The Elephant God

he post orderly, blocking up

ohammedan in white undress, slipped off his loose native sh

a long official envelope registered and insured and addressed, like a

ed it to the man. As he did so the screa

" he asked the

ating his hathi (elephant), sahib

. Its mahout, or driver, keeping out of reach of its trunk, was beating it savagely on the head with a bamboo. Mad with rage, the man, a grey-bearded old Mohammedan, swung the long stick with both hands and brought it down again and again with all his force. From the gateway of the Fort above the havildar, or native sergeant, of the guard shouted to the maho

h revealed the reason of the poor tethered brute's screams. For they showed that in the e

down the steep slope from his bungalow to the parade ground. As he went he shouted to the mahout to stop. But the man was too engrossed in his brutality to hear him or the havildar, who repeated the Major's order. It was not un

es were c

blood, and morsels of skin and flesh adhered to them. Dermot felt a strong inclination to thrash the brutal mahout with the unarmed end of the bamboo, but, restraining himself, he turned to

t. We'll find something better for

is white-clad Mussulman butler, who was

said in Hindustani. "Also the little

brought them Dermot a

coolie, the mahout's assistant. "He is

d suspiciously out of its little eyes, shifted uneasily from foot to foot, and at first shrank from him. But, as the officer stood quietly in front of it, it stretched out its trunk and smelled the extended han

he ill-treatment that it had just received, might attack him and trample him to death. Indeed, many tame elephants, being unused to Europeans, will not

he gift was tried and approved by the huge beast, which graciously accepte

(Lie

s. Dermot cleansed the wounds thoroughly and applied an antiseptic to them. The animal bore it patiently and seemed to recogn

en turned to the mahout, who

nt again," he said. "I suspend you from charge of

Dermot beckoned to the Hind

his animal

e elephant and provides him in captivity with no less than two body-se

u salaam

(The Presence

ave you bee

ears, H

is its

ts. No one but a Mussulman would treat him with disrespect. Y

re would be regarded by Hindus as sacred to Gunesh, their God of Wisdom, who is represented as having the head of an elephant with a single tusk, the right. Many n

is you

th, Hu

will be his mahout. Take this medicine that I have been using and put it on as you have seen me do. D

tic and swabs. Then he turned

he said. "I don't think that

rstand him and again touched

Hindu. "He will regard you always no

ccustomed to being called it by his sepoys; but he was amused at

Huzoor," continued Ramnath. "He has always been afraid of the

h lifted him up with the trunk until he could get on to the head into position astride the neck. Then the new mahout, salaaming again to the officer, started his huge charge off, and the elephant lumbered away with swaying stride to its peelkhana, or stable, two thousand feet below in th

to his little stone bungalow, which stood in a small garden shaded by giant mango a

's screams attracted his attention. They were all routine official correspondence contained in the usual long envelopes marked "On His Majesty's Servi

ning the seals to make sure that they were intact, he opened the envelope and took from it two papers. One was a cipher code and on the other was the keyword to the official cipher used by the military authorities throughout India.

cipher the letter that he had just received. It was dated from th

S

orally, I have the honour to convey to you the further

the former country they appear to have met with little success; but in Bhutan, taking advantage of the hereditary jealousies of the Penlops, the great feudal chieftains, they appear to have gained many adherents. They aim at instigating the Bhutanese to attempt an invas

partment gives rise to the grave suspicion that, not only many extremists in Bengal, but even s

of his acquaintance with the districts and dialects of the duars and that part of the Terai Forest bordering on Bhutan, to carry out a particu

ain passes at an altitude

lished in the Te

y evidence of communication between the disloyal elements inside our territory

game shooting in the hills and jungle. The British officer next in seniority to you will command the detachment in your absences. You may c

mmunicate directly and conf

e honour t

t obedien

e of one of the highest mi

ared at t

ught. "It's a bigger t

or a special purpose. He had consented gladly; for to him the great attraction of his new post was that he would find himself once more in the great Terai Jungle. To him it was Paradise. Before going to Simla he had been stationed with a Double Company o

helters in its recesses wild elephants, rhinoceros, bison, bears, tigers, panthers, and many of the deer tribes. Dermot loved it. He was a mighty hunter, but a discriminating one.

lock of fortified stone barracks, easily defensible against attacks of badly armed hillmen and accommodating a couple of hundred sep

nd under the English flag, and the Pax Britannica settled on it. Yet even now temptation was sometimes too strong for lawless men. Occasionally swift-footed parties of fierce swordsmen swept down through the unguarded pass

Dermot showed it; and his soldier's heart warmed at the thought of helping to

like Bombay, Calcutta, or Karachi, the amenities of civilisation are sadly lacking. The bungalows are lit only by oil-lamps, their floors are generally of pounded earth covered with poor matting harbouring fleas and other insect pests, t

the orderl

to the Mess, give my salaams to Par

ndian Army, saluted and strode off up the hill to the pretty mess-bungalow of

ll, good-looking man of about twenty-eight years of a

smoke, Parker," said

garette from an open box on the table before loo

uck a mat

e just had trouble with tha

him what h

s knew he was a cruel devil; but I didn't think he was quite s

hant, isn't he?"

u, sir-was charged by a tiger he had wounded in a beat near Alipur Duar. He missed the beast with his second barrel. The tiger sprang at the h

eemed to me to be a fin

l never let any white man handle him. By the w

cuts. Besides, I'm

Hindus worship him. He's a Gunesh-I supposed you noticed that. I've seen some of them simply go down on the

s it?" aske

on his own into the jungle. After a week or two he comes back by himself, as quiet as a lamb. But when the fit's on him nothing wi

s," said Dermot. "They have periodic fits of sexual exc

nt. The jungle men around here have a quaint belief about it. You see, Badshah was captured by the Kheddah Departm

an elephant battery th

ld have been sent back to his birthplace. Anyhow, the natives believe tha

hey're strange beasts, elephants. No one really knows much ab

igarette a

to talk over somethin

ter. As the subaltern read it his eyes opened wider

n it? How ripping it'll be if they try to come in by this pass

against a whole invading army, Parker. You know it

give it up to a lot of Chinks and bare

d at his junior

ey are fanatically brave. They showed that in their war with us in '64 and '65. They had only swords, bows, and arrows; but they licked one of our col

r," said the sub

lence for a whi

t here from Simla. I'd heard of you before, not only as a great shikari-the natives everywhere in these jungles talk a lot about you-but als

t lau

," he said. "But that didn't happen to be my case. However, I w

tern meditatively. "Too many brass hats and women. They're the curs

mer," said Dermot with a laugh, rising from his chair, "then you'