hurrying away. I left my animals where they were and went in
quest of these beating feet. There is something sinister in this
walk of the Hindu. The Hindu walks with a great deal of poise, in
fact, very much like an elephant, but he also has the agility of
the panther. I did not realize it until that early morning when I
heard the moving feet, as one hears dogs on the hurrying heels of
a stag.

Soon I reached the river bank where I saw thousands and
thousands of pilgrims crowding the steps of the Ghaut, the
staircase leading to the river, bathing and waiting to greet the
dawn. As I followed their example and took my bath, there arose
over the swaying crowd and the beating feet, a murmur like the
spray of foam on the seashore after the breakers have dashed
against the beach. Then the day broke like two horses of livid
light rushing through the air. In the tropics the day-break is
very sudden. Hardly had those streaks of light spent themselves
through the sky and over the waters, when a golden glow fell upon
the faces of the people and they raised their hands in a gesture
of benediction, greeting the morning sun which rose like a
mountain of crimson under a tide of gold. All of us said our
morning prayer, thousands of voices intoning together.

I could not stay at the Ghaut very long, however. I knew my
animals would be looking for me, so I hastened back. Lo and
behold, this sight greeted me! The monkey was sitting on the
neck of the elephant, and Kari, who had never been accustomed to
that sort of thing was running all around, raising his trunk and
bending it backwards to reach the monkey in frantic efforts to
shake him off. The one spot that an elephant cannot shake,
however, is his neck, so the monkey stayed there perfectly calm,
looking into space, secure in his seat.

I shouted to Kari to stop, and seeing me, he came rushing towards
me, trembling. He made an effort to shake Kopee off, but the
monkey was glued to his neck. I swore at Kopee and told him to
get off. He looked down at me as if nothing had happened. I, too,
was very irritated, for even I had never seen a monkey on an
elephant's neck. That is considered very improper. I threw a
stone at the monkey and he jumped from the elephant's neck, went
straight up a tree and stayed there. I patted Kari's back and
tried to soothe him. Then I took him by the ear and we walked
into town.

Kari loved human beings; the more he saw them, the happier he
felt. He gli