Umboo followed after her, brushing his way through the bushes, pushing
aside even those that had thorns on them, for he never felt the sharp
pricks through his thick skin, though, as I have told you, some kinds
of bugs can bite their way through even this.

Suddenly, as Umboo walked along behind his mother, he began to sniff
the air through his trunk.

"What is that good smell?" he asked, in elephant talk, of course. "It
smells just like those nice, sweet roots you gave me to eat the other
day."

"And that is just what you do smell, Umboo," said his mother. "Near
here, in the jungle, grow trees with those sweet roots. If you want to
eat some now see if you can find any. In that way you will learn when
I am not with you. Hunt around now, and see if you can't smell where
the sweet roots grow."

Umboo was hungry and he wanted, very much, to get the roots. So he
began sniffing with his trunk close to the ground. When he moved one
way the smell was not so strong.

"That means you are moving away from the roots," his mother told him.
"Come over this way."

So Umboo moved the other way, and the smell of the sweet roots grew
stronger, just as when you come nearer to a bakery or candy shop.

"Ah! Here they are! Right down under the ground, here!" suddenly cried