Page:Amusing stories of animals.pdf/24

 the enraged elephant insantly seized the unhappy huntsman with his trunk, flung him up to a vast height in the air, and received him on one of his tusks as he fell; and then turning towards the other two brothers, as if it were with an aspect of revenge and insult, held out to them the impaled wretch, writhing in the agonies of death.

The elephant frequently takes such an affection to its keeper, that it will obey no other; and it has been known to die for grief, when, in some sudden fit of madness, it has killed its conductor. We are told, that one of these, that was used by the French forces in India, for the dragging of cannon, was promised by the conductor, a reward, for having performed some painful service: but being disappointed of its expectations, it slew him in a fury. The conductor's wife, who was a spectator of this shocking scene, could not restrain her madness and despair; but running, with her two children in her arms, threw them at the elephant's feet, crying out, that since it had killed her husband, it might kill her and her children also. The elephant, seeing the children, at his feet, instantly stopped, and moderating its fury, took up the eldest with its trunk, and placing him upon its neck, adopted him for its, conductor, and obeyed him ever after with great punctuality.