“Stay,” said Oscar in a milder tone: “I want to come to a clear understanding with you, Thud, about this matter of work; for I am sure that Dr. Pinfold is rightin saying that you should now be put into harness, and do something to gain your own living. I am willing, as far as possible, to indulge your natural tastes and inclination. For what kind of employment do you think yourself most fit?”
“I should fit a good many,” replied Thud, “but the mischief is that they do not fit me.”
“What do you think would suit you?” asked Oscar.
Thud reflected for a few moments, and then sententiously replied, “I should like the charge of an elephant-stud.”
“There is no elephant-stud in Moulmein,” observed Oscar Coldstream.
“I’ve seen elephants here,” said Thucydides Thorn.
“I think that the rajah has three,” observed the chaplain.
“I know of no other here but the one employed at the wharf.”
“And why should you wish to have charge of elephants, Thud?” asked Io smiling.
“I wish it because I want to substantiate a theory which I have formed about the proboscis of the elephant,” said Thud, with his air of most profound reflection. “I believe that the proboscis is but an elongated snout, developed and gradually lengthened by cultivation and civilization—or rather, I may say, by practical science.”