the men. "He looks dangerous. He looks
like a bad elephant."

Tum Tum was not a bad elephant. He was very strong, but he was not bad.

"Oh, mamma, what shall I do?" cried Tum Tum, as he saw the tame
elephants, with chains, coming closer to him.

For all his great strength, Tum Tum was yet only a boy elephant. He was
not very wise. He did not know what to do.

"Listen," said Tum Tum's father. "You are now the leader of the herd,
Tum Tum. Mr. Boom is gone, and I am too old to be the leader. So you
must be. We elephants will do as you do. If you can break down the
fence, and get away from the hunters, we will follow you."

"I will try, once more, to break down the fence," said Tum Tum. "Let
some of the strong, young elephants come to help me. Come,
Whoo-ee--come, Gumble-umble! We will smash down the fence!"

But one of the tame elephants, who heard what Tum Tum said, called to
him, and spoke:

"Oh, brother. Do not break down the fence."

"Why not?" asked Tum Tum, who could easily understand the language of
the tame elephant. "Why should I not break the fence, and let my
friends, and my father and mother, out of this trap. Why not?"

"Because," answered the tame elephant, with the chains, "you cannot do
it. Already you are held with ropes, and soon we will put more chains on
you, so that you cannot move."

"And why would you--you who are elephants like ourselves--why would you
do this to us, who never harmed you?" asked Tum Tum.

"Because it is for your good," said the tame elephant. "The white
hunters are very strong. You may get away from them now, but they will
come after you again. It is better to give in now. If you are good, and
do not try to break down the fence, you will wear no chains."

"But what will happen to us--to me and my father and mother?" asked Tum
Tum.

"You will be put to work, piling teak logs in the woods," said the tame
elephant. "You will have enough to eat, you will have shelter from the
rain and the flies. You will have water to drink and to wash in. It is a
good life. I like it."

"Is that all that will happen to me?" asked Tum Tum.

"Perhaps not," answered the tame elephant. "You may be sent far across
the big water, in a house that floats, and go, as other elephants have
gone, to a circus, or menagerie, for the boys and girls to look at, and
feed peanuts to."

"What are peanuts?" asked Tum Tum, who was hungry.

"I do not know, never having eaten any," said the tame elephant