ittle lady was. Receiving a reply that she undoubtedly was in the
tree, he was about to enter the interior of the baobab tree when at
that moment it seemed to him that he heard Nell's voice in the depth of
the ravine. Not believing his own ears, he rushed at once to the edge
and, glancing down, was astounded. The little girl sat near the foot of
the colossus which stood so quietly that if he did not move the trunk
and ears, one would think that he was hewed out of stone.

"Nell!" Stas shouted.

And she, engaged with her work, answered merrily:

"At once! At once!"

To this the boy, who was not accustomed to hesitate in the presence of
danger, lifted his rifle with one hand in the air and with the other
grabbed a dry liana stalk, which was stripped of its bark, and, winding
his legs about it, slid to the bottom of the ravine.

The elephant moved his ears uneasily, but at that moment Nell rose and,
hugging his trunk, cried hurriedly:

"Don't be afraid, elephant! That is Stas."

Stas perceived at once that she was in no danger, but his legs yet
trembled under him, his heart palpitated violently, and before he
recovered from the sensation, he began to speak in a choking voice,
full of grief and anger:

"Nell! Nell! How could you do this?"

And she began to explain that she did not do anything wrong, for the
elephant was good and was already entirely tamed; that she wanted to
take only one look at him and return, but he stopped her and began to
play with her, that he swung her very carefully, and if Stas wanted he
would swing him also.

Saying this, she took hold of the end of the trunk with one hand and
drew it to Stas, while she waved the other hand right and left, saying
at the same time to the elephant:

"Elephant! Swing Stas also."

The wise animal surmised from her gesture what she wanted of him, and
Stas, caught by the belt of his trousers, in one moment found himself
in mid-air. In this there was such a strange and amusing contrast
between his still angry mien and this rocking above the earth that the
little "Mzimu" began to laugh until the tears came, clapping all the
time her hands and shouting as before:

"More! More!"

And as it is impossible to preserve an appropriate dignity and deliver
a lecture on deportment at a time when one is suspended from the end of
an elephant's trunk and involuntarily goes through the motions of a
pendulum, the boy in the end began to laugh also. But after a certain