suit of another herd, which we soon fell in
with, and had good luck with our traps, so that we quickly loaded
ourselves with ivory. I persuaded my companions not to put any bait on
the pit-falls, for sure enough, as the elephant observed, it _does_
look very unnatural to see fruit and green branches growing on a beaten
path. But whether our success was occasioned by this alteration in our
plans, or to the elephants being less cunning than the others, I cannot
pretend to tell you; but I say, boys, how angry the old leader would
have been, if he had thought, that, by letting out this secret, he had
lent a helping hand to "the contemptible little animals," as he had the
impertinence to call us!

But I have talked myself hoarse, and it is high time to turn in. So
good night, youngsters, all!

* * * * *

Now _all_ my tales are finished, and I am going to add what an Irishman
might call a _Preface_, at the _end_ of the book. I have a reason for
this. If my preface had been placed at the beginning, perhaps you would
never have read it at all, but would have skipped over it, in hopes of
finding something more entertaining. For I was a _stranger_ to you when
you first took this little book into your hand, but now you have
finished it, I hope you will consider the author as a _friend_, who
will be very much grieved if you refuse to listen to his parting words.
And a very few words they shall be.

Do you think this book has been written for your _amusement_ only? That
was my principal object, certainly; but I also intended slyly to convey
a little _instruction_ also. Therefore, in the descriptions of the
forms and habits of animals, some of which, though not uncommon in this
country, were perhaps almost unknown to you before, the greatest care
has been taken to insert no information which had not been proved to
be correct, either from consulting the best authors on the subject,[12]
or from my own observation. This may be called a _true story_, then,
except in one respect, that the characters have been endowed with the
gifts of speech and reason. How could I write a tale about animals that
could neither speak to each other, nor understand what was spoken to
them? And how can we be sure that "dumb creatures," as they are often
called, are not improperly named so, and that they do not possess a
sort of language of their own? That they have the power of expressing
some of their sentiments