re you want it."

And that is the first great thing the little elephant has to
learn--_how to use its trunk as we use our hands_. After that
everything else comes easy.

Now I am going to tell you about the childhood of the most wonderful
elephant in the world, who actually lives to-day in the courtyard of a
palace in India. He is the biggest elephant that ever was; that is why
he lives in a grand palace, and does nothing except carry a King, or
some other great man, on his back on days of festival.

In fact he was the leader among all the elephants in a long procession
at a grand festival called the Durbar, held in honor of the King of
England. On that day a lovely cloth of silk woven with gold was put on
the elephant's back, and around his tusks were placed rings of solid
gold studded with real diamonds, rubies, and pearls.

At another time he carried on his back the Crown Prince of Germany,
when he visited India a few years ago; and at other times he has
carried Grand Dukes of Russia and Arch Dukes of Austria when _they_
visited India.

So you see, he is quite the grandest elephant in the world. He has a
real name, just like a man, and it is written down in books with the
names of all the grand officers of the palace. His name is Salar
Jung; so we shall call him Salar for short.

He was born in the jungle, and his Papa and Mamma were quite wild
then. It was only after he grew up that Salar came to live in a
palace.

_Elephant Child "Swats" Tormenting Flies_

But now about Salar's early boyhood. After his Mamma had taught him to
swim, to eat from the boughs of trees, and to drink for himself by
dipping his trunk into the water, she had another useful thing to
teach him. In the jungle there are swarms of tormenting flies; they
come buzzing around the elephants, and bother them, just as they
bother us. Now, _we_ can whisk off the flies with our hands, but how
about an elephant?

Of course, you will say, his trunk is his hand; and so he can use the
trunk to slap the flies or whisk them off. True, but the trunk will
not reach more than halfway down the side of the body; and the
elephant is too stiff to bend his body as we do; and his tail is too
short to reach even a yard each way. Then how can he get rid of the
flies where he cannot reach them? Just think!

If he only could make his trunk _longer_! But how could he do that?
Very simply! Of course he cannot actually make the trunk longer, but
he breaks off