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Tamba, The Tame Tiger; His Many Adventures

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<h2 id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II TAMBA’S FUNNY TRICK</h2> Bang! Crack! Crash! went the thunder, and the cage of Tamba, the tame tiger, as it slid along the slippery, muddy road, and struck a tree, made much the same noise, only not so loud. Tamba himself, inside the iron-barred cage, was feeling much better than when he had had the sliver in his paw. His foot was almost well now, and he could step on it, though he limped a little. “When my cage goes to smash I’ll slip out and run away,” thought Tamba. “I’m going to have lots of fun when I get back to my jungle.” Over and over rolled the cage, for the horses had broken loose from it and were running away. Many other of the circus animal cages were being broken in the storm. Tamba’s cage struck one tree, bounced away from that and hit another. Then it came to a stop, and Tamba, who had been rolling about inside, being sometimes on his head and sometimes on his feet, and again turning somersaults—Tamba, at last, found himself quiet. [18] “Now is my chance to get away!” thought the tame tiger, who wanted to be wild again and live in a jungle. “Now I’ll get out of my cage!” He surely thought the big wagon with the iron bars on two sides—the cage in which he traveled—had been broken so he could get out. But when he tried, he found that this was not so. The tiger’s cage was broken a bit, here and there, but it was so strong that it had held together, and when Tamba tried to force his way out he could not. He was still a circus tiger, much as he wanted to go to the jungle. “Oh, this is too bad!” growled Tamba to himself, as he tried to break out, first through one side of the cage and then the other. “This is too bad! I thought, when the storm wrecked the circus, that I could get loose. Now I’ll have to wait for another time.” But if Tamba had not got out of his cage when the great storm came, some of the circus animals had. Nero, the circus lion, got loose, and he had many adventures before he was caught again, as I have told you in the book before this one. But Tamba had to stay in his cage. After a while, when the worst of the storm had passed, the circus men began going about, getting back on the road some of the cages, like that of Tamba, that had rolled downhill. “Tamba’s all right,” said a trainer, as he saw[19] the tame tiger. “He didn’t get loose, I’m glad to say. I want to teach him some new, funny tricks, now that his paw is well again.” “No, Tamba didn’t get away,” remarked another man; “but Nero, the big lion, did. We’ll have to go out to hunt him.” When morning came, and the circus was once more in order—except for the broken cages and the animals that had gotten away—Tamba felt, more than ever, that he would like to be back in his jungle. “So Nero got away, did he?” thought the tame tiger, as he saw the lion’s broken cage, and noticed that Nero was no longer in it. “Well, I wish I were with him. Now he can go back to his jungle.” But Nero did not do that, as those of you know who have read the book about him. I’ll just say, right here, that Nero had many adventures, but, as this book is about Tamba, I must tell about him, and the adventures the tame tiger had. A few days after this, when the circus was traveling on again, though without Nero, who had not been caught, it came to a large city, where it was to stay nearly a week to give shows. “And now will be a good chance for me to teach Tamba some new and funny tricks,” said the animal man who had charge of the tiger. “I[20] want him to make the people laugh when they come to the circus. The boys and girls will like to see Tamba do some funny tricks.” And the next day, his paw being again well, Tamba began to learn something new. When his trainer entered the cage, Tamba, much as he wanted to run away to the jungle, was glad to see the man. For the man was kind to the tiger, and patted him on the head, and gave him nice bits of meat to eat. “Now, Tamba,” said the trainer, speaking in a kind voice, “you are going to learn something new. Sit up!” he cried, and he held a little stick in front of Tamba. The tiger knew what this meant, as he had learned the trick some time before. When the trainer spoke that way he meant that Tamba was to sit up, just as your dog may do when you tell him to “beg.” “That’s very good,” said the man, when Tamba had done as he was told. “Now that is the first part of a new trick. Next I am going to put a little cracker on your nose. It isn’t really a cracker, it is a dog biscuit, and it has some meat in it. As you like meat I think you’ll like the dog biscuit.” As the man spoke he took from his pocket one of the square cakes called dog biscuit. I dare say you have often given them to your dog.[21] The animal trainer broke off a bit of this biscuit and put it on Tamba’s nose. Tamba could smell that it was good to eat, and he quickly shook his head a little, jiggled the piece of biscuit to the floor of his cage, and the next minute the piece of biscuit was gone. Tamba had eaten it. “Well, that’s what I want you to do,” said the man with a laugh, “but not just that way. This is to be one of your new, funny tricks, but you didn’t do it just right. I want you to hold the piece of biscuit on your nose until I call ‘Toss!’ Then I want you to flip it into the air and catch the piece of biscuit in your mouth. Now we’ll try it again.” Tamba did the same thing he had done the first time, but the man was kind and patient, and, after many trials, Tamba at last understood what was wanted of him. He must hold the bit of dog biscuit on his nose until the man said he could eat it. Then the tiger was to give his head a little jerk. This would snap the bit of biscuit into the air, and, if Tamba opened his mouth at the right time, the biscuit would fall into it. That would be the funny trick. And, as I say, Tamba learned, after a while, how to do it just right. But it took nearly a week. At the end of that time his trainer could put a bit of dog biscuit on the tiger’s black nose.[22] Then Tamba would sit up on his hind legs, very still and straight, looking at his master. “Now!” the man would suddenly call, and Tamba would jerk his head, up the piece of biscuit would fly, and into his mouth it would go. “That’s fine!” cried the man, after the second week, during which time Tamba had practiced very hard. “Now we are ready to do the new trick in the tent for the boys and girls.” And when the trick was done the boys and girls laughed very much and clapped their hands. They liked to see Tamba do his tricks. Nor was this the only new one he learned. His master taught him several others. Tamba would lie down and roll over when he was told; he would walk around on his hind legs, wearing a funny pointed cap; and he would turn a somersault, just as he had done the night his cage rolled downhill in the storm. All these tricks were much enjoyed by the boys and girls and by the men and women who came to the circus. Tamba was a very smart tiger. But, for all that, he never gave up the idea of running away when he got the chance, and going back to his jungle. All this while Nero, the circus lion, had not returned. He had been away since the night of the storm, and Tum Tum, and his other friends, missed Nero. [23] <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_p023.jpg" alt="" title="" /> <div class="caption">And into his mouth it would go.</div> </div> [24- 25] “But he is having a much better time than we are, just the same,” said Tamba, as he paced back and forth in his cage. “He is on the way back to the jungle!” If he could have seen Nero just then he never would have said that. For the circus lion was in the kitchen of a country farmhouse watching a tramp eat ham, and—but there! This book is about Tamba, not about Nero, though I have to mention the lion once in a while. About a week after Tamba had learned to do several new and funny tricks, there was a sudden noise at the entrance of the circus animal tent. It was after the afternoon show had ended, and not yet time for the evening performance. “What’s the matter, Tum Tum?” asked Tamba, who could not see very well from his cage. “What has happened? Have some more of our animals gotten away?” “I think not,” answered the big elephant, who could see the tent entrance. “I think they are bringing in a new lion. Maybe he is to take the place of Nero. We’ll soon know. Here they come with him.” <hr class="chap" /> [26] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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