“That’s what it is,” was the answer. “But who are you and why are you there?”
“I am a beaver, and my name is Toto,” was the answer. “I was caught in a trap and now I am in a cage, and I wish I could get out. But what kind of animal are you? I never saw one like you before. And why have you two tails? I have only one.”
“I have not two tails,” answered Tum Tum, the jolly elephant. “The one in front is my trunk, or nose. But I am sorry for you if you don’t like it in your cage. I live in a circus, and some of our animals like to be in cages, while others do not.
“We had a tiger named Tamba in the circus, but he isn’t with us any more. He got away, and I heard he went back to the jungle where he first lived. But Nero, our circus lion, is still in his cage, or he was when I came from the circus grounds a little while ago. Nero seems to like it in his cage.”
“Well, I don’t like it here,” said Toto. “I don’t believe I’d like it in a circus, either, though I never tried that. I wish I could get away.”
“Do you really want to get loose?” asked Tum Tum, the jolly elephant, coming close to the houseboat, on the open deck of which stood Toto’s cage.
“Of course I want to get loose. I want to go back to the beaver dam!”
“Then keep very still and I will set you free,” said Tum Tum, in what would be an animal whisper. “I can reach over, with my trunk, and tear the wire loose from the front of your cage. Then you can get out.”
“Oh, thank you! Please do that!” begged Toto.
So, when none of the other elephants were looking, and when the circus men were busy farther down the river, Tum Tum reached his trunk over the low rail about the deck of the houseboat.