"That's right--we were," said Snarlie. "I'm sorry I talked so much.
But I was telling Chako about the books we are in, Woo-Uff."

"Yes, books are all well enough," said the lion, "but give me a good
piece of meat. Now go on, Umboo. What was it Chako asked?"

"I wanted to know if Umboo's mother let him fall when she lifted him
high up in her trunk when they came to the jungle river," said the
monkey in the circus cage.

"No," answered Umboo, "she did not drop me. My mother was very strong,
and her trunk had a good hold of me. She didn't drop me at all."

"Then what did she lift you up for?" asked Chako. "Once, in the jungle
where I came from, I saw a big elephant lift up a tiger in his trunk,
and the elephant threw the tiger down on the ground as hard as he
could, and hurt him."

"That was because the tiger was going to bite the elephant if he
could," answered Umboo. "Elephants only have their tusks, and trunk
and big feet to fight with. They can't bite as you monkeys can, nor as
lions and tigers can. But my mother lifted me up in her trunk to put
me on her back."

"What did she want to do that for?" asked Humpo, the camel. "Was a
hunter coming with a gun?"

"No, but she was going to swim across the river with the rest of the
herd," answered Umboo, "and she knew I was too little to know how to