"But I did remember," said Umboo, as he told his story to his circus friends. "I could remember that man even now, if I saw him. And so I got even with him for giving me a lemon," and the big elephant laughed, until he shook all over like a bath-tub full of jelly.
"What happened after that?" asked Umboo.
"Oh, after that the man went out of the circus tent," said the elephant. "Everybody was laughing at him and the funny faces he made.
But the water didn"t hurt him much, and he soon dried for it was a hot day."
"And did you do your tricks in the circus?" asked Chako.
"Oh, yes, I went in the ring, and heard the music play. Then all us elephants stood on our hind legs, and I played the hand organ, rang a bell, put pennies in my bank and did many tricks. And one I did I liked best of all."
"What was that?" asked Horni, the rhinoceros.
"It was firing a little bra.s.s cannon," answered Umboo. "Some other elephants and myself played soldiers at war, and toward the end I had to pull a string with my trunk. In some way, I don"t just know how, the string fired the cannon. None of the other elephants would do it.
They were afraid, but I wasn"t. I saw that the cannon wouldn"t hurt me if I didn"t get in front where its black mouth was, so I pulled the string. And when I did the cannon went "Bang!" And the band played, and the big drum went "Boom!" and the big horn went "Umph-umph!" and the boys and girls yelled like anything. It was lots of fun!
"I liked that circus very much. I hope, someday, they"ll let me shoot a cannon here."
"Maybe they will," said Woo-Uff, the lion. "I should like to hear it.
But is that all your story, Umboo?"
"That is all, yes. I stayed with that circus for some time, and then was sold again, and as you all know, brought here. And I like it here very much, because you are all so kind to me. And I enjoyed listening to the story you told, Woo-Uff, and to Snarlie"s story also."
"Well, we liked yours," said Chako, the monkey, as he hung by his tail and ate a peanut.
"Is there any one else who can tell a story?" asked Snarlie. "We will soon be traveling on again, but after that, when we settle down to rest, I should like to hear another tale."
"I can tell about my jungle," said Chako.
"We have had enough of jungles," said Woo-Uff. "Does any circus animal know any other kind of stories?"
"How would you like to hear one about the hot, sandy desert?" asked Humpo, the camel.
"That would be fine!" cried Umboo. "Tell us your story, Humpo!"
"I will," promised the camel. And, if all goes well, that story will be in the next Circus Animal Book; if you think you would like to read it. It will be called "Humpo, the Camel."
The elephants swayed to and fro, their leg-chains clanking in the tent. The monkeys chattered among themselves. Snarlie, the big, striped tiger yawned and stretched. Woo-Uff, the lion, laughed.
"Ha! I wonder what makes that lion so jolly?" said one of the circus keepers.
"Perhaps the elephant tickled him," suggested a second man.
"Maybe he had a funny dream," spoke another.
"Both wrong!" said Woo-Uff, in animal language that the other circus beasts could understand. "I was laughing at the way Umboo squirted water on the lemon-man."
"Yes, that was funny," said Umboo. "Very funny!" And he, too, laughed as he chewed his hay.
And, now that his story is finished, we will say good-bye to him and his friends for a while.
THE END.