“Nonsense.  Badshah wasn’t mad,” he replied.  “It was just as I guessed when you first told me of these fits of his—­merely the jungle calling him.”

“Yes, sir.  But the weirdest tale of all was that you were seen leading an army of elephants, just like a Hindu god, to invade Bhutan.”

“Where did you hear that?” asked Dermot in surprise.

“Oh, the yarn came from the mahouts, who heard it from some of the forest guards, who said they’d been told it by Bhuttias from the hills.  You know how natives spread stories.  Wasn’t it a silly tale?” And Parker laughed at the thought of it.

“Yes, rather absurd,” agreed the Major, forcing a smile.  “Yes, natives are really—­Hello! who’s done this?”

They had reached the garden of his bungalow.  The little wooden gate-posts at the entrance were smeared with red paint and hung with withered wreaths of marigolds.

When a Hindu gets the idea into his head that a certain stone or tree or place is the abode of a god or godling or is otherwise holy, his first impulse is to procure marigolds and red paint and make a votive offering of them by making wreaths of the one and daubing everything in the vicinity with the other.

“By Jove, Major, I expect that some of the Hindus in the bazaar have heard these yarns about you and mean to do poojah (worship) to you,” said Parker with a laugh.  “I told you they regard Badshah as a very holy animal.  I suppose some of his sacredness has overflowed on to you.”

Dermot realised that there was probably some truth in the suggestion.  He was annoyed, as he had no desire to be looked on by the natives as the possessor of supernatural powers.

“I must see that my boy has the posts cleaned,” he said.  “When you get to the Mess, Parker, please tell them I’ll be up to breakfast as soon as I’ve had a tub and a shave.”

Two hours later Dermot showed Parker the position of the defile on the map and explained his notes and sketches of it; for it was important that his subordinate should know of it in the event of any mishap occurring to himself.  But before he acquainted Army Headquarters in India with his discovery, he went to the pass again on Badshah to examine and survey it thoroughly.  When this was done and he had despatched his sketches and report to Simla, he felt free to carry out a project that interested him.  This was to seek out the herd of wild elephants with which Badshah seemed most closely associated and try to discover the secret of his connection with them.

Somewhat to his surprise he experienced no difficulty in finding them; as, when he set out from the peelkhana in search of them, Badshah seemed to know what he wanted and carried him straight to them.  For each day the animal appeared to understand his man’s inmost thoughts more and more, and to need no visible expression of them.

When they reached the herd, the elephants received Badshah without any demonstration of greeting, unlike the previous occasion.  They showed no objection to Dermot’s presence among them.  The little animal with the blotched trunk recognised him at once and came to him, and the other calves soon followed its example and made friends with him.  The big elephants betrayed no fear, and allowed him to stroll on foot among them freely.