"
The small company of spectators had been laughing with amusement.
"Reminds me of a story," said the teacher. "'What are all the
animals crying about?' said one elephant to another. 'Why, don't
you know?--it's about the reindeer,' said the other elephant; 'he's
dead. Never saw anything so sad in my life. He skipped so, and
made a noise like that, and then he died.' The elephant jumped up
and down, trying the light skip of the reindeer and gave a great
roar for the bleat of the dying animal, 'What,' said the first
elephant, 'did he skip so, and cry that way?' And he tried it.
'No, not that way but this way,' said the other; and he went
through it again. By this time every animal in the show had begun
to roar with laughter. 'What on earth are you doing?' said the
rhinoceros. 'It's the way the reindeer died,' said one of the
elephants.
"'Never saw anything so funny,' said the rhinoceros; 'if the poor
thing died that way, it's a pity he couldn't repeat the act.'
"'This is terrible,' said the zebra, straining at his halter. 'The
reindeer is dead, and the elephants have gone crazy.'"
"Sidney Trove," said the teacher, as he was walking away that
evening, "you'll have to look out for yourself.
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