I have just told you that the buffaloes are taken out into the fields to graze. Well, then, somebody has to do that in the morning, and somebody has to bring them home in the evening. Can you tell who does that? Why, there is a herdsman to do it, you may say. Quite true. But the herdsman does not bother to do a simple thing like that every day. _Little Boys Take Charge of Buffaloes_ Then who does it? I shall tell you. The little boys of the village! They are about five or six years of age. They are not old enough to go to school, and not old enough to do any work; so they can play all day. The most useful thing they can do is to take charge of the buffaloes. The boys soon learn all the buffalo calls--"Come out to graze," "Come to wallow," or "Come home now." And the wonderful thing is that these huge animals soon learn to obey these calls. When the boys call to them, the buffaloes do just as they are ordered. The buffaloes soon learn to love the little boys. You know how fond of us an animal can become--especially a dog or a horse. Still, I do not think that any animal can show such love for us as the huge buffaloes do for the little boys who act as their herdsmen. Why? Because the little boys _share the same mud_ with the buffaloes! Boys and buffaloes mix very well with mud! The little boys tumble about in the mud on the side of the bank where the buffaloes may be wallowing. Or the boys will splash about in the water where the buffaloes are lying neck deep to keep cool. Or they will climb up on the buffaloes' backs for a while, then tumble off and play again. Even when the buffaloes are grazing in the field, the boys may be near them, playing hide and seek, and running in and out between the buffaloes' legs, or under their horns. So the boys are with the buffaloes all day long. _How the Big Buffaloes Love the Little Boys_ It is quite wonderful to see a little boy actually twisting a huge buffalo's tail. As I have told you, a buffalo is often more than ten feet long, and taller than a tall man; and it has horns that reach out more than a yard from each side of the head. This huge animal could charge and smash up a big wagon as easily as if it were a match box; and yet he will stand still and let his tail be twisted by any little tot in the village. Sometimes you may see a sight like this: A huge buffalo is grazing hungrily, and a little boy comes up and stands right in front of him. "Put up your head!" says the boy. But the buffalo goes on feeding hungrily. "Put up your head, or I will spank you!" says the boy. But the buffalo still goes on feeding hungrily. Then that tot raises his small hand and spanks the huge buffalo on the jaw. The buffalo puts up his head, and rubs his nose lovingly against the boy.