“Oh, killing two birds with one stone,” said the man, laughing.
“Where are they?” asked Glyn, laughing in turn.
“Get out! Poking fun at me! It was like this ’ere. The gent yonder,”—and the man gave his head a jerk backwards—“wrote to me and said that he’d had to pay a pound for a bit of damage to the fence about his orchard, and that he thought, as my elephant had done the mischief, and I had only paid him for the apples he ate, the money ought to come out of my pocket. Well, young gentlemen, I always pay up directly for any damage done by my beasts if the claim’s made honest. This gent, your neighbour, sent in a very honest demand, and I set that down as one of the birds I wanted to kill. T’other was that I wanted to see my farm and how some of the young stock was getting on. So I nips into the train yesterday, travelled all night, and been to see the gentleman, paid up, and he was very civil—give me a bit of breakfast, and when I said I should like to look round the place again where my elephant went in for his apples he said I was quite welcome to look about as much as I liked. Well, we have been lately in the iron country and among the potteries; and bless you, it’s quite a treat to be away from the smoke and to see things all a-growing and a-blowing. Then I catches sight of this bit of new fence, and that set me thinking of your school and you two young gents; and for the moment I thought that I would go back, say good-morning to the gentleman, and come round to the school and ask to see you two. But then I said to myself, ‘Well, they are not their own masters yet, and the Doctor mightn’t be pleased to have a common sort of fellow like me coming the visitor where I had no business,’ and I says to myself, ‘It might make it unpleasant for those two young fellows, and so I won’t go.’ Then I thought I should like to catch sight of you both again, for I took quite a fancy to you young gents. And here I am.”
“Well,” said Glyn, laughing, “we are glad to see you; eh, Singh?”
“Yes, of course. But hadn’t you better get up, Mr Ramball? It seems so queer for us to be standing talking to you and you sitting there,” said Singh.
“Oh, I’m all right, bless you, my lad. It makes me think about my Rajah.”
“And me too. He’s a grand beast.”
“Isn’t he, my lad? And the way he’s been putting flesh on is wonderful. I won’t say he weighs a ton more than when you saw him last, but he’s a heap heavier than he was.”
“But,” cried Glyn mischievously, “his trunk’s fine enough, only he’s got such a miserable little tail.”
“You leave his tail alone,” said Ramball, wagging his head. “What he’s got is his nature to.”