Two in a Zoo Read online

  Produced by David Edwards, Haragos P?l and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)

  TWO IN A ZOO

  He saw the Princess coming, dragging after her a largeman.]

  TWO IN A ZOO

  _By_ CURTIS DUNHAM _and_ OLIVER HERFORD

  WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY OLIVER HERFORD

  INDIANAPOLIS THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PUBLISHERS

  COPYRIGHT 1904 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY

  SEPTEMBER

  PRESS OF BRAUNWORTH & CO. BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS BROOKLYN, N. Y.

  TWO IN A ZOO

  FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

  PAGE

  He saw the Princess coming, dragging after her a large man--_Frontispiece_

  "Toots, tell me as you did yesterday, what the elephants are saying" 7

  The soft brown eyes of Dozel were fixed on the face of the little Limping Boy 29

  The coffee-colored little image of its mother lay sprawling across her broad nose 63

  Suddenly the Princess exclaimed: "Oh, here comes Reginald!" 95

  The rabbit stuck one of its ears straight up 139

  TWO IN A ZOO

  I

  _The Roar of the Jungle_

  Oh, the sweet, fresh breath of the morning breeze, And the trumpet call of my mate! Oh, the fierce, wild wind that bends the trees Where the great hills sit in state! Oh, the tender twigs in the Jungle deeps! Oh, the soft, moist earth where the long grass sweeps!

  _Song of the Captive Elephant._

  Mahmoud, swinging his wrinkled old trunk to and fro dejectedly,ignored the stack of fresh timothy which the Keeper had dumped on thefloor of the Elephant House. There was a band of iron clasped tightlyjust above one of his great forefeet. Mahmoud had surged back in hisdiscontent till the chain, attached to the iron and to a ring in thefloor, creaked with the strain upon it. His broad ears flapped forwardlistlessly, but not far enough to conceal the moisture in his dim oldeyes which gathered now and then into glistening drops that rolled downhis cheeks and were lost in the huge wrinkles at the corners of hismouth. Duchess, his faithful mate, who stood at his side twisting upbunches of hay and tucking them into her mouth, understood and was sad.At intervals in her repast she would pause to stroke Mahmoud's furrowedcheek with the tip of her trunk. But her sorrowful mate was not to bewooed from his melancholy.

  Presently, from a little distance up the Park walk leading to the doorof the Elephant House, came a familiar tinkling sound that causedMahmoud to turn his head in that direction with a show of interest.A boy was approaching, and at every step some straps of iron on hislittle crooked leg clanked together. The sound was not unlike that madeby the iron on Mahmoud's leg. The boy's face was pale, but his eyeswere blue and very bright. A little girl skipped along at his side. Theboy's clothes were shabby, but the little girl's plumage was rich andas gay as that of some tropical bird. Perhaps it was this that causedthe boy to call her "Princess," when he made slow and deferentialresponse to her eager chatter. It was plain that she was accustomedto rule, for whenever she was admonished by the young woman in darkclothes who followed a few steps behind with a book under her arm, shewould merely shrug her pretty shoulders. Her manner toward the boy wasa trifle condescending, but it was also affectionate, for she calledhim "Toots."

  The entire front of the Elephant House was open, for it was summer.When Toots and the Princess had reached the iron railing within a yardof Mahmoud's swaying trunk, they stopped. The young woman in darkclothes seemed to understand that this was their destination, for sheseated herself on a bench at the side of the walk, and was soon deep inthe pages of her book.

  Mahmoud shuffled forward as far as the chain on his leg would let him,thrust forth his trunk and felt gently the iron on the boy's crippledleg.

  "Oh, Toots, he knows you!" exclaimed the Princess. "That is what he didyesterday."

  Though the Princess shrank back, Toots showed no fear. Appearingsatisfied as to the boy's identity, Mahmoud turned to his mate, andthey stood cheek by cheek, swaying their trunks in unison.

  "They are talking again," said the Princess, with a little shriek ofdelight. "Toots, you must tell me what they are saying to each other."

  Toots did not stir. A flush of pink had stolen into his pale cheeks.There was a far-away look in his eyes, yet they were sparkling. Hislips were moving, but no sound came from them at first. Strangemumblings were coming from the cavernous mouths of the elephants. ThePrincess stamped her foot with authority and commanded:

  "Toots, tell me, as you did yesterday, what the elephants are saying."

  But already, in a low, monotonous voice, as though in a dream, the boywas interpreting the talk of Mahmoud and his mate.

  "Behold, it is the little Limping Boy," said Mahmoud, with his lipsclose to the ear of Duchess. "My old eyes are dim, but with my twofingers have I felt the iron on his leg, and I know it is he."

  "Verily, it is he, my Lord," answered Duchess, caressingly. "And withhim again is the strange little bird without wings--or, mayhap thegaudy creature is of his own people."

  "It is well. Do you recall, O Light of my Life, how the little LimpingBoy stood at our door and talked softly to himself? I remember such aboy long, long ago in the Jungle, before the days of my captivity, onlyhe was naked and had brown skin--as brown as that of my baby sister."

  "I, too, saw and heard him, my Lord. I thought he talked of us andpitied us in our captivity."

  "Toots, tell me as you did yesterday, what the elephantsare saying."]

  Now Mahmoud ceased his talk and for a moment reflected deeply. Atlength he said:

  "Lo, there are two worlds, O Light of my Life, the Master World and theMenial World; and few there be that stand between. I know not how ithappens that we, thou and I, my beloved, are of the Menial World, butit is so. We be Menial People, and the little Limping Boy is of theMaster People; yet it clings in my mind that he is nearer."

  Again Mahmoud paused to reflect; but Duchess broke in with conviction,saying:

  "My Lord, may it not be that the little Limping Boy is one that standsbetween?"

  "That is a matter upon which I have pondered deeply," sighed Mahmoud."It is evident that he understands our talk. He has the iron upon hisleg, yet his talk is not the talk of the Menial People. Alas, I cannot be sure on this point. These Master People have strange ways and astrange tongue. When their skins are dark, as they are in the jungle,their talk is not so difficult; but when their skins are white andcovered with strange raiment, their words convey no meaning to my ears."

  Mahmoud's head drooped again. He was very old, and, like all those whoare burdened with years, he was wont to ponder sadly on the joys of hispast. But presently he raised his head and seemed to be listening.

  "Look, Friend of my Youth," he said, after a moment, "is it the chirpof our merry little gossip, the
sparrow, that I hear?"

  "No, my Lord," answered Duchess, soothingly, "Pwit-Pwit is late thismorning. I tremble when I recall his boastful tale of yesterday; how heentered the cage of the lioness' treacherous young cubs."

  "Be calm, beloved," said Mahmoud, "the cubs are not too young to knowthe Law of the Menial People."

  It appeared that Duchess, being of the weaker sex, and devoted to herdomestic duties, had but a vague notion of the Law. So Mahmoud, withmuch dignity, enlightened her in these words:

  "It is the Law of the Menial People, O Joy of my Heart, that Pwit-Pwit,the sparrow, shall go and come at his pleasure throughout the MenialWorld, enjoying the hospitality and protection of all. And of a truththis is meet, for is not the sparrow official news-gatherer and gossipfor all the Menial People? Verily, is not he the only one of our worldthat is not locked fast in a yard or in an iron cage by the MasterPeople? Lo, when we of the Menial World were brought by our mastersfrom the forests and plains and jungles to the place of our captivity,Pwit-Pwit was already here to give us welcome. Therefore, it is the Lawof the Menial World that no claw nor tooth shall be raised against him."

  When Mahmoud had finished his discourse the sparrow suddenly droppedout of the sky at his feet with a chirp and a cheerful toss of his head.

  "You are late to breakfast this morning, little one," said Mahmoud;"but I waited for you, O Messenger of Cheer, though my beloved mate haseaten a few mouthfuls, being hungrier than I."

  "I would have been here sooner," answered the sparrow, "but I found itnecessary to give one of those young lions a lesson. He forgot aboutthe Law, and tried to catch me in his mouth. But I was too quick forhim. You should have seen me then. I flew at his eyes and gave them agood pecking. Then I had to go and tell his mother. Didn't you hearher roaring at the little upstart to behave himself? Oh, you can trustme to educate those young lions in the Law."

  "Verily, I heard the mother lion roar, and feared for you," saidMahmoud. "But come, there are some choice grass seeds in the deepwrinkles of my neck, and I will scatter more there for you. If you aretired, you can step on the end of my trunk and I will lift you up toyour breakfast."

  But Pwit-Pwit said that he was not at all tired. He flew up toMahmoud's shoulders and was soon pecking greedily at the seeds whichhe found in the wrinkles between the great flapping ears. Duchess hadresumed her repast, and Mahmoud began attacking the stack of timothywith manifest appetite. As the two friends, one so huge and the otherso tiny, took their breakfast together, the sparrow chirped a constanttorrent of gossip, which Toots, never hesitating, interpreted for thePrincess. At length only some scattering wisps were left of the stackthat the Keeper had brought for the old elephant. Mahmoud gathered themup, sweeping his trunk over the floor daintily, then rolled them intoa little bundle, which he thrust half-way into the side of his mouth.Then, rolling his trunk about the ends of the wisps containing thedried grass seeds, he tore them off, and holding them back over hishead, said to Pwit-Pwit:

  "Are you there, little one?"

  "Here I am, right between your ears," chirped the sparrow.

  "Look then for the large round seeds," said Mahmoud. "But first braceyourself well behind my ear, little one, for I am going to blow thedust out of your breakfast. Dust is not good for the stomach."

  With these words Mahmoud blew a little puff of wind through his trunkinto the handful of grass seed about which it was curled, and thendropped the seeds in a little shower right at Pwit-Pwit's feet.

  "Thank you," said the sparrow. "You have found me a deliciousbreakfast." And he pecked away at the seeds until he could hold no more.

  Then Pwit-Pwit noticed that Mahmoud had stopped eating and was swinginghis trunk about in a mournful manner.

  "What's the matter, old chap?" chirped the sparrow. "Have you lostyour appetite?"

  "Alas!" sighed the old elephant, "I pine for the roar of my nativeJungle, little one. I long to plunge through the great, wild forest andfeel the swish of the branches at my sides. Even the chatter of idleand foolish monkeys would be music in my ears."

  The sparrow hopped up on the rim of Mahmoud's ear, and said cheerily:

  "Why don't you go home for a visit?"

  "Alas, little one, I am too old, even if the Master People wouldrelease me. Never again shall I breathe the fresh breath of the hills;never again hear the roar of the Jungle."

  Mahmoud's head drooped lower than before. Pwit-Pwit pecked at his earto get his attention, and chirped:

  "Cheer up, old chap, I can't bring the Jungle to you, 'tis true; but Ithink I can manage the roar all right."

  "Pride of my Heart," said Mahmoud, turning eagerly to his faithful mateand stroking her cheek, "do you hear? Pwit-Pwit, the all-wise, says hecan gladden our ears once more with the roar of the Jungle."

  "Pwit-Pwit, if you can do that," said Duchess, trembling with joy, "wewill be your slaves."

  "Oh, it is nothing, nothing at all," chirped the sparrow with affectedmodesty. "I will go and prepare all the Menial People for the signal,and when I return I will tell you what to do."

  Having chirped this promise into Mahmoud's grateful ear, the sparrowflew down from the old elephant's back, and hopped past the littleLimping Boy and entered the adjoining house of the two-hornedrhinoceros. Toots and the Princess could see all that occurred fromwhere they stood. The great beast was lazily sharpening his horns onthe hardwood planks of his house. Pwit-Pwit flew at his eyes, at whichhe pecked saucily, saying:

  "Attention, pig! Be ready for the signal. When you hear it, if you haveany voice left in your fat old carcass, use it, or never hope to hearthe roar of the Jungle again."

  Hearing these words, the dull-witted beast began lifting up firstone foot and then another, in a sort of clumsy dance. The sparrow,perceiving that he was eager for the roar of the Jungle, wasted nomore words on him, but flew straight up in the air and then dartedoff toward the house of the lions, tigers and leopards. Toots and thePrincess saw him fly in through the open door, then, after a moment ofsilence, heard muffled roars from the lions, followed by the excitedchatter of monkeys in the adjoining house, and soon beheld him emergeand dart toward the dens of the bears.

  "The sparrow is keeping his word," said the Princess, clapping herhands. "He is warning all the Menial People to be ready for the signal."

  "Hush," said the little Limping Boy, in a low voice. "Look at Mahmoudand the Duchess."

  The Princess looked, and beheld a most astonishing sight. The oldelephants had twined their trunks together above their heads and werewaving them as though in time to music.

  "They are singing," said Toots. "They are singing about the happy timesthey had long, long ago in the great forest where they were born."

  The Princess could not hear the song, but she beheld the waving trunksand felt certain that Toots could hear it. As they sang, the oldelephants grew each moment more excited. So engrossed were they withthe memories that inspired them that they forgot the sparrow utterly.When Pwit-Pwit returned, he had to fly up and peck at their eyes to gettheir attention.

  "Do stop your singing and pay attention," chirped the sparrow,petulantly. "You can sing at any time. Listen. I have prepared allthe Menial People for the signal. They are waiting. You can hear thechatter of those idiotic monkeys at this moment. A monkey can neverkeep a secret."

  "The lions," said Mahmoud, eagerly, "are the lions ready?"

  "The lions were delighted," answered Pwit-Pwit; "they can hardly waitfor the signal."

  "And Caliph and Fatimah, the old hippopotami--"

  "They, too, are ready," interrupted the sparrow, impatiently. "I toldyou I could manage it, and I have. The signal! The signal!"

  As he gave this order, Pwit-Pwit flew up to his favorite perch onMahmoud's ear. The elephants, trembling with excitement, turned theirfaces toward the Lion House and wagged their trunks aloft. Mahmoud'seyes opened to twice their usual size, and the little Limping Boythought that they shone red, as though from anger. He was half afraid,and wondered what was going to
happen. The Princess clasped his handtightly in one of hers, and he could feel that she was trembling.

  "It must be all right," said Toots, "or the sparrow would fly away.See, he still sits on the rim of the old elephant's ear, as calm asyou please."

  Suddenly Mahmoud straightened out his trunk to its full length towardthe Lion House, and blew through it a blast that rang in the ears ofthe two children for many a day after. Duchess followed with another,shriller and more ear-splitting. Then the two elephants paused tolisten. Almost immediately they were answered from the Lion House.First, Sultan replied with a deep, terrible roar that caused Mahmoud'seyes to sparkle with delight. Then Caliph, the patriarch of all thehippopotami, joined his voice to that of the old lion. It was a voicelike the sound of a mighty waterfall. Between the roars of Sultanand Caliph could be heard those of Fatimah and Cyrus, the youngerhippopotami, whose voices were less deep and steady, because not sowell trained.

  From all directions came answers to Mahmoud's signal. There was thesnarling scream of the tigers, leopards and pumas; the wolves andhyenas barked in their wild and dreadful way; the bears growled; eaglesscreamed; the shrieking chatter of the monkeys was ear-splitting. Thetwo-horned rhinoceros grunted terribly. The solitary elephant nextdoor, who was in disgrace for attacking the Keeper, put his four feetclose together, humped up his back and trumpeted so loudly that Mahmoudand Duchess held their breath and listened, overcome with joy.

  At length, having recognized the voices of all the Menial People,Mahmoud and Duchess again stretched forth their trunks and trumpetedwith all their might. At this the efforts of all the animals wereredoubled. This was indeed the roar of the Jungle. The ground seemedto tremble, so terrible was the din. The Keeper, who often wentfearlessly into the cage of Sultan, even putting his hand in the greatbrute's mouth, could be seen running from the Lion House, pale, andwith his hair on end. And through it all the sparrow never moved fromhis perch on the rim of Mahmoud's ear.

  But after a while the roar gradually died out, leaving all the MenialPeople breathless and covered with perspiration.

  "Aha," said Pwit-Pwit, into the ear of old Mahmoud, "didn't I tell youI could manage the roar of the Jungle?"

  "Little one," answered the grateful beast, gasping for breath, "we areyour slaves from this day on."

  "Nonsense," chirped back the sparrow; "it was fun for me, too. Neverbefore was heard such a roar. The Master People were terrified. Didyou not observe them flying in all directions?"

  "Ay, little one, I saw them, and it gladdened my old heart. Even theKeeper, he that is so proud and stout of heart, fled as I have seen hisbrown-skinned brothers flee before my onslaught in the Jungle. Verily,all the Master People fled--"

  Mahmoud stopped, with his eye fixed in astonishment on the littleLimping Boy, who stood as before, with his arms on the iron railing,calm and unmoved. As though doubting the evidence of his eyes, Mahmoudput forth his trunk, and with the two fingers at its end felt of theiron on the boy's leg. Then he turned to Duchess and said:

  "Behold, O Light of my Life, of all the Master People only the littleLimping Boy remained, his soul unterrified by the roar of the Jungle.With my two fingers have I again felt the iron on his leg. No longerdo I doubt."

  Then turning to the sparrow, Mahmoud, Lord of all the Menial People,gave this command:

  "Go forth, little one, to all my people; to the lions, to the tigers,to the hippopotami, to the old dromedary who stands all day blinking inthe sun, yea, even to the chattering monkeys, and say: Lo, this is thecommand of Mahmoud, that no harm shall befall the little Limping Boy,for verily, he doth stand between. I have spoken."

  The sparrow flew away to do his master's bidding, and from that day onToots was able to interpret for the Princess even the sign languagespoken by the blinking old dromedary, who to all but him was the sphinxof the Zoo, deep of thought, but generally uncommunicative.