“And I at Nucklao (Lucknow),” said a third.

“But never yet was there a man, black man or sahib, who could hold a dhantwallah when the mad fit was on him, as our sahib has done,” continued Ramnath.  “He is under the protection of the gods.”

Even the Mohammedans among his audience nodded assent.  Their mullah taught them that the gods of the Hindu were devils.  But who knew?  Mecca was far away, and the jungle with its demons was very near them.  Among the various creeds in India there is a wide tolerance and a readiness to believe that there may be something of truth in all the faiths that men profess.  A Hindu will hang a wreath of marigolds on the tomb of a Mohammedan pir—­a Mussulman saint—­and recite a mantra, if he knows one, before it as readily as he will before the shrine of Siva.

While the superstitious elephant attendants talked, Badshah was moving at a fast shambling pace along animal paths through the forest farther and farther away from the peelkhana.  Wild beasts always follow a track through the jungle, even a man-made road, in preference to forcing a way through the undergrowth for themselves.  As he was borne swiftly along, his rider felt that, although the elephant had allowed him to mount to his accustomed place, it would resent any attempts at restraint or guidance.  But indeed Dermot had no wish to control it.  He was filled with an immense desire to learn the mystery of Badshah’s frequent disappearances.  The Major was convinced that the animal had a definite objective in view, so purposeful was his manner.  For he went rapidly on, never pausing to feed, unlike the usual habit of elephants which, when they can, eat all their waking time.  But Badshah held straight on rapidly without stopping.  He was proceeding in a direction that took him at an angle away from the line of the Himalayas, and the character of the forest altered as he went.

Near the foot of the hills the graceful plumes of the bamboo and the broad drooping leaves of the plantain, the wild banana, were interspersed with the vivid green leaves and fruit of the limes.  Then came the big trees, from which the myriad creepers hung in graceful festoons.  Here the undergrowth was scanty and the ground covered with tall bracken in the open glades, which gave the jungle the appearance of an English wood.

Farther on the trees were closer together and the track led through dense undergrowth.  Then through a border of high elephant-grass with feathery tops it emerged on to a broad, dry river-bed of white sand strewn with rounded boulders rolled down from the hills.  The sudden change from the pleasant green gloom of the forest to the harsh glare of the brilliant sunshine was startling.  As they crossed the open Dermot looked up at the giant rampart of the mountains and saw against the dark background of their steep slopes the grey wall of Fort and bungalows in the little outpost of Ranga Duar high above the forest.