y climb on the back of the elephant. Once there, the
child seemed in his native place. He was no longer an exile, nor the
awkward schoolboy, nor the little servant, humiliated by his menial
duties and by his master's tyranny. He seemed imbued with new life, and
his eyes sparkled with energy and determination. Happy little king! Two
or three times he went around the garden. "Again! again!" he cried,
and over the little bridge, between the inclosures of the kangaroos
and other animals, he went to and fro, excited almost to madness by the
heavy long strides of the elephant. Kerika, Dahomey, war-like scenes,
and the hunt, all returned to his memory. He spoke to the elephant in
his native tongue, and as he heard the sweet African voice, the huge
creature shut his eyes with delight and trumpeted his pleasure. The
zebras neighed, and the antelopes started in terror, while from the
great cage of tropical birds, where the sun shone most fully, came
warblings and flutterings of wings, discordant screams, and an enraged
chatter, all the tumult, in short, on a small scale, of a primeval
forest in the tropics.

But it was growing late. Madou must awaken from this beautiful dream.
Besides, as soon as the sun dropped behind the horizon, the wind rose
keen and cold, as so often happens in the early spring. This wintry
chill affected the spirits of the children, and they grew strangely
quiet and sad. Madame de Barancy for a wonder was also very silent. She
had something she wished to say, and she probably found some difficulty
in selecting her words, for she left them unsaid until the last moment.
Then she took Jack's hand in hers. "Listen, child, I have some bad news
to tell you!"

He understood at once that some great misfortune was impending, and he
turned his supplicating eyes toward his mother. She continued in a low,
quick voice,--

"I am going away, my son, on a long journey; I am obliged to leave you
behind, but I will write to you. Do not cry, dear, for it hurts me; I
shall not be gone long, and we shall soon see each other again. Yes,
very soon, I promise you." And she threw out mysterious hints of a
fortune to come, and money affairs, and other things that were not at
all interesting to the child, who in reality paid little attention to
her words, for he was weeping silently but chokingly. The gay streets
seemed no longer the Paris of the morning, the sunshine was gone, the
flowers on the corner-stands were faded, and all