"Well," said Phra philosophically, "we are very nearly home now, and we shall see. But I wish we hadn't brought the tiger back."
"I don't," said Harry. "It really was an accident."
Very little more was said till they came in sight of the palace, where something important was evidently going on, for they caught sight of the glint of spears and a body of men. A minute later they saw a couple of elephants, and directly after they made out that Mr. Kenyon and Doctor Cameron were there.
Then there was quite a scene of excitement, for some of those present had seen them coming, and when the next moment some one caught sight of the tiger, there was a tremendous shout.
"Hal," whispered Phra, "my father found that we had gone out on an elephant, with guns, and he has sent word to Mr. Kenyon and the doctor, and ordered them to get ready."
"That's it," cried Harry excitedly, "and they were coming in search of us."
"The King will be dreadfully angry," said Phra, "and say I disobeyed his orders."
"And my father will be quite awful," said Harry solemnly. Then changing his tone and speaking with an assumption of lightness which he did not feel, "I don't care; it really was an accident, and we're in for it, and it can't be helped; but here, I say, Sul, you ugly old double-tailed deceiver, do you know you've got us into an awful mess? Sul, I say, do you hear!"
And the elephant said,—
Phoomk!