“No, I guess it is just the beginning of it,” was the answer. “Tum Tum said the circus was a jolly place. This isn’t!”
And it was not, for it was just a sort of barn, or storehouse, where the animals were kept until they were sold to circuses or park menageries.
For more than a month Chunky stayed in this animal barn. Every day he could go into a tank, specially made for him and the other hippos, and have a nice swim, though not for very far.
And every day Chunky had grass or hay or bran-mash to eat, with carrots, apples and other fruit. In fact he had much nicer things to eat than he had had in the jungle, and he liked them very much.
One day the man who looked after Chunky, feeding him and seeing that the hippo had plenty of water to drink and swim in, came to the cage, looked in, and said:
“I think you are tame enough now, to be taught a trick or two.”
“You can’t teach a hippo tricks!” said another man. “They are too clumsy to stand on their heads.”
“Well, I wouldn’t teach this one that kind of trick,” returned the first man. “But I think I can get him to open his mouth wide when I tell him to, and I’ll teach him to raise one leg and stand on only three. They are not very hard tricks, but they will be something for the circus, if ever we sell Chunky to one.”