Draw Swords! Part 7

"Oh, son of a wicked, squinting mother, am I to come and pull thy ugly, great tusks out by the roots?" shrieked the Hindu.

"Woomble! woomble!" went the elephant; and the sergeant stepped forward to give d.i.c.k his support.

"Woomph!" roared the animal angrily, and the sergeant started back.

"I don't think he wants to hurt me," said d.i.c.k; "it only feels tight."

"I don't know, sir," said the sergeant. "I don't know what to make of these brutes. They're not like horses."

"Not a bit," said d.i.c.k, with rather a forced smile, for his position was awkward, and he began to think of what might happen if the elephant held on and suddenly rose to its feet.

"Why don't you make him leave go?" cried the sergeant angrily.

"Thy servant is trying, sahib," whimpered the man, who jumped on the elephant again, but only brought forth a grunt.

"Shout at him; he understands you."

"Yes, sahib; but he is in one of his bad tempers this morning."

The man stepped forward and stamped with one foot on the beast's neck, and then kicked at his ear.

"That does no good. Where's your spiked hook?"

"It is not here, O sahib," whimpered the man, who then burst out with a furious tirade of vituperation; but the offending beast only twitched its contemptible little tail and winked good-humouredly at d.i.c.k.

"Oh, vile, pig-headed brother of a mugger!" shrieked the man, while all his fellows stopped short and watched the encounter; "am I to curse thee till thou dost shrivel up into a chicken maggot? Am I to cease cleaning thy dirty hide, and leave thee to be eaten up by wicked flies?"

The elephant "chuntered," as a north-country man might say, and its meaning seemed to be, "Oh, yes, if you like."

"Will you let go of the young sahib's leg, oh first cousin of ten thousand demons?" shrieked the man.

"Poomph!" growled the elephant; and the Hindu started on another tack, while a couple of his fellows, bearing buckets of water, came nearer.

"Oh, sweet son of a beautiful little mother, beloved eater of cane and sugar-gra.s.s, handsome pet of the ivory teeth! unclasp the young sahib's leg, and thy mahout will paint thee in red and blue stripes with vermilion and indigo. He will gild thy tusks with gold, and put a velvet cloth with silken ropes on thy soft, mountain-like back, so that the elephants of the Rajah of Soojeepur shall be jealous, and run away maddened to the jungle when thou goest thy way."

"Pooroon! pooroon!" grumbled the great beast.

"What! Not when thy beloved mahout promises thee that?" cried the mahout, sliding off the flesh-mountain to bend down and lift up the great flap of an ear and whisper gently, "Sweet gums shall be thine, and bananas, great melons and cuc.u.mbers."

"Whoo--oomph!"

There was a kind of flesh-quake, the Hindu was thrown sideways, the trunk had been uncoiled, and the monster heaved up its huge bulk and stood over d.i.c.k, who had not moved, swaying its great head from side to side, and bringing its splendid great tusks within an inch or two every time it swept them by.

"Let the young sahib run before the evil-born beast with a miserable tail slays him by putting him under his foot!" cried the man.

"He won't hurt me," said d.i.c.k gently. "Will you, old chap? There, I haven't got anything for you."

d.i.c.k raised his hand and rubbed the monster's corrugated trunk, moving gently out of its way as it came forward to where the men who looked on had set down their buckets of water, and now fled hastily.

"Why, he's thirsty," said d.i.c.k.

So it proved, for the elephant reached out its trunk, which looked like a gigantic leech, curved its end down into the nearest pail, sucked up a third of the contents, withdrew it, turned it under into its mouth, shot the water down its throat, and went on repeating the process till both the pails were empty, when it raised its trunk in the air, blew a wild, weird blast, and then turned to d.i.c.k again, touched him softly with its trunk, and then stood gravely swaying its head from side to side.

"Hah!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the sergeant; and d.i.c.k turned sharply from watching the elephant, for his companion's exclamation seemed to be echoed.

"Good-morning," said d.i.c.k. "I didn't know you were there, Mr Wyatt."

"I didn't dare to stir," replied that gentleman. "Why, Darrell, my lad, I've been standing there ever so long, with my heart in my mouth."

"Oh, I don't think there was anything to mind."

"I don't know. These beasts can be very awkward sometimes, and kill their mahouts. I say, didn't you feel frightened?"

"N-o, I don't think so; only a bit helpless. It was so curious."

"They have such power," said Wyatt.

"So I suppose," said d.i.c.k quietly: "but it was so curious to watch and listen to that mahout, sometimes scolding and sometimes petting the great elephant to let go. I hadn't time to feel frightened. But it was awkward."

"Yes," said Wyatt dryly, "very awkward. Been worse, though, if he had dragged you closer and set one of his feet upon you."

"Yes," replied d.i.c.k thoughtfully; "an animal like that must be very heavy."

Wyatt looked at the sergeant, and the sergeant raised his s.h.a.ggy eyebrows a little as he returned the meaning look; and by that time they had reached the big entrance-door of the long, light building used as a riding-school.

CHAPTER SIX.

PUTTING THROUGH THE PACES.

However Richard Darrell might have felt when held by the elephant, he certainly was conscious of being uncomfortable now, for it was long since he had mounted a beast of any kind; and he was to take his seat upon a big, highly-trained trooper, in the presence of a man who was without doubt a magnificent horseman, as well as under the eye of one who acted as riding-master of the troop.

The place looked gloomy in the early morning--quite in accordance with the lad's feelings--while as soon as he pa.s.sed through the doorway, which had been made high enough to allow for the pa.s.sage of mounted men, he was conscious of being in the presence of his mount--a big, restive-looking horse, gifted with the bad habit of showing the whites of its eyes and tossing up its head in what seemed to be a vicious way.

"Hullo!" cried Wyatt, as the native groom began caressing the animal on seeing them enter, with the result of making the horse more restive; "why, you've got Old Bones."

"Yes, sir," said the sergeant; "he knows his business so well that I thought he would be best."

"But he's such a rough, hard-mouthed brute, Stubbs."

"Yes, sir; but he answers to the word of command better than any horse in the troop."

"Humph!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Wyatt. "You must nip him well with your knees, Darrell."

d.i.c.k nodded, and stood looking at the horse, which was led up at a sign made by the sergeant.

"Been accustomed to horses, sir?" he said to his pupil.