A countryman, who had heard that the hide
of an elephant could not be punctured, was struck by the happy
thought of finding out for himself the truth or falsity of this
theory. He had had an argument with some of his friends, he
taking the ground that an elephant's hide was no different from
the hide of any other animal. And he promised to show them that
it was not.
All he needed was the opportunity. With his friends he had
followed along with the parade, keeping abreast of the elephants,
until finally the parade was halted by the crossing gates at a
railroad.
Now was the man's chance to prove the theory false. The crowd
closed in on the parade to get a closer view of the people, and
this acted as a cover for the man's experiment.
Taking his penknife out he placed the point of it against the
side of Emperor, as it chanced.
"Now watch me," he said, at the same time giving the knife a
quick shove, intending merely to see if he could prick through
the skin. His experiment succeeded beyond the fellow's fondest
expectations. The point of the knife had gone clear through
Emperor's hide.
Emperor, ordinarily possessed of a keen sense of humor, coupled
with great good nature, in this instance failed to see the humor
of the proceeding.
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