But at last his nose was almost well, and his mother said it would be good for him to go in the water. Then Chunky was happy. He splashed in the river, dived away down to the bottom, rolled over and over in the mud and swam about as much as he pleased.
“Glad to see you!” cried Big Foot, for he and Chunky had become good friends since their little quarrel. “Is your nose all well?”
“Almost,” Chunky answered. “But I don’t want to see any more crocodiles!”
“I should say not!” agreed Big Foot. “But when I get larger I’m going to fight them, same as your father did.”
Then Chunky played with the other hippos in the water, diving and having games of what you would call tag, until finally Big Foot said:
“Oh, come on! Let’s wade ashore and go into the jungle!”
“All right!” agreed Chunky. “Maybe we can have some fun there.”
So into the jungle they went, trampling their way through the thick tangle of vines, chasing one another and grunting like pigs; and indeed they looked something like pigs as they pushed their noses in wet and muddy places to get at the sweet roots underneath.
All at once Big Foot, who was walking ahead, cried:
“Look out, Chunky! I hear something coming! Maybe it’s a crocodile!”