both day and night. And he is selfish, for if I am an hour or two overdue after the time he is looking for me, he commences to whine and cry, and becomes very naughty, just the same as a child crying after its mother. Not that he wants anything but my company. However, you will forgive him. Won’t you? As you remember you have done the same thing yourselves. So learn to be charitable and forgiving to others.

It was thought by the people of England that Jumbo could not be brought to see the American nation. It was held—and a good deal of pressure was brought to bear upon me, to the effect—that I should never be able to make the voyage across the Atlantic in safety with so monstrous an animal, and that the risk anyway was too great. It was also held by some that, as there were thousands of Americans coming to London every season, it was too risky a speculation or enterprise to pay, as the most of such visitors would have seen Jumbo in London.

I am sometimes tickled a bit, when I think of the tens of thousands of miles Jumbo and I have travelled in the interior of this country since we made the perilous journey of three thousand miles by sea to the American shores; and I often wonder what the people of the old country will say to me when they hear of our travels out West, North, and South, or what they will say to me when we get back to our own shores.

CHAPTER VI.

ARRANGEMENTS MADE BY MR. P. T. BARNUM, “THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH,” TO EXHIBIT JUMBO IN THE UNITED STATES.

When, in the year 1882, Mr. P. T. Barnum, “The Greatest Showman on Earth,” had completed all arrangements for the exhibition of Jumbo to the people of the United States, I consented, after considerable persuasion, to accompany him on his voyage across the broad Atlantic, and to exhibit him to the American nation, then numbering nearly fifty millions of souls. One of the reasons which persuaded me was that I anticipated meeting again many kind old friends who had left the Old Country for the New, and had become happy and prosperous under the “starry banner.” I must confess that I was somewhat curious to see what kind of reception would be accorded Jumbo. I was not at all anxious, for I felt he would make a great sensation, but curious to see how he would be received in a strange land. I may add that I have not been disappointed. On the contrary, I and Jumbo have received the utmost courtesy, and the kindest hospitality wherever we have been, and on our great western “ten-thousand-miles tour” in the far west Jumbo has been received, applauded, and what I value most, appreciated by the free sons of toil who are clearing the finest country under the sun. The ovations have been something beyond my most sanguine expectations, and I am grateful to the American people for their reception of Jumbo.

General Tom Thumb acknowledged, when he visited us at Brockton, Mass., that Jumbo was “a bigger card” than himself. Well, this was amusing, coming from the smallest man, and yet a man who, perhaps, had the biggest record for sight-seeing on earth.

CHAPTER VII.

JUMBO’S DEEP GRIEF ON PARTING WITH HIS WIFE ALICE.

It was one thing to propose and another thing to dispose of the difficulty in the case of parting Jumbo from Alice.

The parting of Uncle Tom from his negro wife, down in “Old Kentucky,” when he was sold in the slave-market, was nothing to it.

I never thought it would be such a job. However, it had to be done. I had given my word—and that is my bond—and Jumbo and I always carry out that principle whatever the cost.

Mr. P. T. Barnum, “the greatest showman on earth,” had made arrangements, and had promised to exhibit Jumbo to the Americans.

We took steps to tear those poor slaves apart, and it was no small matter, and I want you, my readers, to let me tell you my views on this subject:

When the time came for sundering Jumbo and Alice, the actions of Alice, in the movements of her body and the horrible groans, were something awful to listen to. And I assure you that no parent, seeing his son and daughter sold to separate owners in the slave-market of South Carolina, and torn apart, one to go to one place and the other to another, could have suffered more heart-rending pain and fear than my soul underwent on that occasion.

The noise of the groans of Alice was at times of a wailing, plaintive, rather musical kind. Then it would sound like the roar of thunder, and at times was as quick and successive as its peals. She tore about the stable in which she was confined, and dashed herself against its sides, till we expected every minute she would break loose and follow us. If she had, we should have had a nice time of it to separate them again. I hold that Jumbo and Alice could walk this earth in company and hold their own, and even with my friendly and familiar voice, I question, without great strength and force, whether they could have been separated again. Certainly they could not have been parted without injury to them.

We ultimately got Jumbo away from her, and for a considerable time after we left, poor Alice was a very dejected and despondent animal; she has never been the same since, and she never will be until I take her husband, Jumbo, back to her, which I purpose by God’s help doing, as well for the peace of my own mind as the pleasure and satisfaction of the two sweethearts. I can then, I hope, finish my bachelor life in company with my two “little” pets. If this cannot be done, I shall insist upon the only other alternative, that is, to bring Alice over to the American Continent, and so reunite them on American soil.

It does not trouble me which plan is adopted. But one thing I have determined in my own mind shall be done; that is, that Jumbo and Alice must and shall be reunited; it is a wrong and a sin to keep them apart, especially as they cannot cable, telephone, or otherwise correspond, like the human family.

CHAPTER VIII.

JUMBO’S DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND AND VOYAGE TO THE UNITED STATES.

When the English public was informed of Jumbo’s intended departure loud protests were raised. The feeling was intense, and the people were so earnest and determined that Jumbo should not leave England, that a proposition was made to raise by subscription from the masses, a sufficient sum of money to buy him from the Zoölogical Society.

Elaborate preparations were made for Jumbo’s shipment. A large box, made of the strongest oak, and as big as a small house, was constructed for him, to be used from the Gardens until he arrived in the United States. It was furnished with every comfort that could appeal to Jumbo’s luxurious tastes.

Strange to say, “his majesty” did not seem to appreciate it, for when we invited him to enter he vigorously refused. We tried to get him in again and again during two days, and succeeded only on the third in doing so. We fastened him in securely, leaving only a space or hole in the top of the front, through which he could see and flourish his trunk.

In the dawn of a fine spring morning we started on our journey to the New World. The box was drawn by sixteen horses, and the weight was as much as they could draw. Thousands followed Jumbo to the river-bank, expressing their regrets at his departure. The grief of the children was really sorrowful.

At Gravesend Jumbo held a levee, and a very fashionable one too, for a distinguished company came on board the steamer to wish him bon voyage. Among the party were Miss Burdett-Coutts, and her present husband;