Away they started, and that sailor knew just where to look for the Trippertrot children, for he remembered which way the auto had gone with the poor boy and girl, and, in a little while, there they were—the sailor and the jolly elephant—oh, I mean the jolly sailor and the elephant were at the house of the poor family.
They could hear laughter and shouting inside, and they knew the poor people had been made happy by the Trippertrots. So the elephant tapped on the door with his trunk, and my goodness sakes alive! How surprised Tommy and Johnny and Mary were to see the big animal standing there, with the jolly sailor on his back.
“Look! Look!” cried Mary.
“Oh, I wonder if it’s a real elephant?” asked Johnny.
“We must be dreaming!” exclaimed Tommy. “Here, Johnny, you pinch me, and that will tell if I’m awake or not.”
So Johnny pinched Tommy and he pinched his brother’s leg harder than he meant to, for Tommy cried “Ouch!” Then he knew he was awake, for he could feel the pinch as quickly as anything.
“I guess it must be a real elephant,” said Mary.
“Well, if you have some real peanuts here I can eat them,” said the elephant, speaking through his long nose. “And then you can be sure about it.” And, as it happened, Johnny did have some peanuts in his pocket, and he gave them to the elephant, who ate them, and that proved that he was real, and not a dream.
“Come!” cried the jolly sailor, “I have come to take you home, children. It is getting late, and your papa and mamma will be worried about you, and so will Suzette, the nursemaid.”
“Oh, but can’t we look at the elephant a little while, before you take him away?” asked the poor children.