Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant Part 10

Tum Tum could do many other tricks besides these now, and he was such a jolly old elephant, always doing as he was told without any grumbling, that all the circus men liked him.

If there was anything hard to do, or any trick that none of the other elephants could go through, Tum Tum was sure to be called on.

"He is the smartest elephant of all," his keeper would say, and this made Tum Tum feel very proud and happy.

One day there was much excitement in the animal tent, and at first Tum Tum thought maybe the tiger had gotten loose again, or that another big cage had rolled down hill.

When one of the animal men rushed in and called out something, Tum Tum knew it was not that.

"One of the monkeys is missing," said one trainer to another. "It is Mappo, that smart one."

"Ha! Is that so?" asked the other. "How did he get loose?"

"He must have slipped out of the cage, when we were on the road. Come, we are going to try to find him."

"I know a good way," said the keeper of Tum Tum. "I shall take my elephant with me. My elephant and that monkey Mappo were good friends.

If Mappo sees Tum Tum, he will be glad to come back. So we will take Tum Tum to hunt Mappo."

"Ha! That is good!" thought Tum Tum, as he listened.

Soon the hunt for Mappo began. Many of the circus men started for the woods to look for the lost monkey. Tum Tum went along also, his keeper riding on his back.

"I wonder if we will find Mappo?" thought Tum Tum.

CHAPTER VIII

TUM TUM AND THE FIRE

Through the woods, near the circus town, went the men looking for lost Mappo. They wanted to get back the monkey because he was such a good one to do tricks, and because the children, many of whom came to the circus, liked to see him ride on the back of a dog, or pony, and jump through paper-covered hoops.

"We must find Mappo!" cried the keeper who had him in charge.

Mappo had run away, as I have told you in the book about his adventures, because he was afraid Sharp Tooth, the big tiger, would get loose and bite him. In the woods he had many wonderful adventures.

He met Slicko, the jumping girl squirrel, about whom I have told you, and also Squinty, the comical pig. Mappo liked Squinty, the pig, very much, for Squinty was a nice little chap.

On and on went Tum Tum and the men, looking for the lost monkey. After the search had gone on for several hours, Mappo, who was walking along through the woods with Squinty, saw the circus men coming after him.

"Here's where I have to run and hide," said Mappo.

"Why?" grunted Squinty, the comical pig.

"Because the circus men are after me. Look!" and the monkey chap pointed through the woods to where could be seen some men in red coats.

"Oh, and look at that funny animal with two tails!" cried Squinty. "I'd be afraid of him."

"You wouldn't need to be," said Mappo. "That is only Tum Tum, the elephant, and he is very jolly. He would not hurt a fly. I guess he is looking for me, but, as I don't want to go back to the circus just yet, I'll go off in the woods and hide."

"And I guess I'll go hide, too," said Squinty, for he, also, had run away, but not from a circus. He had run away from his pen at the farm--the farm where Don, the dog, lived.

So Mappo hurried off to climb a tall tree. As Tum Tum went along through the bushes, he saw his little monkey friend.

"Ha! There is Mappo!" said Tum Tum to himself, and he hurried on through the woods.

"Wait a minute, Mappo!" called Tum Tum, in animal language.

But Mappo would not wait, and Tum Tum could not tell the circus men with him that the lost monkey was just ahead of them. Tum Tum could not speak man talk, you know, and the circus men had not yet seen Mappo. So the little monkey got away.

Tum Tum saw a little animal with Mappo, and the elephant said to himself:

"Ha! That must be Squinty, the comical pig, of whom Don, the dog, told me. I would like to meet Squinty, but I don't see how I can. He can run through these woods faster than I can. Well, maybe I will see him some day. And I do hope Mappo comes back to the circus. It will be lonesome without him."

But Mappo had many adventures before he came back to the circus.

"Well, I guess it's no use hunting for him any more," said one of the circus men. "That monkey has gotten far away. We had better go back to the tents."

"Yes, I think we had," said the man who was riding on the back of Tum Tum.

The elephant knew that Mappo was not so very far off, but Tum Tum had no way of telling his keeper about it.

Back to the circus went Tum Tum, and another monkey had to do the tricks that Mappo used to do in the performances that day.

"What happened?" asked Sharp Tooth, the tiger, of Tum Tum, as the elephant went past the cage of the striped beast. "Where did you go a little while ago?"

"Out looking for Mappo, the monkey," answered Tum Tum.

"Did he run away?" asked the tiger.

"Yes, I guess he was afraid you would bite him."

"And so I would, if I could get him," snarled the tiger. "He is to blame for me being shut up in this cage."

Tum Tum said nothing, for he did not want to get in a quarrel with the tiger.

Day after day went past in the circus, and still Mappo did not come back. Sometimes Tum Tum was lonesome for his little monkey friend, but there was so much to do, that no one in a circus could be lonesome for very long at a time.

Tum Tum was learning some new tricks, and this took up much of his time.

Each day he was growing bigger and stronger, for he was not a very old elephant, when he had been caught in the jungle. Now he was very strong, and he could easily have pushed two heavy animal cages at once. He was the strongest elephant in the whole circus.

One day, when the circus was going along the road from one town to another, one of the wagons became stuck fast in the mud, for it had rained in the night. It was the wagon in which rode the hippopotamus, with his big red mouth that he could open so wide.

The whole circus procession had to stop, or at least all the wagons behind the hippopotamus cage, had to stop, as they could not get past.

"Bring up some of the elephants, and have them pull the hippo's cage out of the mud!" cried the head circus man. He called him "hippo" for short, you see.