AND HIS PLANT SCHOOL 35 



ashes over, and from the rubbish selected a small plate. 

 With his delicate little paws he pushed it aside, and after 

 much hard work succeeded in bringing it in his mouth 

 to the house. 



Placing it beside the cat's dish he looked around with 

 a satisfied expression, as if to say, "I, too, now have a 

 dish of my own." That was ever after Jumbo's own per- 

 sonal dinner plate, and he did not allow the cat to even 

 look at it. 



Jumbo was a very fastidious little fellow. Once an ant 

 ventured to climb up over the edge of his plate toward 

 the food. Jumbo stepped back, gave two or three sharp 

 barks, then, with a look of disgust, walked away, leaving 

 his dinner untouched. 



When Burbank came in at night, tired from a long 

 day's work preparing the soil or caring for the plants, 

 he would say: "Now, Jumbo, you must make me laugh." 

 Then the dog would stand perfectly still, drop his long 

 soft ears, shut his eyes, and would not move until he 

 thought of something to do. Suddenly he would become 

 a clown, always with a new trick. Sometimes in walking 

 across the room he would in the most awkward manner 

 stub his nose on the carpet and tumble down, looking so 

 surprised that no one could doubt that he understood the 

 joke. At another time his repeated and unsuccessful at- 

 tempts to jump upon a chair or the lounge (a very easy 

 task for him) would win the applause he anticipated. 



