“Bravo, Banks! well done!” exclaimed Captain Hood. “A first-class engineer who is an artist, a poet in iron and steel into the bargain, is a rara avis among us!”
“The rajah being dead,” resumed Banks, “and his apparatus being in my possession, I had not the heart to destroy my elephant, and give the locomotive its ordinary form”
“And you did well!” replied the captain. “Our elephant is superb, there’s no other word for it!” said the captain. “And what a fine effect we shall have, careering over the plains and through the jungles of Hindoostan! It is a regular rajah-like idea, isn’t it? and one of which we shall reap the advantage, sha’n’t we, colonel?”
Colonel Munro made a faint attempt at a smile, to show that he quite approved of the captain’s speech.
The journey was resolved upon th
