“Well, legs, sir. But look at ’em; they’re more like arms, and their hindlegs are more like ours. You look when they lie down. See that, sir?”
The sergeant drew the young officer’s attention to the big elephant lifting up its foreleg for the stone to scour beneath, grunting the while softly.
“He itches just there, sir.”
“Seems like it,” said Dick. “But what an enormous brute it is!”
“Yes, sir: ’bout one of the biggest I’ve seen. The Rajah of Soojeepur up north yonder has some thumpers, but nothing bigger than this one.”
“I didn’t know you had elephants here,” said Dick.
“We don’t as a rule, sir, but these four have come up with a couple of heavy guns. There’s something up, I suppose.”
“What—fighting?” said Dick eagerly.
The sergeant shook his head.
“Don’t know, sir. We never know till the last minute, when the order comes to move. May be to a bit of a scrimmage—perhaps only to hold some place. But time’s pretty well up, sir, and the men will be there with the horse.”