CHAPTER II.
A BAD ELEPHANT.
"Great spark-plugs!"
Motor Matt was passing the canvas walls of the menagerie tent of the"Big Consolidated" when a human form ricocheted over the top of it andlanded directly in front of him on a pile of hay. The dropping of theman on the hay was accompanied by a wild sound which the king of themotor boys recognized as the trumpeting of an angry elephant. Followingthis came the noise of quick movements on the other side of the wall,and hoarse voices giving sharp commands.
Matt ran to the man who had fallen on the hay. He was sitting up andstaring about him blankly.
"Well, if it isn't Archie Le Bon!" exclaimed Matt. "What sort of way isthat to come out of a tent, Le Bon?"
"Couldn't help myself, Matt," was the answer. "A couple of tons of madelephant gave me a starter. Gee! No more of that in mine. I'm glad thishay happened to be here."
Le Bon got up. Evidently his brain was dizzy, for he supported himselfagainst a guy rope.
"Was it Rajah?" asked Matt.
"Yes."
"Don't you know any better than to fool with that big lump of iniquity?"
"I do now. Burton has offered twenty-five dollars to any one connectedwith the show who'll take Rajah out in the parade. Thought I'd try it,and I began by doing my best to make friends with the brute. Rajah wasabout two seconds wrapping his trunk around me and heaving me over thewall. I'm in luck at that, I suppose. The big fellow might have slammedme on the ground and danced a hornpipe on me."
"You don't mean to say that Burton is going to have Rajah in theparade!" exclaimed Matt.
"Says he is," answered Le Bon, "but I'll bet money he won't get anyone to ride the elephant. You'd better trot along inside. Your Dutchpard, Carl, had a row with me. We both wanted to try and manageRajah and annex the twenty-five, and the only way we could settle thequestion was by drawing straws. For all I know, Carl may be trying tomake friends with Rajah now. Head him off, Matt, or there'll be a deadDutchman on the grounds."
"Carl must be crazy!" exclaimed Matt, whirling around and darting underthe canvas.
Archie Le Bon was an acrobat, and one of several brothers who had ahair-raising act in the circus ring; and if Archie couldn't manageRajah, it was a foregone conclusion that Carl wouldn't be able to.
Still, it was like Carl to be willing to try something of the sort, andthe young motorist was eager to call a halt in proceedings before itwas too late.
Inside the "animal top" a crowd of men was belaboring Rajah with clubsand sharp prods. The elephant, chained to stakes firmly planted in theground, was backing away as far as the chains would permit, head up andtrunk in the air. Boss Burton, proprietor and manager of the show, wasdirecting operations.
Matt's Dutch pard was very much in evidence. Armed with a piece ofsharpened iron, he was hopping around like a pea on a hot griddle,taking a hack at Rajah every time he saw an opening. Joe McGlory washopping around, too, trying to grab the excited Dutchman and snake himout of harm's way.
Suddenly Rajah lowered his head and executed a wide sweep with histrunk, in a half circle. Carl and a _mahout_ who had charge of theother elephants had their feet knocked from under them. The _mahout_was thrown flat and quickly dragged to safety, while Carl was stood onhis head in a bucket--a bucket that happened to be filled with water.
McGlory caught Carl by the heels and dragged him out into the centreof the tent, the Dutchman thrashing his arms and sputtering as he slidover the ground.
"Confound the brute!" roared Boss Burton; "I'll either take the kinksout of him and have him in the parade, or I'll shoot him. Leave himalone for half an hour, and then we'll maul him some more. How's LeBon?"
"Not a scratch," Archie Le Bon answered for himself, coming in underthe canvas. "But I might have had a broken head."
"You've had enough?" queried Burton.
"A great plenty, thank you. I'm no elephant trainer, Burton, and whileI'd like to make a little extra money I guess I'll look for somethingthat's more congenial."
"Dot's me, too," said Carl to Matt and McGlory. "I don'd vas someelephant trainers, I bed you. Vat a ugliness old Racha has! Dot trunkoof his hit me like a railroadt train."
"You were going to try and ride the elephant in the parade, Carl?"demanded Matt.
"I vas t'inking oof id vonce, aber never any more. He iss vorse as It'ought."
"I heard what he was up to, Matt," put in McGlory, "and hit the highplaces for here. Arrived just in time to see Le Bon go out between theedge of the wall and the edge of the tent top. Sufferin' skyrockets,but it was quick! Everybody rushed at Rajah, and Carl was right in thethick of it. I thought he'd be smashed into a cocked hat before I couldget hold of him."
"Who vas der feller vat left dot pucket oof vater in der vay?" grumbledCarl, mopping his tow hair with a red cotton handkerchief. "Id vasrighdt under me ven I come down. I don'd like dot. Id vas pad enoughmitoudt any fancy drimmings in der vay oof a pail oof vater."
"Well, it's a lesson for you to leave Rajah alone."
"T'anks, I know dot. Oof he vas der only elephant vat dere iss, Ivouldn't haf nodding to do mit him. Vile I'm vaiding for dot fordune tocome from India I haf got to lif, but I vill shdarve pefore I dry tomake a lifing taking care oof Racha. Br-r-r, you old sgoundrel!" andCarl turned and shook his fist at Rajah.
Just at this moment Boss Burton stepped up to Matt and his friends.
"Here's a hard-luck proposition!" he glowered. "My biggest elephantraises Cain in a way he never did while Ben Ali had charge of him. BenAli was a villain, but he knew how to manage elephants. But Rajah goesin the parade, you can bet your pile on _that_."
"You don't mean it, Burton!" cried Motor Matt.
"Oh, don't I?" and there was a resolute gleam in the showman's eyes ashe faced Matt. "You watch and see," he added.
"You're taking a lot of chances if you stick to that notion," gruntedMcGlory. "The brute's liable to smash a few cages and let loose a lionor two. By the time you foot the bill, Burton, you'll find you'reriding a mighty expensive hobby."
"Rajah goes in the parade," shouted the angry showman, "or I put abullet into him. I've got my mad up now."
"Who'll take him?" queried Matt.
"If I can't find any one to put him through his paces, by gorry I'll doit myself!"
"Then the Big Consolidated," said McGlory, "might as well look foranother boss."
"See here, Burton," went on Matt, "you've been having the a?roplane tagyour string of four elephants during the parade, and Rajah's been atthe end of the string and right in front of the flying machine. You'vegot to give the machine another place. I'll not take chances with it,if Rajah's in the march. You ought to remember what a close call thebrute gave us in Lafayette."
"Nobody's going to change places in the parade!" declared Burton.
He was a man of mercurial temperament, and could only be managed byfirmness.
"Either Rajah stays out of the procession," exclaimed Motor Mattcalmly, "or the _Comet_ does."
"And you can paste that in your hat, Burton," added McGlory. "What PardMatt says goes."
"Oh, hang it," growled Burton, coming to his senses; "if you fellowsbear down on me like that, of course you win out; but I hate to have ameasly elephant butt into my plans and make me change 'em. Now----"
"Say, Mr. Burton," spoke up a canvasman, stepping to the showman's sideand touching his arm, "there's a dark-skinned mutt in a turban whatwants ter see ye in the calliope tent."
Burton whirled on the canvasman.
"Dark skinned man in a turban?" he repeated. "Does he look like aHindoo?"
"Dead ringer for one."
"Maybe it's Ben Ali----"
"No, he ain't. I know Ben Ali, and this ain't him."
"That tin horn won't show up among these tents in a hurry, Burton,"said McGlory. "He knows he'll get what's coming, if he does."
"Then," continued Burton, "it's dollars to dimes it's Aurung Zeeb."
"Not him, neither," averred the canvasman. "
This bloke wears a redtablecloth and carries a basket. Looks ter me like he had somethin' hewanted ter sell."
"I'll go and talk with him. Come on, Matt, you and McGlory."
Matt, McGlory, and Carl followed the showman under the canvas and intothe calliope "lean-to." Here there was a chocolate-colored individualanswering the canvasman's description. But he was not wearing the redtablecloth. Instead, he had spread it on the ground and was sitting onit. In front of him was a round, flat-topped basket, and in his handswas a queer-looking musical instrument.
"You want to see me?" demanded the showman, as he and the boys came toa halt in front of the Hindoo.
The latter swept his eyes over the little group.
"You Burton Sahib?" he inquired, bringing his gaze to a rest on theshowman.
"Yes," was the answer.
"You look, see what I can do?" queried the Hindoo.
"If you've got something you want to sell----"
"The honorable sahib makes the mistake. _Dekke!_"
Then, with this native word, which signifies "look," the Hindoo droppedhis eyes to the round, flat basket and brought the end of the musicalinstrument to his lips.