"Run!" puffed the valiant dummy. "Run, Dorothy! This is my part of the show for it can't bite me!"
Raising his stick, Humpy brought it down sharply on the thick gray body. There was an enraged snort and snuffle in the bushes. Then, before Dorothy could run or Humpy could use his stick again, a perfectly enormous elephant came charging out between the trees. His sides were heaving with rage and his tusks were trembling with temper.
"Who hit me?" screamed the elephant, lashing about furiously with his trunk. "I'll mash him, I'll crash him! Ah hah!" His little eyes snapped wickedly as they fell upon Humpy's stick. The next instant the great beast had seized the dummy in his trunk and flung him fifty feet into the air. Then, pausing to straighten his pearl head-piece, he glared indignantly at Dorothy. There is only one elephant in Oz who is elegant enough to own a headband of pearls and, with a little shriek of surprise and recognition, Dorothy ran forward just in time to save Humpy from another toss in the air.
"Why Kabumpo!" cried the little girl in delight. "Wait! Wait a minute!" The Elegant Elephant, after a quick look at the little girl, snatched a huge silk hanky from a pocket in his robe and blew his trunk violently.
"Well, I'll be blowed if it isn't Dorothy," wheezed Kabumpo, half-choked between embarrassment and surprise. "What brings you here?"
Just as he spoke he caught another glimpse of Humpy, who had risen and was advancing unsteadily. "Excuse me until I mash that idiot," he roared.
"Oh please don't mash him," begged Dorothy in alarm. "You see he's only a dummy and he didn't mean to hit you. Besides he's a friend of mine."