“No,” she said. “I’m going with some of the other hippo girls to roll in the mud.”
So Chunky went into the jungle by himself. On and on among the trees he wandered, making his way through the tangled vines, breaking them off without any trouble, because he was very strong.
All at once Chunky heard a funny noise, like a big horn blowing, and, looking up, he saw, standing in front of him, a big animal, much taller than himself. And this animal had two big long white teeth sticking out in front, and he seemed to have two tails, one longer than the other.
“Oh dear!” thought Chunky. “This is a terrible beast! I wonder if he will bite me as the crocodile tried to;” and in order to get away, Chunky turned to run back through the jungle.
CHAPTER III
CHUNKY IS BITTEN
“Hold on there! Wait a minute! Don’t be afraid! Wait for me, little hippo chap!” cried the big animal to Chunky.
“Oh, no! You’ll bite me!” answered Chunky, as he crashed his way through the jungle.
“Bite you? I wouldn’t bite you for the world. I never bite anything except the grass and leaves I chew for my dinner. I might tickle you with my trunk, if I wanted to have some fun, but I’d never bite,” and the big animal talked in such a kind way that Chunky no longer felt frightened. He stopped and looked back.