Headquarters to a small outpost like this for nothing."

Dermot laughed.

"Unless he has got into trouble and is sent off as a punishment," he said.
"But that didn't happen to be my case. However, I was delighted to leave
Simla. Better the jungle a thousand times."

"Yes; Simla's rather a rotten place, I believe," remarked the subaltern
meditatively. "Too many brass hats and women. They're the curse of India,
each of them. And I'm sure the women do the most harm."

"Well, steer clear of the latter, and don't become one of the former," said
Dermot with a laugh, rising from his chair, "then you'll have a peaceful
life--but you won't get on in your profession."



CHAPTER II


A ROGUE ELEPHANT

The four transport elephants attached to the garrison of Ranga Duar for the
purpose of bringing supplies for the men from the far distant railway were
stabled in a _peelkhana_ at the foot of the hills and a couple of thousand
feet below the Fort. This building, a high-walled shed with thatched roof
and brick standings for the animals, was erected beside the narrow road
that zig-zagged down from the mountains into the forest and eventually
joined a broader one leading to the narrow-gauge railway that pierced the