Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant | Page 3

called that name because her mother thought it sounded nice--just as Tum Tum's mamma thought his name was the nicest one in the jungle.
"I'm coming!" trumpeted Tum Tum, and then he came to another tree that stood in his path.
"I guess I'll have to knock this out of the way," he thought to himself, and he lowered his strong head and started toward it.
"Crack!" went his head against the tree, but the tree did not break. It was very strong.
"Humph!" thought Tum Tum. "I guess I'll have to pull you up by the roots if I can't break you off."
So he wound his trunk around the tree. Then he pulled and he pulled and he pulled some more until, all of a sudden, the tree came up by the roots.
It came up so quickly that Tum Tum tumbled over backwards, head over heels.
"Smash!" down in the bushes went Tum Tum, holding up the tree in his trunk.
"Ha! Ha!" came an elephant laugh from the jungle in front of Tum Tum.
"Oh, just look at him!" a voice called.
"What happened, Tum Tum?" asked a third elephant.
"Are you playing one of your tricks?" some one else wanted to know.
Tum Tum looked up from where he lay on his back in the bushes. He saw Whoo-ee, Gumble-umble, Thorny and Zunga looking at him, their mouths wide open, laughing.
And then, instead of getting angry, and being cross, Tum Tum just laughed himself, such a jolly laugh!
"Ha! Ha!" he giggled. "I--I fell over backward pulling up this tree. Did you see me?"
"Did we see you? Well, I guess we did!" cried Whoo-ee.
"Well, maybe you did, but I didn't," complained Gumble-umble. "Zunga got right in my way, when I wanted to look."
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Zunga. "I didn't mean to."
"Oh, don't mind Gumble-umble," said Tum Tum, with another jolly laugh. "He's always finding fault. I'll pull up another tree, and fall again, Gumble-umble, so you can see me do it, if you like."
"No, don't. You might hurt yourself," said Thorny, the other girl elephant.
"Pooh!" cried Tum Tum. "I'm not afraid!"
"Well, never mind about pulling up more trees now," said Whoo-ee. "We called you to come out, and have some fun with us. We are going swimming."
"Where?" asked Tum Tum, as he got up off his back, and blew some dust over himself to keep away the flies.
"Oh, we're going down in the river," said Zunga. "It's so hot to-day, that a nice bath will cool us off. Come on."
"I'd better ask my mother," said Tum Tum. "I didn't know you were going swimming, when you called for me to come and play with you. I'll go ask her."
"All right, we'll wait for you. Only don't be all day," said Gumble-umble. "We want to go in the water before night."
"Oh, you mustn't mind him," laughed Whoo-ee. "I don't know what's the matter with him to-day; he's always finding fault. Did you get a thorn in your foot, Gumble, that makes you so cross?"
"No, I didn't," answered the other boy elephant. "But I don't want to stand here all the afternoon in a hot jungle, waiting for Tum Tum."
"I won't be long," promised the jolly elephant. He hurried back through the woods to where his father and mother were still eating.
"Mother, may I go in swimming?" he asked, as he came to where Mrs. Tusky stood.
"Yes, but don't go so far, that you can't hear any calls that may come from Mr. Boom. There's no telling when the hunters may find us."
"I'll listen, and be careful," said Tum Tum.
Back he crashed through the jungle, and soon he and his elephant friends were on their way to the river, that was not far from where the herd of elephants was feeding.
"There's the river!" suddenly called Whoo-ee, as he caught sight of the sparkling water through the trees.
"Let's see who'll be the first one in!" called Whoo-ee, as he began to run.
"Oh, don't leave us behind," begged Thorny and Zunga.
"Oh, that's the way with girls--always making a fuss!" complained Gumble-umble. "Why can't you run like we boys do?"
"Because you're bigger and stronger than we are," said Zunga.
"Well, we're not going to wait for you," said Gumble-umble.
"Never mind, I don't care whether I'm first in the water or not," said Tum Tum. "I'll stay with you, Thorny, and Zunga."
"Isn't Tum Tum nice?" whispered Zunga to Thorny, as they went along through the jungle.
"Yes," said Thorny.
Whoo-ee and Gumble-umble hurried on through the woods, and Whoo-ee was the first to splash into the water.
"I beat!" he cried.
"Well, I'd have been first only I stumbled over a tree root," said Gumble-umble.
He was always finding fault, it seemed.
Into the water splashed the five elephant children. They went out where it was about deep enough to come up to their ears, and then they sucked water up