“Just like a spoiled child,” said Mrs. Bobbsey.

“Well, where shall we go next?” asked Mr. Bobbsey, for whenever he and his wife took the children on a little pleasure trip, the parents allowed the twins to choose their own places to go, and what to see, as long as it was all right.

“Let’s go to see the elephants,” cried Freddie.  “I haven’t seen any since we went to the circus.”

“I want to see ’em too, and feed ’em peanuts!” added Flossie.

“No one is allowed to feed the animals in the park,” said Mr. Bobbsey.  “It isn’t good for them to be eating all the while, and I suppose an elephant would keep on eating peanuts as long as you’d feed them to him.  So we can’t offer the big animals anything.  They get all that is really good for them.”

As it was cold, the elephants were all inside the big elephant house, with its several cages, in the front of which were heavy iron bars, set wide apart.

“They are close enough together to keep the elephants in,” said Mr. Bobbsey, when his wife pointed out these bars, “though I suppose some animals might get out between them.”

“Whew! they are big!” cried Freddie, when he stood close in front of one of the cages, or dens, and saw the elephant swaying to and fro back of the iron bars.  “I wouldn’t like one like him to step on me.”

“I should say not!” laughed Bert.  “Even a baby elephant would be too heavy.  Look at this one stretch out his trunk to us.  He wants something to eat, I guess!”

The big elephant, in front of whose barred cage the Bobbsey twins stood, did seem to be begging for something to eat.

Flossie had carried from the hotel a rosy-cheeked apple, which the waiter had given her at breakfast.  Not wanting to eat it, she carried it with her to the park, and had it in her hand.

Now, for some reason or other, probably without thinking, she held it out to the elephant.  The big animal saw what she was doing and turned toward Flossie.

“Oh, you mustn’t feed the elephant!” cried Mrs. Bobbsey.  “It’s against the rules.”

“I’m not feeding him, Mother,” Flossie answered.  “I’m just lettin’ him smell it.  It smells awful good!”

And just then the apple slipped from Flossie’s hand and rolled or bounced straight into the elephant’s cage, between the iron bars.

“Oh, my nice apple!” cried the little girl, and before any one could stop her she had crawled under the front rail, and had run in between the bars.  Right into the cage of the big elephant ran Flossie after her apple.

CHAPTER XVII

CALLED HOME

For a moment Mr. Bobbsey, as well as his wife, was so surprised at what Flossie had done that neither could say or do anything.  They just stood and looked at the little girl who was walking toward the apple, which lay in the straw just in front of the big elephant.  Nan and Bert, however, together gave a cry of fear and Bert made a jump as though he intended to go into the elephant’s cage, also.