THE ELEPHANT'S IDEA OF FAIR PLAY.

Thames Star, Volume XVII, Issue 5207, 24 September 1885, Page 2

THE ELEPHANT'S IDEA OF FAIR PLAY.

A young friend. asked me once to ibovr him sa»e elepb»ot» in ondf**, and I took him* aleng^with me* .^ihaviiiff ifirst borrowed « .pron «d filled rt™h oranges. This he was tt>; eftrry whilst accompinjing n>e ia the. iUble. but the moment we reached the door the herd set up such a trumpeting—th«y bad scented the fruit—that ho dropped the aptvi and it« contents and scuttled off like a seartd rabbit. There were eight elephants, and when I picked up the oranges I found I hand fire-and-twenty. ■: I waUEtddelibifea*

tely along the line, Rifio^ one to each. When. I not to tbe extremity- of tfee narrow table I turntd, and was about to begin the distribution again, when I sud« denly reflected that-if elephant No; 7in the row saw me giro two oranges if sue* eeuioa to No. 8; he might imagine he wif being cheated, and gir c me a anaek with. bis proboscis—that is where the elephant falls short.of the human being—so I, went to the door and began' -de.novo aa before. Thrice I went along the line, and then I was in a fix. I had one orange left, and I had to,, get back to thai dobr/ J Every elephant in the herd had his greedy gaze focussedjon that orange. It was v mneh M 'my .life was wqrth to pre it to one of them. What was I to do? I held it up conspicuously, 000% pe*l*4 it, and sucked it myself. It jrlt most amuiinff to notice tha way the* elephants nudged each othercaDd shook their ponderous sides/ They thoroughly entered into the humor of the Leaves from the Life ofwapadei Cdrtetydent,. "^—■——■<——i^- ■'-