If they
were the lions would roar, the tigers would snarl and the elephants
would try to break loose and run away, and this would so scare the
boys and girls who went to the circus that they would never come
again.
So circus men first send the animals to a sort of training camp. There
is one in Bridgeport, Conn., and another in New Jersey, on the
Hackensack meadows. There the wild beasts are taken in charge, by men
who know how to train them.
And it was to a place like this that Umboo was taken. It was not at
all like a circus, except for the number of wild animals about. There
was no big white tent; nothing but a sort of large barn, and there
were no gay flags fluttering, and no bands playing music. All that
would come later.
Umboo was chained in the middle of the barn, with the other elephants,
and some hay was given him to eat. At first the elephant, who, not
long before, had been wild in the jungle, and later piling teakwood
logs, was uneasy and a bit frightened. So were his companions.
"But don't be afraid, Umboo," said the kind man who had come all the
way from India with the elephant.
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