10 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
agree to this scheme. “If Mayer takes the ‘cross- 
over money’,” he said, “we get half of it, at least; 
but, if you take it, we don’t get any.” 
That settled the matter, and, considering times 
and ways, I’ve always thought that it was a good 
tribute to my honesty. It was a crude business and 
every man was out for himself. To break even, a 
man had to be just as hard as the next one, and to 
come out ahead, he had to be a bit harder. I liked 
the game, but I always had the feeling that it wasn’t 
the thing I wanted most. I was interested chiefly, 
in the animals, but, as head property-man, I had 
little time to be near them. 
My desire to learn all there was to know about 
animals was the main reason why I cultivated the 
acquaintance and friendship of Gaylord. He was 
an expert animal-man—probably the best informed 
in the business—and had been P. T. Barnum’s con- 
fidential agent for years. He had traveled the 
world over, time and again. 
It was Gaylord who negotiated with the Siamese 
officials for one of the famous white elephants of 
Siam. Barnum had his heart set on having one 
of them for his show and he sent Gaylord out with 
instructions to go the limit. The stumbling-block 
in the transaction was that the Siamese believe the 
spirits of the ancestors of the royal family are trans- 
ferred to the white elephants. The animals live in 
the royal palace and are cared for with all the 
ceremony given to any members of the reigning 
