ands, the disheveled
garments--what had happened to this schemer whom ill luck had made
their master?

He explained. "I went too near our prisoner. A flash of strength was
enough. They shall be flogged."

"But the woman!"

"Woman? She is a tiger-cat, and tiger-cats must sometimes be flogged.
It is my will. Now I have news for you. There is another sister,
younger and weaker. Our queen," and he salaamed ironically, "our queen
did not know that her father lived, and there I made my first mistake."

"But she will now submit to save him!"

"Ah, would indeed that were the case. But tiger-cats are always
tiger-cats, and nothing will bend this maid; she must be broken,
broken. It is my will," with a flash of fire in his eyes.

The council salaamed. Umballa's will must of necessity be theirs, hate
him darkly as they might.

The bungalow of Colonel Hare was something on the order of an armed
camp. Native animal keepers, armed with rifles, patrolled the
menagerie. No one was to pass the cordon without explaining frank his
business, whence he came, and whither he was bound.

By the knees of one of the sentries a little native child was playing.
From time to time the happy father would stoop and pat her head.

Presently there was a stir about camp. An elephant shuffled into the
clearing. He was halted, made to kneel, and Ahmed stepped out of the
howdah.

The little girl ran up to Ahmed joyfully and begged to be put into the
howdah. Smiling, Ahmed set her in the howdah, and the mahout bade the
elephant to rise, but, interested in some orders by Ahmed, left the
beast to his own devices. The child called and the elephant walked off
quietly. So long as he remained within range of vision no one paid any
attention to him. Finally he passed under a tree near the cages and
reached up for some leaves. The child caught hold of a limb and
gleefully crawled out upon it some distance beyond the elephant's
reach. Once there, she became frightened, not daring to crawl back.

She prattled "elephant talk," but the old fellow could not reach her.
The baboon in the near-by cage set up a chattering. The child ordered
the elephant to rise on his hind legs. He placed his fore legs on the
roof of the baboon's cage, which caved in, rather disturbing the
elephant's calm. He sank to the ground.

The baboon leaped through the opening and made off to test this
unexpected liberty. He was friendly and tame, but freedom was