o the man:

"Stop! Stop your animal! Look there!"

And he snatched at his rifle. For on the farther side of the house a
huge tusker elephant in the garden stood over a little European boy
about four years old, who was sprawling almost under the huge feet. And
high above its head the brute held in its curved trunk a younger child,
a girl with long golden curls, as if about to dash it to the ground.

As Frank grasped the rifle the _mahout_, who had turned at his cry,
seized the barrel and said with a smile:

"_Durro mut_, Sahib! Do not fear, sir. Those are Durro Mut Sahib's
babies and the elephant is their playmate."

And as he spoke Wargrave saw the elder child spring up from the ground
and beat the great animal's legs with his tiny hands, crying:

"_Mujh-ko bhi_, Badshah! _Mujh-ko bhi! Uth! Uth!_ (Me too, Badshah! Me
too! Take me up!)"

And the baby held aloft was crowing in glee and kicking its fat little
legs frantically. The elephant lowered it tenderly to the ground and
picked up the boy in its stead and lifted him into the air, while he
laughed and clapped his hands. The two _mahouts_ raised their palms
respectfully to their foreheads and cried to their animals:

"_Salaam kuro_! (Salute!)"

And the two trunks were lifted together in the _Salaamut_, the royal
salute given to Kings and Viceroys.

Frank's _mahout_ explained.

"_Gharib Parwar_ (Protector of the Poor), the pagan ignorant Hindus
around here say that the elephant is a god. Aye, and that his master,
Durro Mut Sahib, is one too. _That's_ like enough. Well, Allah alone
knows the truth of everything. But those two are more than mere man and
animal, that is certain. _Mul, Moti_! (Go on, Pearl!)"

And he kicked his elephant under the ears with his bare feet to quicken
her pace. But Frank bade him stop. Despite the man's optimism he could
not believe it wise to allow tiny tots like that to play with such a
huge, clumsy animal. He was sure that their mother would be horrified if
she knew it. He loved children, and felt that it was madness to allow
these babies to continue their dangerous pastime.

"Have they a mother?" he asked the _mahout_.

"Yes, _Huzoor_. The _mem-Sahib_ (lady) is doubtless within the house."

"I want to dismount," said Frank; and he grasped the surcingle rope as
the elephant sank jerkily to its knees. Then sliding down from the pad
he entered the gate and passed up through the garden towards the
bungalow. As he did so a dain