“Look here, then: you sit fast, and I’ll just feel how he lies, and then get out of this jolly old basket, hold on to the side, and then jump in on him, take him by the neck, and give a good loud snarl. I can imitate the tigers exactly.”
“And suppose he hits you with all his might?”
“I shouldn’t give him time. I should roll off directly. He’d declare a tiger had jumped into the howdah, and brag about how he had escaped.”
Ned was silent.
“Well, wouldn’t it be a game? Why don’t you answer? What are you thinking about?”
“Tim scratching a match, and frightening the elephant,” said Ned quietly.
“What? this morning?”
“Yes; and of how it rushed off.”
“Ah! I never thought of that,” said Frank. “Perhaps it would scare it, and that would be awkward in the dark.”
“Let me get down and walk before you begin,” continued Ned.