The Adventures of Kathlyn

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.