“Oh, so you are back with us again!” cried Gimpy, when he saw Chunky.
“Yes,” was the answer. “I started to swim to shore, but it was too far. I got tired, and then I saw this ship and swam toward it. I am glad to be back.”
“And we are glad to have you back,” said Short Tooth. “We were lonesome without you. Now tell us about your adventure.”
“I didn’t have any adventure,” said Chunky, in surprise.
“Yes you did!” declared a monkey in the cage next to Chunky’s. “Falling overboard was an adventure. I’ve heard Tum Tum tell about his adventures, and some that Mappo, the merry monkey, had, and some of them were no more exciting than yours. Tell us about it.”
“Well, I didn’t suppose that was an adventure,” said Chunky. “But I’ll tell you about it,” and he did, just as it is set down in this book, which tells many more of Chunky’s adventures.
“Well,” said the lion, who had listened to Chunky’s tale, “if I ever get off this ship I’ll never come back.”
“Maybe you’ll be glad to,” said the happy hippo. “I was.”
So the ship steamed on and on with its load of wild animals. There were one or two other storms, but they did no damage, and no more cages slid overboard. Another and larger tank was built for the hippos on deck, and in this they took long baths each day. The animal men, for there were several of them, would come around to feed and talk to the different beasts. One special man always came to the hippos, and they learned to know him and watch for him, for he brought them long, yellow sweet vegetables every day. They were carrots, of which the hippos grew very fond, though they never had had any in the jungle.