"Oh, yes, I went in the ring, and heard the music play. Then all us
elephants stood on our hind legs, and I played the hand organ, rang a
bell, put pennies in my bank and did many tricks. And one I did I
liked best of all."
"What was that?" asked Horni, the rhinoceros.
"It was firing a little brass cannon," answered Umboo. "Some other
elephants and myself played soldiers at war, and toward the end I had
to pull a string with my trunk. In some way, I don't just know how,
the string fired the cannon. None of the other elephants would do it.
They were afraid, but I wasn't. I saw that the cannon wouldn't hurt me
if I didn't get in front where its black mouth was, so I pulled the
string. And when I did the cannon went 'Bang!' And the band played,
and the big drum went 'Boom!' and the big horn went 'Umph-umph!' and
the boys and girls yelled like anything. It was lots of fun!
"I liked that circus very much. I hope, someday, they'll let me shoot
a cannon here."
"Maybe they will," said Woo-Uff, the lion. "I should like to hear it.
But is that all your story, Umboo?"
"That is all, yes.
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