Tum Tum is such a good-natured elephant, even through all his adventures. He is always so helpful, whether in his jungle home or in the circus, Tum Tum could be counted on to help everyone. That helpfulness got Tum Tum caught in the trap, but he made the best of the situation.
By : Richard Barnum
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Tum Tum was a jolly elephant. I shall tell you that much at the start of this story, so you will not have to be guessing as to who Tum Tum was. Tum Tum was the jolliest elephant in the circus, but before that he was the jolliest elephant in the woods or jungle.
In fact, Tum Tum was nearly always happy and jolly, and, though he had many troubles, in all the adventures that happened to him, still, he always tried to be good-natured over them.
So I am going to tell you all about Tum Tum, and the wonderful things that happened to him.
Once upon a time Tum Tum was a baby elephant, and lived away off in a far country called India, with many other elephants, little and big, in the jungle.
The jungle is just another name for woods, or forest, only the jungle is a very thick woods. The trees grow big and strong, and between them grow strong vines so that it is hard for any living creature except an elephant, or maybe a snake to push his way along. A snake can crawl on the ground under the vines, you know.
Well, Tum Tum lived in this jungle, and with him lived his father and mother. His father was a great big elephant, named Tusky, and he was called this because he had two big, long, white teeth, called tusks, sticking out on either side of his long trunk, which was like a fat rubber hose.
Tum Tum's mother was named Mrs. Tusky, but she did not have any long teeth like her husband. Perhaps she had had some once, and had lost them, breaking down a big tree, or something like that.
Tum Tum had no brothers or sisters, but there were other little boy and girl elephants in the herd, or family of elephants, where he lived, and, altogether, he had a good time in the jungle, Tum Tum did.
One day Tum Tum, who had been eating his dinner of leaves, with his father and mother, heard a loud trumpeting in the woods back of where he was standing. Trumpeting is the noise an elephant makes when he blows through his long trunk, or nose. It is his way of speaking to another elephant.
"Who's that calling?" asked Mrs. Tusky, of her husband.
"Oh, it sounds like some of the little boy elephants," said the old papa elephant, as he pulled up a tree by the roots, so he could the more easily take a bite from the tender top leaves.
"I hope it doesn't mean any danger for us," said Mrs. Tusky, looking at Tum Tum, who was busy finishing his dinner.
Elephants, you know, no matter if they are big, are just as much afraid of danger as are other wild animals. Of course they are not so much afraid of the other beasts in the jungles, for the elephant can fight almost anything, even a lion or a tiger.
But an elephant is afraid of the black men, or natives, who live in the jungle, and an elephant is also afraid of the white hunters, who come into the big forest from time to time.
"I hope no hunters are about, to make one of our elephant friends trumpet that way," said Mrs. Tusky, speaking in a way elephants have.
"Oh, no, don't be afraid," said her husband, eating away at his tree leaves. "There is no danger." But, as he said this, he put up his long trunk-nose, and carefully sniffed the air. That is the way animals have of telling if danger is near. They do it by smelling as well as by listening and seeing. Only one cannot see very far in the jungle, as the trees are so thick.
Mr. Tusky also lifted up his big ears, about as large as ten palm-leaf fans, and listened for any sounds of danger. All he heard was the crashing of tree branches and bushes, as some of the other elephants, farther off in the jungle, pushed their way about eating their dinners.
Then, suddenly, some elephant called, trumpeting through his trunk:
"Tum Tum! Hello, Tum Tum! Can't you come out and play?"
"Oh, it's some of your little elephant friends," said Mr. Tum Tum, to the little boy elephant. I say "little," though Tum Tum was really a pretty good size. He was much larger than a horse.
"Oh, may I go and play with them?" asked Tum Tum, just as any of you might have done.
Of course Tum Tum did not speak in words, as you or I would have done. Instead he spoke in elephant language, though he could also speak and understand other animal talk. And he could also understand man-talk, just as, in my other books, I have told you how dogs, cats, pigs and monkeys can understand what we say to them, though they cannot talk to us.
"May I go out and play?" asked Tum Tum.
"Oh, I guess so," answered his father. "But do not go too far away. And you must listen for the sound of the danger trumpet from Mr. Boom. When he signals that there is danger, you must run back, for that will mean we shall have to go off farther in the jungle, and hide."
"I'll be careful," promised Tum Tum.
Elephants in the jungle live in big families, or herds. At the head is the largest elephant of them all, the leader. He is always on the lookout for danger, and when he sees, hears or smells any, he gives a signal, or trumpet, through his trunk, and then all the elephants run away and hide.
Tum Tum, the jolly elephant, stopped eating his dinner, for he had had enough, anyhow, and off through the jungle he crashed. He did not wait to go by the path, for he was so big and strong. Even though he was a little chap, as yet, he could crash through big thick bushes, and even knock over pretty large trees, if they were in his way.
"I'm coming!" called Tum Tum to his play-fellows, the other elephants. "I'm coming!"
Tum Tum came to a tree that stood in his way. He could just as well have gone around it, but that was not what he was used to. He lowered his head, and banged into it.
"Crash!" over went the tree, broken off short.
"I'll soon be with you!" Tum Tum called again, for he still could not see his little friends. "Who's there?" he asked.
Back through the jungle came the answer:
"We're all here—Whoo-ee, Gumble-umble, Thorny and Zunga!"
These were the names of the elephants with whom Tum Tum played. Whoo-ee was a boy elephant, and he had that name, because he used to make a funny sound, almost like his name, when he whistled through his trunk. Gumble-umble was another boy elephant, and he was called that because he grumbled, or found fault, so often.
Thorny was a girl elephant, and she got her name, because she was so fond of eating the tender, juicy leaves from the thorn tree. Zunga was another girl elephant, and she was just called that name because her mother thought it sounded nice—just as Tum Tum's mamma thought his name was the nicest one in the jungle.
"I'm coming!" trumpeted Tum Tum, and then he came to another tree that stood in his path.
"I guess I'll have to knock this out of the way," he thought to himself, and he lowered his strong head and started toward it.
"Crack!" went his head against the tree, but the tree did not break. It was very strong.
"Humph!" thought Tum Tum. "I guess I'll have to pull you up by the roots if I can't break you off."
So he wound his trunk around the tree. Then he pulled and he pulled and he pulled some more until, all of a sudden, the tree came up by the roots.
It came up so quickly that Tum Tum tumbled over backwards, head over heels.
"Smash!" down in the bushes went Tum Tum, holding up the tree in his trunk.
"Ha! Ha!" came an elephant laugh from the jungle in front of Tum Tum.
"Oh, just look at him!" a voice called.
"What happened, Tum Tum?" asked a third elephant.
"Are you playing one of your tricks?" some one else wanted to know.
Tum Tum looked up from where he lay on his back in the bushes. He saw Whoo-ee, Gumble-umble, Thorny and Zunga looking at him, their mouths wide open, laughing.
And then, instead of getting angry, and being cross, Tum Tum just laughed himself, such a jolly laugh!
"Ha! Ha!" he giggled. "I—I fell over backward pulling up this tree. Did you see me?"
"Did we see you? Well, I guess we did!" cried Whoo-ee.
"Well, maybe you did, but I didn't," complained Gumble-umble. "Zunga got right in my way, when I wanted to look."
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Zunga. "I didn't mean to."
"Oh, don't mind Gumble-umble," said Tum Tum, with another jolly laugh. "He's always finding fault. I'll pull up another tree, and fall again, Gumble-umble, so you can see me do it, if you like."
"No, don't. You might hurt yourself," said Thorny, the other girl elephant.
"Pooh!" cried Tum Tum. "I'm not afraid!"
"Well, never mind about pulling up more trees now," said Whoo-ee. "We called you to come out, and have some fun with us. We are going swimming."
"Where?" asked Tum Tum, as he got up off his back, and blew some dust over himself to keep away the flies.
"Oh, we're going down in the river," said Zunga. "It's so hot to-day, that a nice bath will cool us off. Come on."
"I'd better ask my mother," said Tum Tum. "I didn't know you were going swimming, when you called for me to come and play with you. I'll go ask her."
"All right, we'll wait for you. Only don't be all day," said Gumble-umble. "We want to go in the water before night."
"Oh, you mustn't mind him," laughed Whoo-ee. "I don't know what's the matter with him to-day; he's always finding fault. Did you get a thorn in your foot, Gumble, that makes you so cross?"
"No, I didn't," answered the other boy elephant. "But I don't want to stand here all the afternoon in a hot jungle, waiting for Tum Tum."
"I won't be long," promised the jolly elephant. He hurried back through the woods to where his father and mother were still eating.
"Mother, may I go in swimming?" he asked, as he came to where Mrs. Tusky stood.
"Yes, but don't go so far, that you can't hear any calls that may come from Mr. Boom. There's no telling when the hunters may find us."
"I'll listen, and be careful," said Tum Tum.
Back he crashed through the jungle, and soon he and his elephant friends were on their way to the river, that was not far from where the herd of elephants was feeding.
"There's the river!" suddenly called Whoo-ee, as he caught sight of the sparkling water through the trees.
"Let's see who'll be the first one in!" called Whoo-ee, as he began to run.
"Oh, don't leave us behind," begged Thorny and Zunga.
"Oh, that's the way with girls—always making a fuss!" complained Gumble-umble. "Why can't you run like we boys do?"
"Because you're bigger and stronger than we are," said Zunga.
"Well, we're not going to wait for you," said Gumble-umble.
"Never mind, I don't care whether I'm first in the water or not," said Tum Tum. "I'll stay with you, Thorny, and Zunga."
"Isn't Tum Tum nice?" whispered Zunga to Thorny, as they went along through the jungle.
"Yes," said Thorny.
Whoo-ee and Gumble-umble hurried on through the woods, and Whoo-ee was the first to splash into the water.
"I beat!" he cried.
"Well, I'd have been first only I stumbled over a tree root," said Gumble-umble.
He was always finding fault, it seemed.
Into the water splashed the five elephant children. They went out where it was about deep enough to come up to their ears, and then they sucked water up in their trunks and sprayed it over their backs, to drive away the flies and gnats that bit them. Then they swam out into deep water, and rolled and tumbled about, having great fun. They splashed each other, squirted water all over, and soon were as cool as cucumbers on ice.
All at once, through the jungle, there sounded a loud trumpeting.
"Hark!" cried Whoo-ee, as he stopped squirting water on Thorny. "What's that?"
"It's Mr. Boom signaling that there's danger!" cried Tum Tum.
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