hom he could crush with one motion, not indeed in rage but
through inadvertence.

But the good and prudent animal did not make angry or inadvertent
motions, but evidently was pleased and happy at the arrival of the
little guest.

Nell gained courage gradually and finally raised her eyes upwards and,
looking as though onto a high roof she asked timidly, raising her
little hand:

"May I stroke your trunk?"

The elephant did not, indeed, understand English, but from the motion
of her hand discerned at once what she wanted and shoved under her palm
the end of his trunk, which was over two yards in length.

Nell began to stroke the trunk; at first carefully with one hand,
afterwards with both, and finally embraced it with both arms and hugged
it with perfectly childish trust.

The elephant stepped from one foot to the other and continually gurgled
from joy.

After a while he wound the diminutive body of the girl with his trunk
and, lifting her up, began to swing her lightly right and left.

"More! More!" cried Nell, intensely amused.

And the play lasted quite a long time and afterwards the little girl,
now entirely bold, invented a new one.

Finding herself on the ground, she tried to climb on the elephant's
fore legs, as on a tree, or, hiding behind them, she asked whether he
could find her. But at these frolics she observed one thing, namely,
that numerous thorns were stuck in his hind legs; from these the
powerful beast could not free himself, first because he could not
conveniently reach his hind legs with his trunk, and again because he
evidently feared to wound the finger with which the trunk ended and
without which he would lose his skill and cleverness. Nell was not at
all aware that such thorns in the feet are a real plague to elephants
in India and still more in the African jungles composed mainly of
thorny plants. As, however, she felt sorry for the honest giant,
without any thought, having squatted near his foot, she began to
extract delicately at first the bigger splinters and afterwards the
smaller, at which work she did not cease to babble and assure the
elephant that she would not leave a single one. He understood
excellently what she was concerned with, and bending his legs at the
knee showed in this manner that on the soles between the hoofs covering
his toes there were also thorns which caused him still greater pain.

In the meantime Stas came from the hunt and at once asked Mea where the
l