`` Now I must go back to Dick . My tail 's all muddy , and he 'll have two hours ' hard work dressing me for parade . '' The big parade of all the thirty thousand men was held that afternoon , and Vixen and I had a good place close to the Viceroy and the Amir of Afghanistan , with high , big black hat of astrakhan wool and the great diamond star in the center . The first part of the review was all sunshine , and the regiments went by in wave upon wave of legs all moving together , and guns all in a line , till our eyes grew dizzy . Then the cavalry came up , to the beautiful cavalry canter of `` Bonnie Dundee , '' and Vixen cocked her ear where she sat on the dog-cart . The second squadron of the Lancers shot by , and there was the troop-horse , with his tail like spun silk , his head pulled into his breast , one ear forward and one back , setting the time for all his squadron , his legs going as smoothly as waltz music . Then the big guns came by , and I saw Two Tails and two other elephants harnessed in line to a forty-pounder siege gun , while twenty yoke of oxen walked behind . The seventh pair had a new yoke , and they looked rather stiff and tired . Last came the screw guns , and Billy the mule carried himself as though he commanded all the troops , and his harness was oiled and polished till it winked . I gave a cheer all by myself for Billy the mule , but he never looked right or left . The rain began to fall again , and for a while it was too misty to see what the troops were doing . They had made a big half circle across the plain , and were spreading out into a line . That line grew and grew and grew till it was three-quarters of a mile long from wing to wing -- one solid wall of men , horses , and guns . Then it came on straight toward the Viceroy and the Amir , and as it got nearer the ground began to shake , like the deck of a steamer when the engines are going fast . Unless you have been there you can not imagine what a frightening effect this steady come-down of troops has on the spectators , even when they know it is only a review . I looked at the Amir . Up till then he had not shown the shadow of a sign of astonishment or anything else . But now his eyes began to get bigger and bigger , and he picked up the reins on his horse 's neck and looked behind him . For a minute it seemed as though he were going to draw his sword and slash his way out through the English men and women in the carriages at the back . Then the advance stopped dead , the ground stood still , the whole line saluted , and thirty bands began to play all together .
That was the end of the review , and the regiments went off to their camps in the rain , and an infantry band struck up with -- The animals went in two XXXXX two , Hurrah !
Unless across as behind by like of till to with