Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-12
One Good Turn Deserves Another.
BY MINERVA 5. HANDY.

BY MINERVA 5. HANDY.
| Hundreds OF years ago an elephant fell
| into pit which some travellers had pre-
| pared for him. The pit In a dense
| forest and the elephant knew that there
| was no hope for his release. He wept loud
| ly and bemoaned his fate His captors re-
| joiced at his lamentations. for they knew
! that the elephant would bring a great deal
| of money to them. and were counting their
| gains while their unhappy captive was be-
| wailing the fate which had opertaken him.
After listening to the means of the ele-
| plant for an hour or so the hunters retired
to the shade OF tropical tree. leaving one
of their servants to guard the pit and to
report to them when the elephant had
ceased from his suffering.
The guard soon fell asleep and did not
notice a priest, who, ever on some errand
| OF mercy. had stopped to learn the cause
OF the elephants distress. He tried to con-
sole the beast. who. however. was hopeless.
Alas" he said. there Is no comfort for
me. 1 must stay here until I'm subdued
and become the slave of man. or until am
dead of hunger and thirst.
rs there no friend who can save your?
plead the good priest.
"Nonel walled the captive.
Are you sure of that" replied the priest.
Have you never done a good action to
any one? If so call him to you.
IAN the services l have done are too
small to be Of any help to such a great
body as t. declared the elephant.
Maybe not" advised his helper. Tell
me one"
Last year" said the elephant. "the prince
of this province had captured the King Of
Rats and many of his subjects He i'm
prisoned them in earthen Jars and was
about TO drown them when l came along.
I broke all those jars SO the rats ran away
from their murderer.
ms he
of the parrots in gilded cage and hung
1t on a tree so high that none could reach
It. | pulled the tree down and then broke
the cage. with the result that the queen
flew away to safety. She was grateful. in
| deed. for my rescue. and declared If she
| ever could serve me l should call upon
| her. 1t Is worse than useless, for so small
a bird as parrot-even though she Is a
queen, can be of no use in releasing 50
enormous a creature as I from this deep
and dreadful pit"
| from a neighboring tree. The elephant
| lifted his ears. but the sound suggested
| nothing to him beyond the fact that 1t was
| strange that parrot should scream so
shrilly at the time he was talking about one.
| The priest had learned many things OF
which the elephant knew nothing at all
and the shrin tone Of the parrot at that
| special moment meant something more to
him.
Call that parrot" said he. Tell him to
notify his queen that her benefactor Is in
tested that It was of no use. but the priest
insisted.
The parrot was summoned. the story told
and in little while the queen of the talk
ing birds herself appeared to discuss with
the Imprisoned elephant how she could help
in his release.
It is doubtful II the release would have
ever been accomplished had not the priest
himself planned the way. He suggested
that the parrot take her message to the
King Of the Rats. who, remembering how
the elephant had saved his life, would do
everything in his power to save his in re-
turn. The priest was right, as soon proved.
The king sent the message all over his
kingdom. BY the next morning rats and
mice to the number Of several million as
sembled to obey the orders OF their SOW
ereign.
March at once to where our good friend
the elephant Is imprisoned. Remember how
he saved all our lives and dare any deed OF
valor to save his life.
When the army of rats had reached the
pit they found that the queen OF the par
rots was there before them. and arrayed in
all the trees about were millions Of her
fea thered subjects. Never was there a more
Imposing array Of color and beauty as that
which met the eyes of the soberly clad rats.
but they were not dazzed to the degree of
losing their heads. Not bit of it. They
quietly broke ranks and while their king
consulted with the queen of parrots Toasted
their eyes on the gorgeous plumage of their
fellow-soldiers. No danger Of firing of
waiting. The parrots chartered and con-
versed in so interesting and scholarly a
manner that the ignorant rats hung their
heads for very shame.
The consultation was soon ended. The
rats were given their orders the parrots
theirs. The guard awoke. but his attention
was Immediately attracted by the queen
of the parrots who began to talk to him in
the most engaging fashion. She kept fly
ing away little by little keeping up her
fascinating talk. Before the guard realized
1t he was out Of sight Of the pit still fas-
cinated by the parrot. which he determined
he would catch and take back with him TO
the city where he would sell her for enough
to buy his freedom.
No sooner was the guard safely out of
sight than the rats began scratching a the
edge Of the pit. Though each one threw
out but small portion of earth at a time
a large path sloped downward to
where the elephant stood. At the same time
the millions Of parrots broke twigs from
the trees above the pit and hurled them
into 1t. The elephant not to be outdone by
his faithful rescuers piled these twigs until
they were high enough to enable him TO
reach the path. In few hours he walked
out OF his prison and Joined his companions
in the jungle. filled with gratitude at his
miraculous delivery from death. what
was worse, captivity.