"The ground is rain-soaked now, and soft."
"Very well," spoke his mother. "You may try it. But don't go too far
away. The herd may move on through the jungle, and then you would be
lost."
"I'll be careful," promised Umboo.
Off started the elephant boy, splashing through the mud and water. He
did not need to wear rubber boots, or take an umbrella. In fact he
would not have known what to do with either, though once, in a circus,
I saw an elephant with an umbrella. But then I saw one with a hand
organ, too, and you'd never see that in the jungle.
But Umboo's big feet were made for walking in mud and water, and his
thick skin, though bugs could bite through it at times, did not let
any rain leak through to wet him. There was plenty on the outside,
however, just as there is outside your rubber coat.
"I'll just go off by myself and knock a great big tree over with my
head," thought Umboo. "Then the other elephants will see what I can
do. I wonder if it will be easy, on account of the ground being soft
from the rain?"
On and on through the jungle wandered Umboo.
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