<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br/> <small>TAMBA IN A WRECK</small></h2>
<p class="cap">Down on the black nose of the sleeping
lion went the soft, fuzzy tip of Tamba’s
tail. And Tamba tickled Nero so hard
that the lion gave a big sneeze and awakened
with a jump.</p>
<p>Then Nero threw himself against the bars of
his cage until they shook where they were fastened
into the wood, and the lion roared in his
loudest voice:</p>
<p>“Where’s that fly? Where’s the tickling fly
that wouldn’t let me sleep? If I catch that fly
I’ll tickle him!” and Nero roared so loudly that
the ground seemed to tremble, as it always does
near a lion when he roars. I have often felt it
in the zoölogical park where I sometimes go to
look at the lions and the tigers.</p>
<p>“Where’s that fly? Where’s that fly?” roared
Nero. For you see he thought the tickling tip
of Tamba’s tail was a fly on his nose.</p>
<p>“What’s the matter here? What’s the trouble?”
cried one of the circus men, as he ran into
the animal tent, having heard Nero roar.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_35"></SPAN>[35]</span></p>
<p>“Are some of the lions or tigers trying to get
loose?” asked another man.</p>
<p>“No, it seems to be Nero,” replied the first.
“What’s the matter, old boy?” he asked, as he
saw how angry Nero was. For the lion was
lashing his tail from side to side and roaring:</p>
<p>“Where’s that fly? Where’s that fly?”</p>
<p>Of course the circus men didn’t know exactly
what Nero was saying, but they could tell he was
angry, and they were afraid, if he bounded
against the bars of his cage much more, he might
break some.</p>
<p>“I don’t see what makes Nero act that way,”
said the man who had charge of the lion, and
who had taught him to do tricks. “Once before
he acted like this, but it was when a bee stung
him on the nose.”</p>
<p>“Maybe that is what happened this time,” said
the second man.</p>
<p>“I don’t see any bees flying around,” went on
the lion’s keeper. Just then Tamba, seeing that
he had awakened Nero, and had played all the
tricks he wanted to, pulled his tail out from between
the bars of the lion’s cage. And, just as
he did so, the keeper saw him.</p>
<p>“Oh, ho! I know what the matter was,” the
man said. “The tiger tickled the lion. Tamba
tickled Nero with his tail through the bars of the
cage. That’s what made Nero angry. Tamba,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_36"></SPAN>[36]</span>
you’re a bad, mischievous tiger!” and he shook
his finger at the striped animal. Tamba walked
over to the corner of his cage and curled up.</p>
<p>“Well, I had some fun, anyhow!” he thought.
“I waked Nero up all right!”</p>
<p>And so he had. And now Nero knew what
had happened, for Tum Tum, the jolly elephant,
had seen it all, and Tum Tum said:</p>
<p>“It wasn’t a fly on the end of your nose, Nero;
it was the fuzzy tip of Tamba’s tail. I saw him
tickle you!”</p>
<p>“Oh, you did, did you?” cried Nero, and this
time he did not roar. “Why did you tickle me,
Tamba?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I didn’t like to see you sleeping so nicely
when I couldn’t sleep, because I’m thinking so
much of the jungle,” answered the tiger. “Besides,
it was only a joke. I wanted to see if I
could make you think my tail was a fly on your
nose. I did.”</p>
<p>“Yes, you surely did,” admitted Nero. “I felt
the tickle, even in my sleep. But if it was only a
joke, Tamba, I won’t be angry. I like a joke as
well as any one,” and Nero laughed in his lionish
way. “But, after this, I’m going to sleep in
the far corner of my cage, where your tail won’t
reach me. A joke is all right, but sleep is better.
Now it will be my turn to play a joke on you,
Tamba.”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_37"></SPAN>[37]</span></p>
<p>“Yes,” said Dido, the dancing bear, “you want
to look out for yourself, Tamba. A joke is a
joke on both sides.”</p>
<p>“Oh, well, I don’t care,” said Tamba, but he
was not as jolly about it as he might have been.</p>
<p>The circus men saw that something was wrong
between Tamba and Nero, so they moved the
cages farther apart, and then Nero and Tamba
could not have reached each other if their tails
had been twice as long. And then Nero went to
sleep, and so did Tamba, waiting for the evening
show to start. And as Tamba slept he dreamed
of the Indian jungle, and wished he could go
back there.</p>
<p>And soon something wonderful was going to
happen to him.</p>
<p>That night in the big tent, which was bright
with electric lights, Tamba did his tricks—catching
a piece of dog biscuit off his nose, leaping
through a paper hoop, and walking around on
his hind legs. Nero also did his tricks, one of
which was sitting up like a begging dog on a
sort of stool like an overturned wash tub.</p>
<p>And Dido, the dancing bear, did his funny
tricks on the wooden platform, which was
strapped on the back of Tum Tum, the jolly elephant.
So the boys and the girls, and the big
folks, too, who went to the circus had lots of fun
watching the animals.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_38"></SPAN>[38]</span></p>
<p>But, all the while, Nero was watching for a
chance to play a trick on Tamba. And at last
he found a way. It was three or four days after
Tamba had tickled Nero with the tail tip, and
the circus had traveled on a railroad to a far-distant
town.</p>
<p>In the animal tent the lions, tigers, elephants,
monkeys and ponies had been given their dinners
and were being watered. Tamba was taking
a long drink from his tin of water, and wishing
it could be turned into a jungle spring, when,
all of a sudden:</p>
<p>Splash!</p>
<p>A lot of water spurted up into his face, and
some, getting into his nose, made him sneeze.
Then he looked and saw that a bone, off which
all the meat had been gnawed, had come in
through the bars of his cage and had fallen into
his water-pan. It was the falling of the dry
bone into the water that had made it splash
up.</p>
<p>“Who did that? Who threw that bone at
me?” growled Tamba. “Who made it splash
water all over me?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I guess I did that,” said Nero with a
loud, rumbling lionish laugh. “I wanted to see
if I could toss it from my cage into yours,
Tamba, and I did. So the water splashed on
you, did it?”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_39"></SPAN>[39]</span></p>
<p>“Yes, it did! You know it did!” growled
Tamba. “It made me sneeze, too!”</p>
<p>“Oh, did it?” asked Nero. “Well, that was
just a little joke of mine, my tiger friend. I
wanted to see if I could tickle your nose the way
you tickled mine with your tail. It was only a
joke, splashing water on your nose. Only a
joke! Ha! Ha! Ha!”</p>
<p>“Yes, it was only a joke!” said Tum Tum and
all the other animals. “Only a joke, Tamba!
Ha! Ha! Ha!”</p>
<p>Of course the striped tiger had to laugh, too,
for really he had not been hurt, and he must
expect to have a joke played on him after he
had played one on Nero.</p>
<p>“Well, I’ll gnaw this bone after I take a
drink,” said Tamba, as he dried his nose on his
paw. “Much obliged to you for tossing it into
my cage, Nero.”</p>
<p>“Oh, you’re very welcome, I’m sure!” laughed
the lion. “Oh, you did jump and sneeze in such
a funny way, Tamba, when the water went up
your nose!” and Nero laughed again, as he
thought of it.</p>
<p>And “Ha! Ha! Ha!” echoed Tum Tum.</p>
<p>And so life went on for the circus animals,
something a little different happening every day.
Now and then Tamba played other tricks, and so
did Nero, and the first crossness of Tamba<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_40"></SPAN>[40]</span>
seemed to wear off. He was still as anxious as
ever to go to the jungle, but he did not see how
he could get out of his cage. He watched carefully,
every day, hoping that some time the man
who came in to make him do his tricks would
forget to fasten the door when he went out.</p>
<p>“If he only left it open once,” thought Tamba,
“I could slip out and run away. Then I’d go
back to the jungle.”</p>
<p>But the trainer never left the door open. Besides,
it closed with a spring as soon as the man
slipped out, and, quick as he was, Tamba could
not have slipped out. However, he kept on the
watch, always hoping that some day his chance
would come.</p>
<p>And it did. I’ll tell you all about it pretty
soon.</p>
<p>Sometimes, as I have told you, the circus went
from town to town by the way of country roads,
the horses pulling the big wagons with the tents
on them and also the wagons in which the wild
beasts were kept. It took eight or ten horses to
pull some of the heavy wagons uphill.</p>
<p>At other times the wagons would all be put
on big railroad cars, and an engine would haul
them over the shiny rails. This was when it was
too far, from one town to the next, for the horses
to pull the wagons, or for the elephants and camels
to walk. For when the circus traveled by<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_41"></SPAN>[41]</span>
country road these big animals—the camels and
elephants—always walked.</p>
<p>And one night after a stormy day the circus
wagons were loaded on the railroad cars for a
long journey to the next city in which the show
was to be given.</p>
<p>“Well, you haven’t gone to your jungle yet, I
see, Tamba,” said Tum Tum to the tiger. The
big elephant was moving about, pushing the
heavy wagons to and fro.</p>
<p>“No, I haven’t gone yet,” sadly said the beautifully
striped beast. “And, oh, how I wish I
could get loose!”</p>
<p>On through the night rumbled the long train
of circus cars. There was no moon, and the
stars did not shine. The night was very dark
after the storm.</p>
<p>Suddenly there were some loud whistles from
the train engine.</p>
<p>Toot! Toot! Toot! it went, and that meant
there was danger. The engineer had seen danger
ahead, but not in time to stop his train. One
of the circus trains had run off the track and
could not go on. It had come to a halt, and
another train that was running not far behind
the first one crashed into it.</p>
<p>There was a terrible noise, a clanging of iron
and a breaking of wood. The cars were
smashed, and so were some of the animal cages.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_42"></SPAN>[42]</span></p>
<p>“What is it? What’s the matter? roared
Nero.</p>
<p>“We’re in a wreck!” trumpeted Tum Tum,
the elephant, who was not quite so jolly, now.
“The circus train is wrecked! I was in a wreck
once before. It’s very bad! I hope none of our
animal friends are hurt!”</p>
<p>But some were, I am sorry to say, and so were
some of the circus men.</p>
<p>Tamba, the tame tiger, felt his cage slide off
the flat car on which it had been fastened. The
car was smashed and tossed to one side. <SPAN href="#i_p043">Off slid
the tiger’s cage</SPAN>, and then it fell down the railroad
bank and into a ditch. Tamba’s cage broke
open, and the tiger was cut and bruised, but he
knew that he was free. He was no longer in the
cage.</p>
<p>“At last I am out!” he cried. “Now I can run
away to my jungle! Now I am free!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_43"></SPAN>[43]</span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_p043.jpg" alt="" title="" /> <div class="caption"><SPAN href="#Page_42">Off slid the tiger cage.</SPAN></div>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_44"></SPAN>[44]</span></p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_45"></SPAN>[45]</span></p>
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