“Because you’re not in a trap at all,” Tum Tum said, laughing again.
“But I’m stuck fast! Look!” and Chunky tried to pull himself loose, but he could not.
“Oh yes, you are stuck all right,” laughed Tum Tum. “But don’t let that worry you. You are not in a trap. This is just one of those jungle pools with sticky mud at the bottom. I often got stuck in them myself, years ago.”
“But how am I going to get out?” asked Chunky. “I’ve tried and tried and tried, but I can’t!”
“I’ll help you,” said Tum Tum. “Just wait until I get hold of you with my trunk. Then I’ll pull you right out of that mud. Just you wait, Chunky!”
So Chunky waited, and Tum Tum, the jolly elephant, going as close to the edge of the pool as he dared without danger of getting stuck in the mud himself, stretched out his trunk, and wound it around Chunky as if the little boy hippo were a bundle.
“Now, all ready!” cried Tum Tum.
Then he gave a haul and a pull and another one. There was a squidgy-idgy sound, a sort of squeaking in the mud, just as when you step on a rubber ball, and [out came Chunky as nicely as you please].
“There you are!” cried Tum Tum, as he set the little boy hippo down on a firm place in the ground where Chunky could step without sinking in. “Now you’re all right!”