Part 2 (1/2)

”I will,” said Umboo, and this is the story he told. Umboo was only one of a number of baby elephants that lived with their fathers and mothers in the deep, green jungles of India. Not like the other jungle beasts were the elephants, for the big animals had no regular home.

They did not live in caves as did the lions and tigers, for no cave was large enough for a herd of elephants.

And, except in the case of solitary, or lonely elephants, which are often savage beasts, or ”rogues,” all elephants live in herds--a number of them always keeping together, just like a herd of cows.

Another reason why elephants do not live in one place, like a lion's cave, or in a nest or lair under the thick gra.s.s where a tiger brings up her striped babies, is that elephants eat so much that they have to keep moving from place to place to get more food.

They will eat all there is in one part of the jungle, and then travel many miles to a new place, not coming back to the first one until there are more green leaves, fresh gra.s.s, or new bark on the trees which they have partly stripped.

So Umboo, the two-hundred-pound baby elephant, lived with his mother in the jungle, drinking nothing but milk for the first six months, as he had no teeth to chew even the most tender gra.s.s.

”Well, are you strong enough to walk along now?” Umboo's mother asked him one day in the jungle, and this was when he was about half a week old.

”Oh, yes, I can walk now,” said the baby elephant, as he swayed to and fro between his mother's front legs, while she stood over him to keep the other big elephants, and some of the half-grown elephant boys and girls, from b.u.mping into him, and knocking him over. ”I can walk all right. But why do you ask me that?” Umboo wanted to know.

”Because the herd is going to march away,” said Mrs. Stumptail, which was the name of Umboo's mother. ”They are going to march to another part of the jungle, and your father and I will march with them, as we do not want to be left behind. There is not much more left here to eat. We have taken all the palm nuts and leaves from the trees. We have only been waiting until you grew strong enough to march.”

”Oh, I can march all right,” said Umboo, telling his story to the circus animals in the tent. ”Look how fast I can go!”

Out he started from under his mother's body, striding across a gra.s.sy place in the jungle. But Umboo was not as good at walking as he had thought. Even though he weighed two hundred pounds his legs were not very strong, and soon he began to totter.

”Look out!” cried his mother. ”You are going to fall!” and she reached out her trunk and wound it around Umboo, holding him up.

”h.e.l.lo!” trumpeted Mr. Stumptail, coming up just then with a big green branch in his trunk. ”What's the matter here?”

”Umboo was just showing me how well he could walk,” said his mother, speaking elephant talk, of course. ”I told him the herd would soon be on the march, and that he must come along.”

”But we won't go until he is strong enough,” said Umboo's father.

”Here,” he said to Mrs. Stumptail, ”eat this branch of palm nuts. They are good and sweet. Eat them while I go and see Old Tusker. I'll tell him not to start to lead the herd to another part of the jungle until Umboo is stronger.”

Then, giving the mother elephant a branch of palm nuts, which food the big jungle animals like best of all, Mr. Stumptail went to see Tusker, the oldest and largest elephant of the jungle--he who always led the herd on the march.

”My new little boy elephant is not quite strong enough to march, yet,”

said Mr. Stumptail to Tusker. ”Can we wait here another day or two?”

”Oh, yes, of course, Mr. Stumptail,” said the kind, old head elephant.

”You know the herd will never go faster than the mothers and baby elephants can travel.”

And this is true, as any old elephant hunter will tell you.

”Thank you,” said Mr. Stumptail, to Tusker; for elephants are polite to each other, even though, in the jungle, they sometimes may be a bit rough toward lions and tigers, of whom they are afraid.

Back to the mother elephant and Baby Umboo went Mr. Stumptail, to tell them there was no hurry about the herd marching away. And two or three days later Umboo had grown stronger and was not so wobbly on his legs.

He could run about a little, and once he even tried to b.u.mp his head against another elephant boy, quite older than he was.

”Here! You mustn't do that!” cried his mother. ”What trick are you up to now?”

”Well, this elephant laughed at your tail,” said Umboo. ”He said it was a little short one, and not long like his mother's!”