Most of them had taught their elephants that trick when they were boys . Little Toomai was hanging eight feet up in the air , and he wished very much that he were eight feet underground . `` He is Toomai , my son , Sahib , '' said Big Toomai , scowling . `` He is a very bad boy , and he will end in a jail , Sahib . '' `` Of that I have my doubts , '' said Petersen Sahib . `` A boy who can face a full Keddah at his age does not end in jails . See , little one , here are four annas to spend in sweetmeats because thou hast a little head under that great thatch of hair . In time thou mayest become a hunter too . '' Big Toomai scowled more than ever . `` Remember , though , that Keddahs are not good for children to play in , '' Petersen Sahib went on . `` Must I never go there , Sahib ? '' asked Little Toomai with a big gasp . `` Yes . '' Petersen Sahib smiled again . `` When thou hast seen the elephants dance . That is the proper time . Come to me when thou hast seen the elephants dance , and then I will let thee go into all the Keddahs . '' There was another roar of laughter , for that is an old joke among elephant-catchers , and it means just never . There are great cleared flat places hidden away in the forests that are called elephants ' ball-rooms , but even these are only found by accident , and no man has ever seen the elephants dance . When a driver boasts of his skill and bravery the other drivers say , `` And when didst thou see the elephants dance ? ''
Kala Nag put Little Toomai down , and he bowed to the earth again and went away with his father , and gave the silver four-anna piece to his mother , who was nursing his baby brother , and they all were put up on Kala Nag 's back , and the line XXXXX grunting , squealing elephants rolled down the hill path to the plains .
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