TUM TUM AND MAPPO
Tum Tum was not now such a jolly elephant as he had been the day he went
in swimming, or as happy as when he pulled up the tree, fell over
backward, and laughed at his own joke. No, indeed! Tum Tum was feeling
very unhappy now.
"Oh, mamma!" Tum Tum cried. "Oh, papa! What has happened?"
Mr. and Mrs. Tusky were not able to answer Tum Tum. They, too, as well
as nearly all the other elephants, had been caught in the trap. Some of
them, like Tum Tum, were held fast with chains and ropes, and others
were trying to batter down the fence of the trap with their heads. But
they felt that they could not do it, as the fence was too strong.
"Let me go! Let me loose!" cried Tum Tum in his elephant language.
Of course the hunter men, who had taken Tum Tum and the others
prisoners, did not understand this talk, but they could see that Tum
Tum was very strong, and might break loose.
"Better put a couple more chains on that fellow," said one of the
hunters to another.
"I guess so," agreed the second hunter. "That is the finest and biggest
elephant we have caught in this herd."
At first Tum Tum thought they must be speaking of Mr. Boom, who surely
was the largest and strongest elephant in the jungle. But, when Tum Tum
looked around, Mr. Boom was not to be seen. He had gotten away. He had
turned, and run out of the trap, and he was so big and strong that even
the tame elephants, with the hunters on their backs, could not stop him.
Away he rushed into the jungle. But he was very sad, for he alone, of
all the herd, had escaped.
"I wonder of whom they can be speaking, so big and strong," thought Tum
Tum. He saw two tame elephants, with hunters on their backs, and
carrying chains, coming toward him.
"Why--why, they must mean me!" said Tum Tum to himself. He stopped
trying to break down the fence, which the hunters had built as a trap,
and waited.
"Look out for him," said one of the men. "He looks dangerous. He looks
like a bad elephant."
Tum Tum was not a bad elephant. He was very strong, but he was not bad.
"Oh, mamma, what shall I do?" cried Tum Tum, as he saw the tame
elephants, with chains, coming closer to him.
For all his great strength, Tum Tum was yet only a boy elephant. He was
not very wise. He did not know what to do.
"Listen," said Tum Tum's father. "You are now the leader of the herd,
Tum Tum. Mr. Boom is gone, and I am too old to be the leader. So you
must be. We elephants will do as you do. If you can break down the
fence, and get away from the hunters, we will follow you."
"I will try, once more, to break down the fence," said Tum Tum. "Let
some of the strong, young elephants come to help me. Come,
Whoo-ee--come, Gumble-umble! We will smash down the fence!"
But one of the tame elephants, who heard what Tum Tum said, called to
him, and spoke:
"Oh, brother. Do not break down the fence."
"Why not?" asked Tum Tum, who could easily understand the language of
the tame elephant. "Why should I not break the fence, and let my
friends, and my father and mother, out of this trap. Why not?"
"Because," answered the tame elephant, with the chains, "you cannot do
it. Already you are held with ropes, and soon we will put more chains on
you, so that you cannot move."
"And why would you--you who are elephants like ourselves--why would you
do this to us, who never harmed you?" asked Tum Tum.
"Because it is for your good," said the tame elephant. "The white
hunters are very strong. You may get away from them now, but they will
come after you again. It is better to give in now. If you are good, and
do not try to break down the fence, you will wear no chains."
"But what will happen to us--to me and my father and mother?" asked Tum
Tum.
"You will be put to work, piling teak logs in the woods," said the tame
elephant. "You will have enough to eat, you will have shelter from the
rain and the flies. You will have water to drink and to wash in. It is a
good life. I like it."
"Is that all that will happen to me?" asked Tum Tum.
"Perhaps not," answered the tame elephant. "You may be sent far across
the big water, in a house that floats, and go, as other elephants have
gone, to a circus, or menagerie, for the boys and girls to look at, and
feed peanuts to."
"What are peanuts?" asked Tum Tum, who was hungry.
"I do not know, never having eaten any," said the tame elephant. "But
one of my brothers, who was in a circus in a far off land, and who came
back here, said they were very good. Now shall we put the chains on
you--I and my tame brothers--or will you be quiet--you and the others?"
Tum Tum thought for a minute. After all he was caught, and it would be
hard to get away, even if he were the strongest elephant in the herd,
now that Mr. Boom was gone. Then, too, it might be nice in a circus, and
Tum Tum certainly wanted to see what peanuts were like.
"I--I will be good, tame brother," he said. "You need not put the chains
and ropes on me."
"You are wise, Tum Tum," said the tame elephant. "We will put no chains
on you. And about the others?" he asked.
"The others will do as I do," said Tum Tum. "I am the leader now."
"Good!" trumpeted the tame elephant, whose name was Dunda. "My brother
from the jungle is wise."
So Tum Tum had no more chains put on his legs or back, and those that
were on him, with the ropes, were taken off.
"So we are not to try to break from the trap?" asked Whoo-ee.
"No, for we will be well treated here," said Tum Tum, "and some of us
may go to a circus."
"What is a circus?" asked Zunga.
"It is a place where boys and girls look at us, and feed us peanuts,"
answered Tum Tum.
"I will not go to any circus!" cried Gumble-umble. "I am going to break
out of this trap!"
"You must not!" cried Tum Tum. "I have said that we would all be good,
and I am the leader."
"You cannot lead me!" trumpeted Gumble-umble, and he rushed at the fence
of the stockade, or trap. But before he could reach it, two tame
elephants rushed at him, and Gumble-umble was soon bound with strong
chains and ropes, so that he could hardly move.
"It is all your fault!" he cried to Tum Tum.
"No, it is your own," said Gumble-umble's papa. "Now you must quiet down
and be a good elephant. We are caught, we can go no more to the jungle,
but perhaps it is best for us."
So Tum Tum and the wild elephants were thus caught.
For a time the herd of wild elephants was kept inside the fence. They
were given good things to eat, and plenty of water to drink, and to
blow over themselves with their trunks, to cool off. They did not try to
get away, though once, in the night, Mr. Boom came as close to the
outside of the trap, or stockade, as he dared, and trumpeted, trying to
call his herd back to him. But they would not go. They were beginning to
like it, with the tame elephants.
In a little while all the wild elephants, Tum Tum included, were quite
tame. Then they were taken out, a few at a time, out to the forest, and
shown how to pile up the heavy logs of teakwood, which is used for
building ships, and sometimes for making tables and chairs.
The tame elephants showed the wild ones how to carry the logs on their
tusks, or in their trunks, and how to pile them up as neatly as you can
pile up your building blocks.
Tum Tum learned to do this, and also how to push heavy wagons about with
his head. He also learned much of the man-talk, so that his driver, or
_mahoot_, as he is called, could, by a few words, make Tum Tum
understand just what was wanted.
One day Tum Tum was taken away from the rest of the herd, and he did not
even have a chance to say good-by. He was led up what seemed to be a
little bridge, and Tum Tum was afraid it would fall with him. But it did
not.
Next he walked down into a dark place, and he found other elephants
there. Some of them he knew.
"Where are we, and where are we going?" he asked.
"We are in a ship, and we are being taken across the ocean to a circus,"
answered Whoo-ee, who was one of the elephants in the dark place, which
was the inside of a steamship.
"A circus! Good!" cried Tum Tum. "Now I shall know how a peanut tastes."
The ship began to move and rock. It rocked and swayed for many days, for
it was on the ocean. And then, one day, a sailor came down to see the
elephants. He brought with him a queer little animal, with thick, brown
hair. And this animal chattered in jungle talk.
"Ha! I seem to know who that is!" thought Tum Tum.
"Chatter! Chatter! Chat! Chur-r-r-r-r-r!" went the little brown-haired
animal, as he sprang from the arms of the sailor.
"Umph! Umph!" trumpeted Tum Tum.
Then the little brown monkey, for such it was, gave a jump from the arms
of the sailor, and landed up on the back of the elephant.
"Hello, Tum Tum!" cried the monkey.
"Why, it's Mappo!" exclaimed Tum Tum. "How did you get here?"
"I was caught in a net, when I was eating some cocoanut," the monkey
said. I have told you how that happened in a book called, "Mappo, the
Merry Monkey."
[Illustration: He fell down on his knees, while Mappo sailed through the
air. Page 41]
"Caught in a net, eh?" said Tum Tum. "That is too bad. I was caught
myself. But where are you going?"
"To a circus," answered Mappo.
"So am I!" cried Tum Tum. "This is fine! We'll be in the circus
together!"
The monkey and the elephant were good friends, for they had known each
other in the jungle, Tum Tum often having passed under the tree where
Mappo's home was.
The sailor who had brought Mappo down to see the elephants, smiled as he
saw Tum Tum making friends with him.
"I guess I'll leave them together," said the sailor.
So Mappo went to sleep on Tum Tum's big back.
The monkey had not slept very long, before he was suddenly awakened, by
finding himself almost sliding off.
"What is the matter, Tum Tum?" asked Mappo.
"The ship is trying to stand on its head, I think," said the elephant.
"Oh, here I go!" and he fell down on his knees, while Mappo sailed
through the air and fell on a pile of hay.