Both beasts dropped down with a snort of disgust, for neither horse nor
mule can bear to listen to an elephant s voice.
It s Two Tails! said the troop-horse. I can t stand him. A tail at
each end isn t fair!
My feelings exactly, said Billy, crowding into the troop-horse for
company. We re very alike in some things.
I suppose we ve inherited them from our mothers, said the troop horse.
It s not worth quarreling about. Hi! Two Tails, are you tied up?
Yes, said Two Tails, with a laugh all up his trunk. I m picketed for
the night. I ve heard what you fellows have been saying. But don t be
afraid. I m not coming over.
The bullocks and the camel said, half aloud, Afraid of Two Tails--what
nonsense! And the bullocks went on, We are sorry that you heard, but
it is true. Two Tails, why are you afraid of the guns when they fire?
Well, said Two Tails, rubbing one hind leg against the other, exactly
like a little boy saying a poem, I don t quite know whether you d
understand.
We don t, but we have to pull the guns, said the bullocks.
I know it, and I know you are a good deal braver than you think
you are. But it s different with me. My battery captain called me a
Pachydermatous Anachronism the other day.
That s another way of fighting, I suppose? said Billy, who was
recovering his spirits.
You don t know what that means, of course, but I do. It means betwixt
and between, and that is just where I am. I can see inside my head what
will happen when a shell bursts, and you bullocks can t.
I can, said the troop-horse. At least a little bit. I try not to
think about it.
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