" said Singh impatiently, and throwing his right
leg over, he came down upon the elephant's neck; while before the boys
could grasp what was about to happen, the animal rose and began to turn
round, slinging the massive iron peg over the palisade; and then, as he
began to move off and the chain tightened, he drew with him eight or ten
feet of the ornamental woodwork.

"Oh, what will the Doctor say?" cried Singh piteously.

"That he'll stop your pocket-allowance to pay for it. Here, I say, old
chap, do, do something to steer him."

"But I haven't got a--"

"Here, try a pin," cried Glyn, making-believe to pull one out of the
bottom corner of his waistcoat.

"But that won't go through his skin."

"No, I suppose not. He'll think you are tickling him. Here, shall I
try my knife?"

"No, no, no! It will make him mad."

"But we must do something," cried Glyn, who couldn't sit still for
laughing. "Can't you turn his head? We are mowing and harrowing all
these flower-beds with this wood-stack he's dragging at his heels. Ah,
that's better!" continued Glyn, as, finding the impediment rather
unpleasant, the animal turned off at right angles and reached out with
its trunk to remove the obstacles attached to its leg.

"Why, we are anchored! Oh, now he's off again. Why, where's he going?"

"I think he's going to make for the hedge where he came through first,
in the cricket-field."

"But we couldn't get through there with all this garden-fence. It would
catch in the hedge, and we should be dragging that too all through the
town."

"Oh, I don't know," cried Singh.

"Let's scramble down and try to stop him. If you take hold of one leg
I'll hang on by his tail if I can reach it.--Ah, that's better!"

For the elephant suddenly came to a standstill about a third of the way
across the playground.

"Here, he's stopping for something. I wish we were near a baker's
shop."

But the elephant had not stopped for nothing but only to balance itself
upon three legs while it kicked out with the fourth, making a loud
crashing and jangling noise, which was repeated till the length of
wooden palisade was broken into splinters. But the chain and picket-peg
were as firmly attached as ever, and were dragged steadily across the
remaining portion of the playground right for the hedge, which now stood
before the boys, displaying not only the demolished reparations, but a
good-sized gap as well.

It seemed as if their steed m