Kala Nag, meaning black snake, is an old elephant who has been used in the Anglo-Indian military for 47 years. His exposure to many wars has made him fearless, and he currently works for a department of the army that catches wild elephants for military service. The driver of the elephant, Big Toomai, complains about having to run around in the hills, but his son, Little Toomai, loves it and wants to become an elephant catcher. The army catches wild elephants by herding them into Keddahs—stockade traps built in the jungle—and then roping them. Little Toomai once helped to throw a rope to one of the elephant catchers, but his father scolded him for this, because elephant-catchers live a difficult and dangerous life. Big Toomai fears that Little Toomai will catch the attention of Peterson Sahib, a white man in charge of all elephant catching operations for the government.

When Peterson Sahib returns, he hears about Little Toomai throwing the rope and asks him about it. Kala Nag holds the child up using his trunk and the other men laugh, realizing that the boy must have taught the elephant that trick so that they could steal fruit drying on the roof.