e edge of the path, also salaamed, smiling in glee at the mem-sahib's
delight.

"Behold, mem-sahib," he said, "is the elephant even Rama, the pearl of
the prince's stables." His English was not quite as intelligible as
these printed words, but Leonie made shift to understand.

"I have never seen such a beautiful elephant," she said, walking up to
the great beast, followed by the guide, the ayah and the bungalow
factotum.

The mem's statement was quite within the range of possibility seeing
that her elephant lore had been gathered from the Zoo and other
low-caste specimens with their straight backs, mean tails, and long
stringy legs.

"Does the--the _mahout_ speak English, because my Hindustani is not
very good. I would like to have the--the beauty of the animal
explained to me, and why it has its face and body painted; and why does
he, the _mahout_, I mean, wear those side pieces to the turban, they
are very unusual."

A moment's pause, during which the _mahout_ stood like a rock, and then
the guide, shuffling his feet, answered to the effect that the driver
could not speak English, but that her humble servant would translate if
the mem-sahib would deign to listen to his mean speech; that the man
was the prince's best beloved--_mahout_, he added after a second's
pause, and that the side pieces were part of the uniform worn by the
prince's head-mahouts.

Not a bit of which information was true, _mais que voulez vous_?

So they all walked round Rama the beautiful, the guide translating the
soft Hindustani into lamentable English.

Rama, it seemed, was a _koomeriah_, a royal or high-caste elephant, and
still a youth, being but forty years of age, _vide_ his ears. His
height was ten feet at the shoulder, and would the mem-sahib note the
perfect slope of the back down to the beautiful, long, feathery tail.
Also the massive chest and head, with the prominent lump between the
eyes so bright and kind, and full of knowledge. Notice also the deep
barrel, and short, so very short, hind legs, the heaviness of the
trunk, the plump cheeks which would indeed grace a comely elephant
maiden; count the eighteen nails upon the lovely feet, and place her
hand upon the soft skin which fell in folds about the tail.

Leonie did as she was bid and ran her hand also down the nearest
magnificent tusk, with tip cut off and ringed about the middle with
bands of gold inlaid with precious stones.

"Perfect ivory," continued the guid