(It is needless to say that Mark and Dewey had fled long ago, ready to burst with hilarity.)
The circus men had expected some danger from the cries they heard. When they discovered what was really the matter they broke into roars of laughter, for they were only human. That made Bull all the madder.
“You shall pay for this!” he shouted, furiously. “Why don’t you keep that beast where he can’t hurt anything?”
“What made you tease him?” retorted one of the others, shrewdly suspecting that the meek old elephant’s act was not uncaused.
“I wasn’t teasing him!” roared Bull. “You lie if you——”
Bull was red with rage, but he turned a little pale as one of the men sprang toward him.
“Shut up!” said he, “or I’ll dump you in the rest of that water and roll you in the mud besides.”
It was at least half an hour before Mark and Dewey managed to recover. The whole affair was so utterly ludicrous! Such a tale it would make to tell the rest of the Seven!
“Gee whiz!” cried Mark, suddenly. “I forgot all about that. Let’s hustle over and tell ’em now.”
“B’gee, that’s so,” cried Dewey. “I never thought of it, either. Reminds me of a story I once heard, b’gee——”