TUM TUM AND THE BALLOONS
"Come away, Tum Tum!" cried the elephant's keeper. "I don't want you
getting all excited about a fire, and maybe burned. A few peanuts are
not worth it. We'll let some of the tent men put out the fire. Come
away!"
But Tum Tum did not want to go away from the fire. He was not much
afraid of it. Most wild animals are afraid of fire, but Tum Tum was tame
now, and he knew that though fire burns, it also does good, in cooking
food, even for animals. Besides, Tum Tum had seen so much of fire, since
he had come to the circus, and had seen so many flaring lamps at the
night performances, that he was not afraid of just a blazing peanut
wagon.
"I'm sorry to see all those peanuts burned up," thought Tum Tum. "I
wonder if I can't save them--maybe I'll get some for myself, if I do."
Tum Tum thought quickly. There was a great deal of excitement around
him, for the straw was now blazing in many places and the peanuts and
wagon were all in flames.
"Come away, Tum Tum!" called his keeper.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!" yelled the peanut man.
"Bring water here, somebody!" shouted another man.
"Get a pail! Get a pail!" one of the boys yelled.
"Call out the fire engines!" said another.
But Tum Tum knew a better way than that. His trunk was just like a hose,
only, of course, not so long. He could suck it up full of water, and
squirt it out again, just like a pop gun shoots out a cork. And that was
what Tum Tum did.
He put his trunk into the tub of water, and sucked up as much as he
could. Then Tum Tum aimed his trunk right at the blazing peanut wagon
and the straw.
Whooo-ish! went the water, as Tum Tum squirted it out of his trunk. On
the fire it spattered.
Hiss-s-s-s-s! went the fire, like an angry snake.
"Ha! That's the way to do it, Tum Tum!" cried his keeper. "You know how
to put out a fire! That's the way. You're as good as a fire engine
yourself!"
Tum Tum did not answer. In the first place, he could not talk to his
keeper except in elephant language, which the circus man did not
understand. And, in the second place, Tum Tum was going to suck up more
water in his nose, for the fire was not quite out yet. And you know it
is hard to talk when you have your nose full of water, even if you are
an elephant.
Whooo-ish! went more water from Tum Tum's trunk on the blazing peanut
wagon and straw.
Hiss! went the fire again, as it felt the wet water. Fire does not like
water, you know.
"Once more, Tum Tum! One more trunk full, and you'll have the fire out!"
cried the elephant's keeper.
Again Tum Tum dipped his trunk into the tub of water, and spurted it on
the fire.
This time the fire went out completely. Tum Tum had made it so wet, with
water from his trunk, that it could no longer burn.
"Oh, what a smart, good elephant!" cried the peanut man. "He saved my
wagon from burning up. I must give him some peanuts!"
A few of the peanuts were burned, but there were plenty left, and,
though some of them tasted a little like smoke, Tum Tum did not mind
that. He chewed several bags full--shells and all--and was hungry for
more.
But now it was time to go back into the circus tent, and have his
handsome blanket put on, to take his place in the procession. The boys,
one of whom had accidentally upset the peanut wagon, looked at Tum Tum
eagerly.
"Say, he's a smart elephant all right!" he cried.
"That's what he is!" said another. "I'd like to have him!"
"Huh! What would you do with an elephant?" asked his friend. "An
elephant would eat a ton of hay a day."
"Would he?"
"Sure he would."
"Well, then, I don't want an elephant," said the boy. "I guess a dog is
good enough for me. A dog can eat old bones; he doesn't need a ton of
hay a day."
The boys helped the peanut man turn his wagon right side up, and they
also helped him gather the scattered peanuts. Then the man built another
fire, and went around the tent, selling his peanuts.
"Tum Tum, you are getting smarter and smarter each day," said his
keeper, as he led him back to get ready for the parade. "I am proud of
you. You are the best elephant in the circus."
Tum Tum heard what was said of him, but he only flapped his big ears,
that were nearly the size of washtubs. Then he stood in line with his
companions, and ate the peanuts and popcorn balls the children fed to
him over the ropes.
"My, I s'pose Tum Tum will be so stuck up, and proud, that he won't want
to speak to us, after he has done so many wonderful things," said one of
the jealous elephants. "He pushed the wagon out of the mud, and now he
has put out a peanut wagon fire. Some elephants have all the luck in
this world."
Tum Tum's eyes twinkled, but he said nothing. He just ate the popcorn
balls and peanuts. But he was not at all proud or stuck up.
Tum Tum was now such a gentle and tame elephant, that children could
ride on his back. At first, some of the circus performers, who had their
children with them, let them get up on Tum Tum, and then, when his
keeper found that Tum Tum did not mind, some of the boys and girls who
came to see the show each day were allowed to ride. Up and down the tent
they went on Tum Tum's back, sitting in the little house that was
strapped fast to him.
Tum Tum was led about by his keeper when the children thus rode, and
very glad Tum Tum was to give the boys and girls this fun, for he liked
children very much.
Tum Tum would have been very glad if Mappo, the merry monkey, had come
back to ride on his back, as he did sometimes. But Mappo was far away;
where, Tum Tum did not know.
Nearly every day something new happened to Tum Tum in the circus. Every
day he saw new faces, new boys and girls and once in a while, he did
some new tricks. He had enough to eat, a good place to sleep, he did not
have to work very hard, and, best of all, he was in no danger.
So, altogether, Tum Tum liked the circus life much better than he had
liked being in the jungle. Still, now and again, he would wish himself
back in the cool, dark woods, smashing through the thick bushes, and
breaking down, or pulling up, big trees by their roots.
In the circus were some men from India, where Tum Tum had worked in the
lumber yard, piling up teakwood logs, and these Indians could talk the
language spoken in India--the man-language Tum Tum had first learned. He
liked to have them come to see him, rub his trunk, and talk to him in
their queer words.
One day another adventure happened to Tum Tum. He was out in front of
the circus tent, after he had helped roll some of the heavy animal
wagons into place, when he saw some children, with their papa, coming to
the circus.
"Oh, papa!" cried a little boy, "couldn't we ride on the elephant's
back?" and he was so excited, this little boy was, that he danced up and
down with his red balloon. All the children had these toy balloons.
"Oh, I don't believe you could ride on the elephant's back," said the
little boy's papa.
"They can, if you will let them," said Tum Tum's keeper. "My elephant is
very kind and gentle, and many children ride on him. I will hold them
on, if you are willing."
"Oh, let us, papa!" cried a little girl.
"All right, I don't mind," he said.
Tum Tum was led close to a wagon, from which the children could easily
get into the little house on his back. In that they sat with their papa
and the keeper, and around the circus grounds they went. It was not yet
time for the show, and Tum Tum did not have to go in.
"Oh, what a lovely ride!" cried the little boy, when it was over. "Thank
you so much!"
Tum Tum was glad the children had enjoyed it.
Then, as the boy and girl got down from the elephant's back, their toy
balloons slipped out of their hands and floated off through the air.
"Oh, there goes my balloon!" cried the little girl.
"And there goes mine, too!" cried the little boy. "Oh, papa!"
"Never mind, I'll get you some others," said the man.
"But I'd rather have that one," the little boy said, half crying.
"I would, too," added his sister.
Just then the wind blew the two balloons into the top of a tall tree. It
was a tall, slender tree, too little for any one to climb up, or put a
ladder against.
"Oh, now we can never get our balloons!" sobbed the little girl, as the
toys bobbed about in the wind, the strings fast to a tree branch. Then
Tum Tum made up his mind, just as he had done at the peanut fire.
"I'll get those balloons back for the children," thought the big, kind,
jolly elephant.