The little circus girl told the pair more about the ways and habits of elephants.
“Don’t get too near Old Sal,” she warned Veve. “She might take that blue hair ribbon when you’re not looking.”
“Why would she want my ribbon?” Veve asked, backing away.
“Old Sal collects everything bright colored,” explained Eva. “You’ll notice she has bits of paper and ribbons hidden in the hay. Old shoes too and cigar butts.”
At another stake the circus girl pointed out Bubbles, an elephant that had been captured in Ceylon.
“My, it must be hard to tame an elephant,” Connie said. “They’re such big animals.”
“You’d think so if one ever stepped on you,” laughed Eva. “Bubbles weighed nearly five tons when she first came to the circus!”
“How was she captured?” Veve asked curiously.
“Oh, elephants always travel in herds, you know,” the circus girl explained carelessly. “To catch one elephant you have to catch a herd of them.”
“You didn’t ever do it?” Veve questioned, for Eva talked exactly as if she had taken part in the big elephant drive.