102 THE GRATEFUL LION.

their proceedings! How great is their love of method and
good order! So gentle, too, are many of them, that the
youngest infant might be safely trusted to their keeping;
and yet, if insulted or vexed by a grown-up person, the same
animal might hurl him to the ground with a blow of his
trunk, or crush him with his heavy feet. I will tell you
another of the many stories I have heard about these won-
derful creatures.

The following anecdote shows the elephant’s knowledge
of what is right. ,

A large elephant was sent a few years ago to assist in
piling up timber at Nagercoil. The officer who sent it, doubt-
ing the honesty of the driver, asked the wife of a missionary,
to whose house the animal was sent, to watch that he re-
ceived his proper allowance of rice. After some time the
lady, fearing that her charge was being robbed of his rice,
intimated her fear to the keeper. Pretending surprise at
having such a charge made against him, he exclaimed in his
native tongue, “ Madam, do you think I would rob my child?”
The elephant, which was standing by, seemed aware of the
subject spoken about, and kept eying the keeper, who had
on a bulky waist-cloth. No sooner had he uttered these
_ words than the animal threw his trunk around him and
untied the waist-cloth, when a quantity of rice fell to the
ground.

 

 

THE GRATEFUL LION.

A REMARKABLY handsome African lion was being sent to the
coast, where it was to be placed on board ship, to be carried