Learning to Ride an Elephant (Early Saturday Morning) CD

[Charles Whitehurst]

Langdon arrived as early as possible to learn the basics of riding an elephant.  It would surprise no one that he was wearing his scarlet uniform but adopted canvas pants for the exercise, not wishing to make his breeches filthy.

The Earl looked about to see if the Earl of Chatham might attend as well.  He had heard nothing from Chatham.

The handlers explained how one rides an elephant.  They explained that one must approach from the front and only use the right side to mount.   The elephant would need to be in good spirits, which would be evident from the trunk sniffing Charles and looking for food.  The handlers presented food to be given to the elephant.  They explained that the elephant would be made to kneel and that Charles would climb up using the right tusk and the large ear.  The handlers preferred not to tie a chair to the animal's back and asked that Charles ride bareback at the elephant's neck, which was stronger and had less fear of losing one's balance.

Riding was not much different than riding a horse, it seemed. It was all about commands with the legs and heels of the rider.  To have the elephant turn left, one used the left heel backwards and the right toe forwards, and vice versa to turn right.  Sitting above the elephant's ears gave the rider more control.  Toes forward to move forward, heels backward to move backward.  The ears were sensitive, he was told.  Lifting on the ears with one's toes would cause the trunk to lift.  Pressing down on the ears would cause the animal to kneel.  It all seemed logical to Langdon and he was eager to try as he watched one handler mount and show him how to give each signal. 

There was not much time to practice before the elephants needed to return to the big tent.  Sunday afternoon would be the glorious time in which Lightning Langdon rode his wildest mount.  Some ladies would need to be present so that he could suitably impress and have more witnesses present.

"Are there any sketch artists present with the carnival?" he inquired. An artist with a piece of paper and charcoal could sketch a scene quickly.  He would like to preserve the moment into his old age.

[Charles Audley]

Charles was still struggling to catch up on his correspondence after his illness at the beginning of the week, and had he not risen well before dawn to tackle the still surprisingly large pile of letters and notes he would not have noticed Langdon's missive in time.

(Charles in fact strongly suspected that Wodehouse, who approved neither of fighting tigers nor of riding elephants, had seen to it that this particular epistle had gone to the bottom of the pile when sorting the mail.)

It would have been churlish to refuse when Langdon had been decent enough to invite him, and riding an elephant sounded a decent lark, so Charles had swiftly changed into his riding gear — russet wool coat, tan breeches and waistcoat, and worn but comfortable black leather boots — and dashed to the carnival grounds. He would not be that late, he assured himself, only to find Langdon well underway by the time he arrived.

"My apologies for my tardiness, and for not replying to your letter," he said, inclining his head in greeting. "I fear that I am lagging behind somewhat on my correspondence, and I only found it this morning."

Edited September 23 by Charles Audley

[Aria]

Instead of sending his son to supervise the training, Oliver Kinsley, master of the Carnival, had decided to do it himself so he could make absolutely certain that safety protocols were followed and that no accidents would occur. He had regretted his offer after Alexander had told them what the gentlemen wanted to do, though he shouldn’t have been surprised considering how nobles enjoyed unusual experiences that they could brag about to their friends. Now he was thinking of offering elephant rides as a new attraction if everything went well. It would take some time to implement, but it had the potential to rake in a huge profit.

 

“A sketch artist can be provided for a fee,” he informed the young man in the scarlet jacket. The second gentleman, who arrived a bit later, was welcomed and both nobles were able to complete their training during the allotted time. Nothing went wrong, which made Kinsley feel better about the whole arrangement.

[Charles Whitehurst]

"Ah, there you are," Langdon replied as Chatham approached and engaged in conversation.  He acted as if he had expected the Earl to appear, but the silence and tardiness had convinced him otherwise.  "This should be a grand training," he added pleasantly, "though I do not know how often we will have a need for it in the future."  Other than Sunday afternoon's outing, how many more chances to ride elephants would be forthcoming?

After his attempt to practice, Langdon stood aside to let Chatham give it a go.  To the Carnival owner, the young officer replied "I shall be happy to pay the fee if the artist is talented.  It would be better if it was ink than charcoal, but I do not know if there is a suitable artist available on short notice."  There was further small talk with the man as they watched Chatham.  As the sun was rising in the sky, both earls would need to take their leave so that the elephant could be readied for the act.  There was little desire to linger as Charles needed to return to the castle and get ready for his ride to Bagshot.