The bungalow of Colonel Hare was something on the order of an armed
camp. Native animal keepers, armed with rifles, patrolled the
menagerie. No one was to pass the cordon without explaining frank his
business, whence he came, and whither he was bound.
By the knees of one of the sentries a little native child was playing.
From time to time the happy father would stoop and pat her head.
Presently there was a stir about camp. An elephant shuffled into the
clearing. He was halted, made to kneel, and Ahmed stepped out of the
howdah.
The little girl ran up to Ahmed joyfully and begged to be put into the
howdah. Smiling, Ahmed set her in the howdah, and the mahout bade the
elephant to rise, but, interested in some orders by Ahmed, left the
beast to his own devices. The child called and the elephant walked off
quietly. So long as he remained within range of vision no one paid any
attention to him. Finally he passed under a tree near the cages and
reached up for some leaves. The child caught hold of a limb and
gleefully crawled out upon it some distance beyond the elephant's
reach. Once there, she became frightened, not daring to crawl back.
She prattled "elephant talk," but the old fellow could not reach her.
The baboon in the near-by cage set up a chattering. The child ordered
the elephant to rise on his hind legs. He placed his fore legs on the
roof of the baboon's cage, which caved in, rather disturbing the
elephant's calm. He sank to the ground.
The baboon leaped through the opening and made off to test this
unexpected liberty. He was friendly and tame, but freedom was just
then paramount.
The elephant remained under the trees, as if pondering, while the child
began to cry loudly. One of the natives saw her predicament and
hastened away for assistance.
Achmed was greatly alarmed over the loss of the baboon. It was a camp
pet of Colonel Hare's and ran free in camp whenever the colonel was
there. He had captured it when a mere baby in British East Africa.
The troglodyte, with a strange reasoning yet untranslatable, loved the
colonel devotedly and followed him about like a dog and with a scent
far keener. So Ahmed and some of the keepers set off in search of the
colonel's pet.
He went about the search with only half a heart. Only a little while
before he had received the news of what had happened in the slave mart
that afternoon. It seemed incredible. To have her fall into Umballa's
hands thus easily, when he and Bruce Sahib had searched the jungle far
and wide! Well, she was alive; praise Allah for that; and where there
was life there was hope.