nimal trainers.
Somebody had sent him word, that a little girl was in one of the animal
cages. The keeper knew right away what to do.

"Back, Ganges!" he cried to the big elephant. "Get back there! Back!
Back!"

The elephant raised his trunk high in the air, and made a funny trumpeting
noise through it, as though half a dozen big men had all blown their
noses at once. Then, as the keeper himself went in between the bars, the
elephant slowly backed to the far end, his chain clanking as he did so.

"There! I got my apple!" cried Flossie, as she picked it up from where it
had rolled in the straw. And then, before she knew what was happening, the
keeper picked her up and carried her to the outside rail, where he placed
her in Mr. Bobbsey's arms.

"Oh, Flossie! Flossie!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, with tears in her eyes. "Why
did you do it?"

"Why, I had to get my apple," answered the little girl. "Did you think the
elephant would bite me?"

"He might," said Mr. Bobbsey, who was a little pale. "You must never do
such a thing again, Flossie, no matter how many apples roll into
elephants' cages."

"Oh, Ganges wouldn't have hurt her," said the keeper. "At least I don't
believe he would, though he might have pinched her with his trunk if he
had gotten the apple and she had tried to take it away from him. He's a
very gentle elephant, and in the Summer many children ride on his back
about the park."

"Oh, could I have a ride on his back?" asked Freddie, who had been
anxiously watching to see what happened to Flossie.

"Not now, little man," answered the keeper. "It is too cold for the
elephants to go out of doors now. If you're here in the Summer you and
your sister may have lots of rides."

"Then I'm coming in the Summer!" cried Freddie.

"Oh, I don't believe I'd ever let you go near an elephant!" said Mrs.
Bobbsey. "I was so frightened when I saw Flossie."

"There really wasn't any danger!" said the keeper again. "Here, I'll show
you how gentle Ganges is."

The man went in the cage and the elephant, whose name was Ganges, seemed
very glad to see his keeper. When the man called out an order the elephant
lowered his trunk, made a sort of loop at one end, and when the keeper
stepped in this the elephant raised him high in the air.

"I have taught him two or three tricks," said the man, coming back to the
railing, outside of which stood the Bobbsey twins, their father and mother
and a crowd of others who had heard what ha