<h2 id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br/> <small>SHAGGO IN A CIRCUS</small></h2>
<p class="cap">Shaggo was at first so shaken up and tumbled
about, and his shoulder hurt him so
much from having been hit against the side
of his cage, that the buffalo did not know what
had happened. But he saw that he was no longer
in the darkness of the box car into which he had
been placed for his train ride. He could look
out and up through the wooden bars, and he
could see the stars shining above him, just as he
had seen them in the National Park.</p>
<p>“But I can’t be back at the Park, where
Rumpo and Bumpo are always butting one another
and playing jokes,” thought Shaggo. “I
don’t believe I am back there. Never did we
have such noises there as I hear all about me.
It’s enough to make one deaf!”</p>
<p>Well might Shaggo say that, for on all sides
was the hissing of the steam engines, the blowing
of whistles, the crackle of flames and the shouting
of men. Though Shaggo did not know it,
the train on which he had been riding in the box
car had been in collision with another train.
There was a wreck. Shaggo’s car was broken<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_66"></SPAN>[66]</span>
open and his cage had slid out. That was what
had happened. It was the first railroad wreck
in which Shaggo had ever found himself, and
no wonder he did not know what it was.</p>
<p>“All I can say is that I don’t care very much
for this, whatever it is,” said the buffalo to himself.</p>
<p>Pretty soon some men came running along the
track toward Shaggo, who was standing in his
cage looking out at the stars.</p>
<p>“Well, thank goodness, the buffalo didn’t get
loose!” said one of the men.</p>
<p>“That’s right,” chimed in another. “If he’d
gotten loose there would be a lot of trouble.”</p>
<p>By this time Shaggo was getting used to the
sight and smell of men, though of course he did
not know what they were saying. He no longer
tried to break out of his cage when they came
near him. But had he known that he was in a
railroad wreck the buffalo might have tried to
escape. For, as was found out afterward, one
part of the cage was broken, and, had Shaggo
tried, he could have slipped out. But he did not
know, and so he stayed inside the bars until, after
a while, another train was made up to take the
place of the wrecked one, and Shaggo was put
on board that. Then, once again, off he started,
just where to he did not know.</p>
<p>All he knew was that he did not at all like it<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_67"></SPAN>[67]</span>
in the dark, even though, now and then, men
came in to give him hay and water.</p>
<p>Sometimes these men talked to Shaggo, and
when daylight came, and the door of his car was
left open, letting in light and air, one of the men
stayed some little time, looking at the buffalo.</p>
<p>“My, but you’re a big fellow! The circus
will be glad to get you,” he said.</p>
<p>Shaggo was so lonesome, by this time, that he
moved over toward the side of the cage where
the man stood, and put out his tongue. Perhaps
Shaggo hoped to get a bit of salt. But the man
had none. However, the man reached his hand
in through the bars of the cage and patted the
shaggy animal on the back. By accident he
touched the animal’s sore shoulder.</p>
<p>Shaggo jumped back and let out a loud bellow,
a sound such as a bull makes in a farmer’s
pasture.</p>
<p>At last, after several days’ travel, during
which he was never let out of the car, following
the railroad wreck, Shaggo noticed that the train
was standing still. Then his car was sent back
and forth, in little jerks at a time, until finally it
gave a big bump, shaking Shaggo up rather
badly, and then it was still.</p>
<p>“Well, I wonder what’s going to happen
now,” thought the great buffalo. “I hope they
let me out of this cage, or trap, or whatever they<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_68"></SPAN>[68]</span>
call it. I want to run around and get some green
grass and some salt, and I want to drink at the
water pool. I wonder if I can run any more?
My shoulder seems very much larger, and it is
stiff. It doesn’t hurt me as much as when I first
fell on it, after my big jump, but I wonder if I
can run with it this way?”</p>
<p>He tried to get a look at his shoulder, but it
was still dark in his car. Suddenly, however, the
door was opened. The flood of sunlight almost
blinded Shaggo for a moment, and then he saw
some men come in. They had ropes and boards.</p>
<p>“What is going to happen?” thought Shaggo.</p>
<p>The men talked among themselves.</p>
<p>“So that’s the buffalo, is it?” asked one.</p>
<p>“Yes, that’s the one the boss bought somewhere
out West,” said another man. “We
haven’t any buffaloes in our circus, and the boss
thought it would be good to have one. Say, look
at his hump, would you! Isn’t it big?”</p>
<p>“He has two humps!” said another man.</p>
<p>They approached nearer the cage, opened the
other door of the car and looked closely at
Shaggo.</p>
<p>“No, that swelling on his shoulder isn’t a
hump,” said the first man. “Maybe he got hurt
in the train wreck. I heard he was in one. We’ll
have our animal doctor take a look at him.”</p>
<p>Shaggo sniffed at the men as they stood near<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_69"></SPAN>[69]</span>
his cage. He seemed to know they would not
hurt him, and so he did not stamp around, bellow
or try to break out as they put ropes around his
cage and pulled it toward the door of the freight
car. After a while the cage was slid down some
planks, as barrels are rolled into a cellar, and
then the cage was hoisted up on a wagon.</p>
<p>It was a much larger wagon than the one
Shaggo had ridden on after he had been caught
in the trap. And it was a much nicer wagon,
too, for it was painted red, yellow, and green,
though of course the buffalo did not know much
about such colors. The green of the grass, the
whiteness of salt and the blueness of the water he
drank were about all the colors Shaggo knew.
True he had seen the beautiful colors of the sunset,
but I doubt if he really paid much attention
to them. And, in a way, the wagon was almost
the colors of sunset. It was a circus wagon on
which Shaggo was now riding.</p>
<p>Over the buffalo’s cage was thrown a heavy
piece of canvas—a part of one of the tents—and
then Shaggo was drawn through the city streets.
He did not know he was in a city, for he had
never seen one before, but there he was. And
after a long, rumbling ride the buffalo came to
rest. The cover was taken off his cage, and for
the first time in his life Shaggo found himself
inside a circus barn.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_70"></SPAN>[70]</span></p>
<p>It was not a circus tent, for the show was in
what is called its “winter quarters.” It is no
time for a circus to travel about, giving performances
in a tent, when weather is cold. Cold is
not good for many circus animals, so in winter
they are kept in warm barns. And it was in one
of these barns that Shaggo now found himself.</p>
<p>“Hello,” called a man to the driver of the
wagon. “Did you get the new buffalo?”</p>
<p>“Yes, he’s here,” was the answer.</p>
<p>“Let’s get him into a wagon cage,” went on
the first man. “The circus will soon start out
on the road. This is the first buffalo we’ve ever
had. Let’s get a look at him.”</p>
<p>A crowd of men gathered around Shaggo to
look at him. Some put their hands in and
stroked his shaggy coat of hair.</p>
<p>“Look out for that swelled shoulder of his,”
warned one of the circus men. “I guess he got
a bump in the train wreck, and he’s sore. We’ll
have to doctor him up a bit.”</p>
<p>“All right. But let’s get him into one of the
regular cages now, where he’ll have more room,”
suggested another. “Later on, when he’s tamed
a bit, we may be able to let him be out in the
open, like the camels and elephants.”</p>
<p>Shaggo did not understand this talk. All he
knew was that he was tired, hungry and thirsty.
The wagon, on which his cage rested, was<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_71"></SPAN>[71]</span>
backed up to another wagon, which was really
a cage on wheels. In this cage hay and water
were put, and the two doors were opened.
Shaggo looked around a bit, and, seeing something
to eat and something to drink in the larger
cage, into it he walked. The iron-barred door
clanged shut on him, but Shaggo paid little attention
to this. He took a long drink, and then
began to eat some hay.</p>
<p>“We’ll leave him alone for a while,” said the
men, and they walked off.</p>
<p>Shaggo was so hungry that all he did for a
time was to eat. He put his black nose down in
the pile of hay and took a large mouthful.
While he was chewing this he saw something
long and thin suddenly thrust itself in between
the bars of his cage. All at once Shaggo was
much excited.</p>
<p>“A snake! A snake!” cried Shaggo in animal
talk. “Oh, what a big rattlesnake! Here,
get out of my cage!” he rumbled.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_72"></SPAN>[72]</span></p>
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