Page:Dapples of the Circus (1943).pdf/131

 the Emperor to discover that he also was done for. So the third shot rang out, and the two huge beasts lay dead by the roadside, both having paid the price of their lives for the bad temper of El Capitan.

Freckles climbed down from his tree and went back to the circus grounds to look for Sir Wilton. To his surprise, when he appeared at the freight yards he found the sections were being loaded just as though nothing had happened.

The trains all pulled out on time, but there was one box car that was partly empty. The circus people were a little quieter than usual after the tragedy had been fully discussed, but the Great American Show went on.

Freckles learned the following day that the manager had telegraphed for two more elephants that very night, even before they left the freight yards. But the fight cost the company fifteen thousand dollars and one of the best trick elephants ever seen in the ring.