TUM TUM AND DON
"Well, this is certainly a funny place," thought Tum Tum, the jolly
elephant, as he looked about him. And well might he say so.
He found himself inside a large barn, which was nice and warm, and for
this Tum Tum was glad, for it felt more like the warmth of his jungle,
and Tum Tum, who had been shivering in the cold, outer air, now felt
much better.
The earthen floor of the barn was covered with sawdust, and all around
the sides of the barn were cages containing many animals. There were
lions, tigers, wolves, leopards, monkeys, snakes, and many other strange
beasts, some of which Tum Tum had seen in his jungle home, and some of
which he had never before seen.
"I suppose that is where Mappo will be put," thought Tum Tum, as he
looked at the cages full of lively little monkey chaps.
Then Tum Tum looked and saw a number of elephants, chained in a row on
another side of the circus barn, and he knew that would be his place.
Opening out of the big barn was a smaller one, and in that were many
horses and ponies.
There were many men in the circus barn, and they all seemed to be doing
something. Some were carrying pails of water to the animals, others were
feeding hay to the elephants, and meat to the lions, tigers and spotted
leopards. Tum Tum did not care for meat, but he was very hungry for some
of the juicy, green leaves that grew on trees in his jungle.
As he could get none of those now, he had to eat dry hay, and very good
that tasted, too. He had grown to like it on board the ship.
"Bring the elephants over here!" called one circus man to another, and
Tum Tum felt himself being led along by a man who had a stick with a
hook in the end of it. But the man did not stick the hook in Tum Tum,
because Tum Tum was good and gentle now.
Tum Tum, though he had been a wild elephant in the jungle only a few
weeks before, had learned many things, since he had been caught. He had
learned that men were his friends, and would not hurt him, though they
made him do as they wanted him to, and ordered him about as though he
were a little dog instead of a big, strong elephant. The men did not
seem to be afraid of Tum Tum, though he was a little afraid of them,
especially when they carried sharp hooks, which hurt one's skin.
"Come along!" cried the man who was leading Tum Tum and the others, and
over to one side of the circus barn they went, to be chained by a leg to
a very strong stake driven into the ground.
"Feed them up well," said the first man, "and then we'll see about
putting them through some tricks."
"Ha!" thought Tum Tum. "So the tricks are to begin soon, are they? I
wonder what kind I shall do, and whether I shall like them or not?"
Tum Tum waited anxiously to see what would happen next. What did happen
was that he got something to eat, and a little treat into the bargain.
For with the big pile of hay that was given him, there were some long,
pointed yellow things.
"Ha! What are those?" asked Tum Tum of Hoy, the big, tame elephant who
had been in a circus before.
"They are carrots," said Hoy.
"Are they good to eat?" asked Tum Tum.
"Try and see," answered Hoy, with a twinkle in his little eyes. He was
eating the yellow carrots as fast as he could.
Tum Tum took one little bite, holding the carrot in his trunk. And, as
soon as he chewed on it, he knew that he liked carrots very much.
"Ha! That is certainly good!" he said to Hoy. "I wish I had carrots
every day."
"Oh, but you won't get them every day," said the old elephant. "They are
just special, to get you to feeling jolly, so you will learn your tricks
more easily."
"Well, I feel pretty jolly anyhow," said Tum Tum. "I'll do any tricks I
can."
He did not know yet all that was to happen to him, before he learned to
do his tricks.
Tum Tum had been in the circus nearly a week before he was taught any
tricks. In that week he had plenty to eat, and good water to drink, some
of which he spurted over himself with his trunk. That was his way of
taking a bath, you see.
Then, one day, some circus men came to where Tum Tum was chained, and
one of them said:
"Now, we'll take out this big elephant, and teach him some tricks. Get
Hoy, so he'll show Tum Tum what we want done."
"Ha! So now the tricks begin!" cried Tum Tum to Hoy.
"Yes, and you want to watch out, and do as you are told, or you may not
like it," said Hoy.
Tum Tum and the older elephant were led to the middle of the circus
ring. The chains were taken off Tum Tum's legs, but a rope was put
around his front ones, and he wondered what that was for. Then Tum Tum
and Hoy were stood in a line with some other big elephants.
"All ready now!" cried a circus man, snapping his long whip. "Stand up!"
Hoy raised himself up on his hind legs, lifting his trunk high in the
air.
"Do as I do! Do as I do!" called Hoy to Tum Tum. "Stand up on your hind
legs."
"I--I can't!" answered Tum Tum, who tried. But he found he could not.
Then a funny thing happened. All of a sudden Tum Tum found his front
legs and head being pulled up in the air by the rope, and, before he
knew it, he was standing on his hind legs whether he wanted to or not.
The circus men had pulled on the end of the rope, which ran through a
pulley, hoisting Tum Tum in the air. That was the way they had of
teaching him to stand up. Several times Tum Tum was let down to the
ground, and hauled up again, and each time he was pulled up, the circus
man would call out:
"Stand up on your hind legs! Stand up on your hind legs!"
"Is this a trick?" asked Tum Tum of Hoy, who did not have to have a rope
around him to pull him up.
"Yes, it is one trick," answered the old elephant. "There are many more,
though, to learn."
Tum Tum was beginning to be tired of being hauled up this way. So were
some of the other elephants, and one of them tried to break loose. But
he was hit with a rope, and squealed so that none of the others tried to
get away.
"Now then, take off the ropes, and we'll see how many have learned their
lesson," said the head circus man.
"Now's your chance to show how smart you are," whispered Hoy to Tum Tum.
"When he tells you to stand up next time, do it all by yourself. Then
you'll have learned this one trick."
"I'll try," promised Tum Tum.
The elephants stood in a row. The head circus man cracked his whip, and
called:
"Up on your hind legs!"
Tum Tum gave a little spring, and raised his front legs from the ground.
He settled back on his strong hind legs, and there he was, doing just as
Hoy was doing! Tum Tum had learned his first lesson, just as he had
learned to pile teakwood logs in straight piles.
"Ha! We have one smart fellow in the bunch, anyhow!" cried the circus
man.
Tum Tum was glad when he heard this, just as you would be, if you had
learned your lesson in school. For it is a good thing to learn to do
things, even for an elephant.
But if Tum Tum thought he would get a rest after he had shown that he
could do the trick without being hauled up by a rope, he was sadly
mistaken. Over and over he had to do the trick, until he felt tired,
large and strong as he was.
Some of the elephants could stand up on their hind legs for a second or
so, and then they fell down again. They were made to practice again with
ropes, but no ropes were needed for Tum Tum.
"Well, that's enough for one day," said the head circus man finally.
"Give them all some carrots with their hay. To-morrow we shall try
having them stand on their front legs."
"Will that be harder?" asked Tum Tum of Hoy as he marched to the side of
the barn where the elephants were kept.
"Much harder," said the old elephant. "But I think you can do it."
"I'll try, anyhow," spoke Tum Tum, with a jolly laugh. "I think tricks
are fun."
Standing on his front legs, with his hind ones in the air, was not as
funny as he had thought. In the first place, he had to start with the
rope, and, before he knew it, his hind legs were pulled out from under
him, by the circus men, and Tum Tum was almost standing on his head. Hoy
told him what to do, and how to balance himself, just as he told the
other elephants, and soon Tum Tum could do it very well. When this
practice was over, and when Tum Tum could stand on either his front or
hind legs, without being pulled by a rope, he was given more carrots to
eat.
Tum Tum could now do two tricks, but, as you children know, who have
seen elephants in a circus, there are many others that can be done.
Elephants can be made to sit down in a low, strong chair, they can be
made to stand on top of a small tub, to play see-saw, to ring bells,
play hand organs with their trunks, and do many other queer things they
never thought of doing in the jungle.
Why, I have seen elephants fire cannon, wave flags, and play baseball.
Elephants are very wonderful, and very wise and lively, for such big
animals.
As the winter days went by, Tum Tum learned many tricks in the circus.
He learned to stand with other elephants, in a long row, and let the
acrobats jump over him, and he also let the clowns jump right on his
broad back. Tum Tum learned to do a little dance, too, but he never
danced as well as the ponies could, for Tum Tum was very heavy. Tum Tum
also learned how to walk across, and kneel down over his master, who lay
flat on the sawdust, and though Tum Tum, with his big body, came very
close to the man, he never touched him. If Tum Tum had stepped, even
with one foot, on the man, he would have hurt him very much. But Tum Tum
was careful.
One day, when spring was near at hand, and when it was nearly time for
the circus to travel on the road, from one town to another, Tum Tum was
out in front of the barn, helping push some of the big circus wagons
about. He pushed them with his strong head.
All at once Tum Tum felt something bite him on the hind leg, and he
heard a barking noise, such as monkeys sometimes make.
"Is that you, Mappo?" asked Tum Tum quickly. He could not turn around,
for he was pushing the wagon up hill.
"Bow wow! Bow wow! Bow wow!" was the barking answer, and Tum Tum felt
his legs nipped again.
"Stop that, Mappo, if you please," said the big elephant. "Please don't
do that, when I am pushing this wagon."
But Tum Tum's leg was bitten again, and he cried:
"Mappo, I shall squeeze you in my trunk, if you do not let me alone. I
like a joke as well as you do, but it is no fun to have your legs nipped
when you are pushing a heavy wagon. Stop it!"
"Bow wow! Bow wow! Bow wow!" came the answer.
"That doesn't sound exactly like Mappo," said Tum Tum. "I wonder who it
can be?"
When Tum Tum had pushed the wagon to the top of the hill, he could turn
around. Then, instead of seeing the merry little monkey, he saw a big
black and white dog, who was barking and nipping at his heels.
"Oh, ho! So it is you, eh?" asked Tum Tum. "Who are you, and what are
you biting me for?"
"My name is Don," barked the dog, "and I am biting you to drive you
away. I am afraid you might hurt my master. I never saw such an animal
as you, with two tails. Go away!" and Don barked louder than before, and
once more tried to bite the elephant's feet.
"Here, Don! Don!" called a man's voice. "Come away from that elephant!"
"Bow wow!" barked Don. "I am going to bite him!"
"Oh, are you?" asked Tum Tum. And with that he reached out with his
trunk, caught Don around the middle, and lifted him high in the air. Don
did not bark now. He howled in fear.