SOUND OUT FOB AN ELEPHANT-HUNT. 349 



I had determined to have a holiday, and thus give 

 the mare a holiday too, hut how ruthlessly was it 

 destroyed ! I can safely assert that I wished that the 

 elephants had heen at Jericho instead of feeding in 

 proximity to the camp. 



But ivory was money, and money was wanted, ob- 

 taining possession of which is a disease that many besides 

 myself are frequently seized with ; so I laid aside my 

 pipe, pulled myself together, and assumed a look so like 

 business that if an observer had gazed upon me he 

 would have thought that to slay elephants was the sole 

 ambition of my life, and that to know they were within 

 access, the delight of my heart would be to jump into 

 the saddle and rush off instanter. Ay, ay, we are all 

 deceitful creatures. How many go to church because 

 they think it looks respectable ? 



The little mare was willing; she came up to the 

 wagon at a high, jaunty trot, stuck her nose into my 

 buckets and pans to find where the mealies had been 

 deposited for it was ever my habit to indulge her 

 when she was brought to me and not finding what she 

 wanted, looked in my face so pleadingly that I felt 

 ashamed of my forgetfulness in fact, as if I had told a 

 premeditated lie, and been detected in doing so. 



But to remedy my forgetfulness was easy, so I put a 

 handful or two on the top of the fachey while I pro- 

 ceeded to tighten the girths. Never did the little pet 

 appear so fit to go ; she was as buoyant as a cork in 

 body and spirit, so when I threw my leg over her, I felt 

 that she was able to accomplish aught that was in the 

 power of horseflesh. Let me impart a secret possibly 

 I may be laughed at for calling it so never tease a horse 

 by tickling or otherwise, for although at first it may 



