the most of them didn't
have any drivers. And the mahouts sat on the necks of their elephants,
just back of the heads, and each mahout had an elephant-goad, something
like an ox-goad, only that it was shorter and the end that was sharp was
bent around so that it was something like the claws of a hammer, but the
claws were sharp.

And the elephants that knew their business walked slowly over to the
logs that were piled pell-mell, and they made the elephants that didn't
know their business go there too; and if any elephant, that didn't know,
tried to go another way, the old elephants would butt him and jab him
with their tusks. And then there was great squealing and noise. And when
the elephants got to the logs, each one knelt down and put his tusks
under a log and curled his trunk over and around it, and then he got up
and walked slowly to the place where the logs were piled so nicely. And
he put his log on the pile so that it wouldn't fall down, and when the
pile was so high that he couldn't reach then he began to make a new
pile. But some of the elephants didn't have any tusks and they just
curled their trunks around the logs and carried them that way.

Little Jacob and little Sol were very much interested in watching the
elephants and in seeing how wise they were; for they piled the logs just
as well as if a man had told them where to put each one. And Captain
Solomon said that they piled the logs better than any man there could
have done it. And little Jacob caught sight of one elephant that had his
ears torn and had only one tusk.

When he caught sight of that elephant, little Jacob called out. "Look,
Captain Solomon!" he cried. "See! There is the elephant that grandfather
told about, that will let little boys ride him."

And the elephant was pretty near and he heard little Jacob, but he
couldn't understand what he said, for those elephants only understand
the language that they speak in India. But the old elephant stopped and
turned his head as far as he could, which wasn't very far, for elephants
haven't any neck worth mentioning, so he had to turn his whole body
before he could see the little boys. And, when he saw them, he began to
walk up to the place where they were. And little Jacob was a little bit
scared, for the elephant was very big and he didn't know what he might
do. But little Jacob didn't run or look scared, and little Sol wasn't
frightened at all.

And, when the old elephant had got near the li