"I don't believe this elephant understands our language, which is another way of saying that we don't understand his. I say, doctor, do you feel any compunctions about confiscating this pet?"
"Not the slightest: do you?"
"I did at first, until I made up my mind that we would simply borrow him. We'll keep him for a few months or years, that is, as long as he is of any use to us, and then send him back to his owner with our compliments and thanks. But how are we going to get up in that meeting house on top?"
"The same way as his owner does; we must use the ladder, which they let down, or get the elephant to lift us up with his trunk."
"There's too much risk in allowing him to twist that extra tail around us. More than likely he would fling us into the top of the tree or over into the house yonder, where his owner is smoking his hookah."
The two passed around the beast several times, and carefully inspected him. The intelligent animal looked curiously at them in turn, but seemed to decide that they amounted to little, for he resumed his browsing among the limbs of the tree.
Neither of the young men could find the ladder for which they were looking, but Avery discovered a rope dangling from one corner of the saddle. With the aid of this, he climbed the side of the bulky body, as nimbly as a sailor could have gone up the rigging of his ship. Then, turning about, he helped Harkins up beside him, and the two took their place in the howdah.
The first sensation was as if they were perched upon a load of hay. Finding that the beast paid no attention to them, Harkins crept cautiously out on the soggy neck and asked the elephant to be kind enough to move on. The association of circumstances may have told the animal what was wanted, since he must have known that when two persons seated themselves in the saddle, they expected him to do his duty.
To the delight of the riders, he ceased eating and moved from under the tree, nearly scraping off the saddle against the limbs. Then he started up the road with his heavy, swaying gait, which is much more rapid than it seems to be.
This would have been well enough, but for the fact that the elephant was going in the wrong direction, that is, instead of turning back toward the bungalow, he was traveling straight from it.