out, boys," said Mr. Kenyon.
"Oh," said Harry, "then they'll have to take care that they don't get starved first, for now the elephants are gone I suppose we could live for a month on the grain."
It was as if the very mention of the word elephants had been the introduction to what was to come, for just then the peculiar noise known as trumpeting—which is really an agreeable blend in the way of noises, of pig in a gate, the final haw, prolonged and intense, of a donkey's bray, and the hoarse crow of a Cochin China cock—came faintly in through the open windows of the hall.
Harry ran and looked out to where Sree and Lahn sat waiting and listening.
"What was that, Sree?" he cried, as Phra followed him and looked out too.
"It was an elephant, Sahib," said the hunter.