<h2><SPAN name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></SPAN>CHAPTER VII</h2><h3>TUM TUM LOOKS FOR MAPPO</h3>
<p>Tum Tum, the jolly elephant, pulled
hard on the chain that held his big leg
fast to a stake driven into the ground.
He wanted to get loose so he could stop the
wagon from rolling down hill, maybe upsetting
and letting the big tiger out.</p>
<p>"I know I can stop the wagon, if they will
only take this chain off my leg, so I can get out
there," thought Tum Tum, as he pulled and
tugged at the chain and peg.</p>
<p>Outside the tent men were running and shouting.
Some of them tried to put stones in the
way of the wagon wheels, but the tiger's cage was
so heavy that it rolled right over the stones.</p>
<p>The tiger was frightened and angry, and he
growled and snarled, until you would have
thought he was back in the jungle again.</p>
<p>"Let me loose! Let me loose!" trumpeted
Tum Tum through his trunk, as he waved it to
and fro. Of course none of the circus men could
understand this language, but Tum Tum's
keeper knew what the big elephant meant.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</SPAN></span>The keeper came running in the tent.</p>
<p>"Tum Tum!" he cried. "I believe you can
stop that wagon. Stop the tiger cage! Get in
front of it, and push on it with your big head.
That will stop it from rolling down hill!"</p>
<p>"I will! I will!" said Tum Tum, only, of
course, he spoke in elephant language.</p>
<p>The keeper soon took the chain off Tum
Tum's leg, and the big elephant rushed out of
the tent, and toward the rolling wagon. None
of the men had yet been able to stop it, and it was
half way down the hill now, going faster and
faster. Inside, the tiger was growling and snarling
louder than ever, and trying to break out
through the iron bars.</p>
<p>"Look out! He'll get away!" cried Mappo,
who had run and jumped inside the cage with
the other monkeys. "Old Sharp Tooth will get
loose."</p>
<p>"No, he won't!" said Tum Tum, who was now
going toward the tiger's cage as fast as he could.
"Don't be afraid, Mappo," the elephant went
on, for he knew monkeys are very much afraid
of tigers. "I won't let him get you, Mappo,"
said Tum Tum.</p>
<p>On rushed the big elephant toward the rolling
cage. He got in front of it, and then he stood
still, in the middle of the hill, waiting for the
tiger's cage, on wheels, to roll down to him.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</SPAN></span>"Look out, Tum Tum, or it will hit you!"
chattered Mappo.</p>
<p>"That's what I want it to do," said Tum Tum.
"But it can't hurt me, as my head is so big and
strong. Now you watch me!"</p>
<p>On came the tiger's cage. Tum Tum stood
there ready to let it bunk into him. His legs
were spread far apart so he himself would not
be knocked over.</p>
<p>Bang!</p>
<p>That was the tiger's cage hitting Tum Tum on
the head.</p>
<p>"Ouch!" yelled the big elephant through his
trunk, for though it did not hurt him much, he
felt a little pain.</p>
<p>Then he stood there, and pushed so hard on
the big wagon, that it could not roll down hill
any more. Instead, it began to roll back up the
hill, as Tum Tum pushed on it.</p>
<p>"That's the way to do it, Tum Tum!" cried
the elephant's keeper. "I knew you could do
it. Come on now, old fellow. Push the cage
right back where it belongs."</p>
<p>Tum Tum did so. Soon the tiger's cage was
in line with those of the lions, wolves, bears and
other animals, ready for the circus to begin.</p>
<p>"Oh, but I'm glad the tiger didn't get
loose," said Mappo, to Tum Tum. "I was so
afraid!"</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</SPAN></span>"Why were you afraid?" the big elephant
wanted to know.</p>
<p>"Oh, because Sharp Tooth, the tiger, does not
like me. I am sure he would bite me, if he got
loose."</p>
<p>"Why would he do that?" asked Tum Tum.</p>
<p>"Because I would not let him out of his cage,
when he and I were caught in the jungle," answered
the monkey.</p>
<p>Then he told about the time Sharp Tooth had
tried to get out of his cage.</p>
<p>"Never fear, Mappo," said Tum Tum. "I'll
not let Sharp Tooth hurt you as long as I am
around."</p>
<p>"Thank you," said Mappo.</p>
<p>For several days after this the circus went
from town to town, traveling after dark each
night, so as to be ready to give a show in the
day-time.</p>
<p>One day Sharp Tooth, the tiger, spoke to Tum
Tum as the elephant was passing the cage.</p>
<p>"Why did you stop my wagon from rolling
down hill, Tum Tum?" asked the tiger.</p>
<p>"Because I did not want to see it smashed, and
see you thrown out, Sharp Tooth," answered
Tum Tum.</p>
<p>"But that is just what I wanted to do—get
out," spoke the tiger. "I want to get loose! I
am tired of staying in the cage!"</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</SPAN></span>"But if you got out, you might bite someone,"
went on Tum Tum.</p>
<p>"Yes, that is just what I would do," growled
the tiger. "I would bite and scratch until the
men would be glad to let me go back to my
jungle again. I am mad at you for not letting
my cage run on. If you had, I would now be
free."</p>
<p>"Well, I am glad you are not free," said Tum
Tum, as he looked at the sharp teeth and sharp
claws of the tiger, and thought of little Mappo.</p>
<p>"Then I am mad at you, and I am going to
stay mad," said the tiger, and he sulked in his
cage.</p>
<p>Tum Tum was not very much afraid of the
tiger now, even though he knew the bad animal
might some day get loose and scratch him.</p>
<p>"I don't believe Sharp Tooth will ever get
out," said Tum Tum to himself.</p>
<p>The big elephant had good times in the circus.
He had to do only a few tricks in the afternoon,
and some more in the evening. The rest of the
time he could eat or sleep, except when the circus
moved from place to place. Then he would
have to help the other elephants push the heavy
wagons up on the railroad trains. But Tum
Tum did not mind this.</p>
<p>What he liked, best of all, was to stand in the
animal tent, before and after his trick perform<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</SPAN></span>ances,
and watch the children and grown people
come in to look at him and the other animals.
Some of the little children seemed afraid of the
elephants, but when Tum Tum saw one of these
frightened little tots, he would just put out his
trunk, and gently stroke some other little boy or
girl, so as to show how gentle he was. Then
the frightened one's mother or father would say:</p>
<p>"See, the good elephant will not hurt you.
Come, give him some peanuts or popcorn."</p>
<p>Then the child would hand Tum Tum a peanut,
and Tum Tum would eat it with a twinkle
in his little eyes.</p>
<p>Of course Tum Tum would much rather have
had a whole bag full of peanuts at a time, for he
could put them all in his mouth, and more, at
once.</p>
<p>Still, Tum Tum was glad enough to get single
peanuts at a time, and though it was hard work
to chew a single one in his big mouth, just as it
would be hard for you to chew just one grain of
sugar, still Tum Tum was very polite, and he
never refused to take the single peanuts.</p>
<p>"A big ball of popcorn makes something
pretty good to chew on," said Tum Tum to one
of the elephants chained near him. "I like that,
don't you?"</p>
<p>"Indeed I do," the elephant said. "We never<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</SPAN></span>
got anything as nice as popcorn and peanuts in
the jungle, did we?"</p>
<p>"No," answered Tum Tum, thinking of the
days in the dense jungle. Tum Tum wondered
what had become of Mr. Boom and where his
father and mother, and his other elephant
friends, might be.</p>
<p>"I suppose they are still back in the lumber
yard, piling up teakwood logs," thought Tum
Tum. "I am glad I am in the circus, even if I
did have to be pulled up with a rope to make me
learn how to stand on my head and my hind
legs."</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>"He is the smartest elephant of all," his keeper
would say, and this made Tum Tum feel very
proud and happy.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>When one of the animal men rushed in and<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</SPAN></span>
called out something, Tum Tum knew it was
not that.</p>
<p>"One of the monkeys is missing," said one
trainer to another. "It is Mappo, that smart
one."</p>
<p>"Ha! Is that so?" asked the other. "How
did he get loose?"</p>
<p>"He must have slipped out of the cage, when
we were on the road. Come, we are going to
try to find him."</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>"Ha! That is good!" thought Tum Tum, as
he listened.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>"I wonder if we will find Mappo?" thought
Tum Tum.</p>
<span class="totoc"><SPAN href="#toc">Contents</SPAN></span>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</SPAN></span></p>
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