Chunky thought about this for a while, as the black men carried him through the jungle, while the monkeys leaped along in the tree tops overhead.
“No,” said the hippo boy after a while. “I guess you don’t need to bother Tum Tum, though it’s kind of you to offer. I sent a little bird to find him, but I guess my elephant friend is too far away.
“Besides, I think I won’t try to break loose. I feel very good here, though I wish my cage was a bit larger. But I’ve had water to drink, and sweet grass to eat, and I am having a nice ride. I think I’ll stay longer and see what else happens to me. I want to have some adventures and be put in a book.”
“All right, then we won’t get Tum Tum,” said the monkey who had offered to try to find the elephant. “And, Chunky, if you do get in a circus, and see our old friend Mappo, give him our love, will you?”
“I’ll certainly do that!” promised the hippo boy.
Then, all at once, the hissing of a snake was heard, and as monkeys are very much afraid of snakes, they gave loud chatters and scurried away through the jungle, leaving Chunky in his cage being carried along by the black hunters.
For many mornings and afternoons the white men and their black helpers, who were out to get live animals for circuses and parks in big cities, traveled on through the jungle. They caught two more hippos, though neither was as large as Chunky, and they caught other animals and birds, all of which were carefully put in cages to be carried to the ship to go across the sea.
Chunky felt happier now that he had some friends with him, and he was especially glad there were two more hippos.
“Now I shall not be lonesome,” he said to his new friends, in animal talk. “How did you come here?”
“I was caught in a big net as I went through the jungle,” said Short Tooth, one of the hippos that had one tusk which was shorter than the other.