TREED BY AN ELEPHANT 249 



"By losing his head he had almost caused us 

 to lose our lives, and he knew too well that he 

 was to blame. His face bore an expression of 

 fear and shame combined, and we stood gazing 

 at each other without saying a word. Finally, 

 he fell to his knees and, kissing my hand, sobbed : 

 'Master, forgive me. I will never do it again. 

 I have always been faithful to you until to-day, 

 so if you will forgive me I swear by Allah that 

 I will never, never again desert you.' 



"Undoubtedly the elephant had taught him a 

 lesson, and I felt so thankful that we both had 

 escaped that I took him at his word, so after 

 severely reprimanding him and fining him twen- 

 ty rupees from his salary, I returned to camp, 

 picking up the other boys en route" 



