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Chapter 4 Ringing The Bell
After they talked with the other baby elephants for a little while longer, Milo took Hamilton
exploring - not far, but far enough for now.
"Would you like to see my mouse?", Milo asked when they stopped at a spot in the grass to
take a break. It's not a real mouse, only a toy mouse. But I like it. It's my favorite"
Hamilton didn't know what do say or do, as he'd never seen even a real mouse before.
So, he just looked at Milo and watched him play with what he decided must be the mouse.
"Meow!", Milo said. "This, the tail, is my favorite. Watch this!"
FLIIIINNNGGGGG! Up in the air the mouse went! Milo ran to catch it. Hamilton felt a little
startled as he watched.
"Meow! Did you hear the bell?", Milo asked.
Ring-a-ling-a ling!
Milo shook the mouse as hard as he could to make the small bell that was on the mouse's
head ring loud as he could. But, no matter how hard Milo shook, the sound coming from
the bell was very happy and very soft. Hamilton liked it because it reminded him of his mama
and aunties.
"Mama!", Hamilton cried
"Meow", Milo said with a frown.
Hamilton knew this meant his mama and aunties weren't ever coming back. He felt sad about
that, but he felt very glad he had a comfortable new place to call home and friends who loved
and cared about him, even if one of them was a strange looking blue cat.
"Could I try to make the bell ring?", Hamilton asked Milo.
"Meow!", Milo said as he used his paw to put the mouse closer to Hamilton .
Hamilton put his trunk down to the mouse, took a sniff of it, picked it up and tried
to ring the bell that was on the mouse's head. It made a sound, but not the same sound as
the bell had made when Milo rang it. Hamilton put Milo's mouse down on the ground with a
frown on his face.
"No mama", he said gloomily.
"Meow", said Milo feeling confused. and he and Hamilton sat together in silence for a
while, and thought of a way for Hamilton to ring the bell.
"Meow!", Milo said. "Use your paw"
"My paw?", Hamilton asked
Then Milo showed him how to make the bell ring, by using what Hamilton surmised were
his paws to push the mouse around. Hamilton tried to do the same thing, and to his delight,
it worked!
"Mama!", Hamilton exclaimed.
Ginger Root, Celery Stick, Beet Bottom, Moon Beam and others saw this from a distance,
put their trunks up and cheered with joy.
"I want to ring the bell too!", shouted Amelia
Surprised that she was part of the crowd and heard the bell, Hamilton looked at Milo to
ask if it would be Ok for her to ring it.
"Meow", Milo said.
With that, Hamilton went over to the area where Amelia and the others were standing,
and touched her trunk with the mouse
"Oo! It feels soft", she said "Like the blanket in my stall"
"Mine too!" said Hamilton "The blanket in Milo And I's spot in the barn is soft like
the one in your stall too. Do you want to ring the bell now Amelia?"
"Yes", she said "See! I can ring the bell just like this"
Ring-a-ling-a ling! Ring-a-ling-a ling! Ring-a-ling-a ling!
Hamilton felt surprise when he saw that even though Amelia held the mouse in her trunk
when she rang it, it made the same ringing sound that reminded him of his mama.
"That sound reminds me of my mama Amelia", Hamilton said. "How did you do that? I tried
to ring the bell using my trunk earlier and it didn't sound like that at all"
"You have to hold the mouse like this, and then you go like that", she said as she showed
him. "Here. You try"
Hamilton took the mouse from Amelia's trunk and held it in his trunk just like she showed
him.
Ring-a-ling-a ling! Ring-a-ling-a ling! Ring-a-ling-a ling!
"Oh! This is fun", said Hamilton "Thank you for showing me how to ring the bell using
my trunk Amelia"
"You're welcome", she said "Are you and Milo coming down to the watering hole? We're going
there to get our morning drinks of water and splish splash a little before the humans give
us our lunch.
"I am thirsty. And I do miss the water", Hamilton said.
"Meow", Milo said before Hamilton could even ask.
"We're going down as a group, together in a little while", Amelia told them.
"Meow", Milo said
"See you then", said Hamilton