Read Online Ralph Helfer by Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived - Free Book Online Page B

kibitz about the auction. Bram saw that they were coming his way. Curpo nudged him, giving him a “you can do it” look, and promptly disappeared.
    “This is the son of the elephant trainer. Ah…what is your name, boy?” snapped Herman.
    “Bram, sir, Bram Gunterstein.”
    “Yes, well, you can show Mr. North what the beasts can do.”
    Bram looked past Herman to Mr. North. “My father usually works them, sir, but he’s sick, you see…”
    “Get on with it, boy. Mr. North doesn’t have a lot of time.” Bram noticed that Mr. North would barely look at him. “My father…” Bram began.
    “Enough of your father!” Herman interrupted impatiently. His voice had risen a full octave. “Now you will please show Mr. North what they do.”
    Bram continued to look at Mr. North, trying to establish some communication, but to no avail. He couldn’t understand why the man wouldn’t at least acknowledge him.
    Resigned, he put Modoc and the other elephants through the act his father had taught him. Bram wondered for a moment whether he should have tried to make them perform badly. Perhaps if this man didn’t like what he saw, he wouldn’t take Modoc. But even if he wanted to, it would have been difficult, as Modoc knew her routine too well, and she executed it perfectly. After the performance, Mr. North managed a curt thank you over his shoulder.
    Bram saw the men exchange handshakes. Mr. North, waving to all the other bidders, returned to his limousine and drove away. In short order the other bidders followed suit, and when they had all left, Herman called the circus family together.
    “Now then,” Herman began, almost smugly, “it gives me much pleasure to announce that the world-famous circus entrepreneur Jack C. North will be acquiring the circus. I am sure you allagree that Herr Gobel will be very happy to know that it will not be broken up.”
    “But what about us?” asked Stretch. “Will he take us with him?”
    “Hmmm, well, will he take you with him?” repeated Herman, as if it were no secret. “No, no, no! He is taking the circus to the United States of America and has plenty of frea—…ah…performers…of his own. He just needs the animals and the equipment.”
    A voice in the crowd spoke up. “How can you say that he bought the whole circus? We are the circus—we and the animals. How can you give our animals to other people to train? They’ve been with us since their birth, and we love them as our own.”
    “What will become of us?” another voice said. “There’s no work for our kind of people!”
    The tone of the group now became almost threatening. Herman was clearly becoming nervous. “Yes, well now, all of you must go home. In the morning other trainers will arrive to learn the animals’ routines.”
    The crowd broke up, each going his own way. Bram was dumbstruck. “How can this be, Curpo? They can’t just take it all away! There must be something that can be done for us to stay together—and how about Modoc!” His mind reached out for an answer. He would stay the night with Mo, sending Curpo back to the farm to tell his parents what had taken place. “You’d better tell Mutte first, she may want to tell Papa herself.”
    Bram wanted to be there in the morning to meet the new trainer and see if there was any way he could convince him to let Bram accompany Modoc to America.
     
    Bram felt someone waking him from a deep sleep.
    “Hey! You! Wake up!”
    He opened his eyes to see a burly middle-aged man bending over him. The man nudged Bram with a bull hook.
    “Who are you?” asked Bram sleepily.
    “Jake.” A note of pride in the man’s voice: “Mr. North’s head elephant trainer. Now you’d better move on. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
    Bram stood up. “Uh, you don’t understand. You see, my father is the elephant trainer for the circus.”
    “You mean, he was the trainer. Now it’s my job.”
    “But…I’m his son…and I also work the elephants. Especially