Ordering her pony she followed
him. She guessed that he had gone first to the nursery, and when she
reached the short cut through the forest she rejoiced at being able to
enter it without the usual battle. She urged the reluctant Kitty on, and
rode into it carelessly.
Suddenly her pony balked and shied, flinging her to the ground. Then it
turned and galloped madly home.
As Noreen, half stunned by the fall, picked herself up stiffly and stood
dazed and shaken, she shrieked in terror. She was in the middle of a herd
of wild elephants which surrounded her on every side; and, as she gazed
panic-stricken at them, they advanced slowly upon her.
CHAPTER IV
THE MADNESS OF BADSHAH
Badshah's rescue of Dermot from the rogue caused him to be more venerated
than ever by the natives. The Mohammedan sepoys of the detachment, who
should have had no sympathy with Hindu superstitions, began to regard him
with awe, impressed by the firm belief in his supernatural nature held by
their co-religionists among the _mahouts_ and elephant coolies. Among the
scattered dwellers in the jungle and the Bhuttias on the hills, his fame,
already widespread, increased enormously; and these ignorant folk, partly
devil-worshippers, looked on him as half-god, half-demon.
Dermot's feelings towards the gallant animal deepened into strong
affection, and the perfect understanding between the two made the sympathy
between the best-trained horse and its rider seem a very small thing.
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