Page:Dapples of the Circus (1943).pdf/161

 neighing of horses and camels, the braying and hehawing of zebras, and a chorus of cries from smaller animals that added to the infernal din.

Soldiers swarmed from the troop-train and hurried to the assistance of the circus people. If it had not been that so many capable men were at hand, the fatalities would have been much greater. As it was, in almost no time several hundred men were breaking windows and chopping holes in the sides of cars and releasing struggling horses and men. The animals which seemed to be hopelessly maimed were mercifully shot, as were those threatened by the flames. All of the elephants but one whose back had been broken, burst out of their cars and stampeded through the crowd. One of the lion cages was broken open and two scared lions fled through the crowd, also.

The first thing that Freckles noticed out of the ordinary was a sudden lifting of his berth. It seemed to be rising straight up