. They are too parasitic--the one willing
servant class of the world. And we have betrayed them by making
under-simians of them. We have taught them some of our own ways of
behaving, and frowned upon theirs. Loving us, they let us stop their
developing in tune with their natures; and they've patiently tried ever
since to adopt ways of ours. They have done it, too; but of course they
can't get far: it's not their own road. Dogs have more love than
integrity. They've been true to us, yes, but they haven't been true to
themselves.

Pigs? The pig is remarkably intelligent and brave,--but he's gross; and
grossness delays one's achievement, it takes so much time. The snake
too, though wise, has a way of eating himself into stupors. If
super-snake-men had had banquets they would have been too vast to
describe. Each little snake family could have eaten a herd of cattle at
Christmas.

Goats, then? Bears or turtles? Wolves, whales, crows? Each had brains
and pride, and would have been glad to rule the world if they could;
but each had their defects, and their weaknesses for such a position.

The elephant? Ah! Evolution has had its tragedies, hasn't it, as well
as its triumphs; and well should the elephant know it. He had the best
chance of all. Wiser even than the lion, or the wisest of apes, his
wisdom furthermore was benign where theirs was sinister. Consider his
dignity, his poise and skill. He was plastic, too. He had learned to
eat many foods and endure many climates. Once, some say, this race
explored the globe. Their bones are found everywhere, in South America
even; so the elephants' Columbus may have found some road here before
ours. They are cosmopolitans, these suave and well-bred beings. They
have rich emotional natures, long memories, loyalty; they are steady
and sure; and not narrow, not self-absorbed, for they seem interested
in everything. What was it then, that put them out of the race?

Could it have been a quite natural belief that they had already won?

And when they saw that they hadn't, and that the monkey-men were
getting ahead, were they too great-minded and decent to exterminate
their puny rivals?

It may have been their tolerance and patience that betrayed them. They
wait too long before they resent an imposition or insult. Just as ants
are too energetic and cats too shrewd for their own highest good, so
the elephants suffer from too much patience. Their exhibitions of it
may seem superb,--such po