Hairy Hezekiah Read Online Free Page A

two humps on its back. They formed a circle around the newcomer. Hezekiah stood patiently among them, and the rangers, satisfied, moved off.
    There were zebras at the zoo—the camel had seen them from his paddock but he had never before set eyes on a giraffe or an ostrich.
    â€œA very good morning to you all,” he said (for politeness costs nothing), “and I hope you’ll forgive me for trespassing. It’s a pleasure to meet you all and before you ask, I’m a Bactrian camel.”
    At this, one of the zebras in the little herd hee-hawed
loudly and one of the three ostriches gave out a deep booming noise. Neither of the two giraffes made a sound.
    Then the zebra who had neighed said, “Hope you’re a vegetarian, mate.”
    â€œCertainly I am. Camels don’t eat meat.”
    â€œGood,” said the zebra. “If there’s one thing we can’t stand, it’s a carnivore.”
    â€œAnd we’ve got plenty of them in Shortseat,” said another, “as I expect you know.”

    â€œBlasted lions!” said a third.
    â€œI thought I heard one just as I arrived yesterday,” said Hezekiah.
    â€œThere are dozens of the horrible things,” said the first zebra.
    â€œSafely fenced in, I trust?”
    â€œOh, yes,” said an ostrich. “We can’t see them but we can hear them.”
    â€œAnd smell ‘em,” said the first zebra.
    One of the two giraffes curved its very long neck down as though to smell the camel, but it said nothing.
    It seemed to Hezekiah to be waiting for him to speak, so he asked it, “Do you like living here?”

    There was no reply.
    â€œYou won’t get a word out of him, mate,” the zebras said.
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œThey can’t talk, giraffes can’t.”
    â€œA female can make a sort of noise to call her calf,” an ostrich said, “but they can’t speak like we can. Anyway, the answer to your question is—yes, we all like living here. We’ve got plenty of freedom and friends and food.”
    â€œAnd no foes,” chorused the zebras.

    In the distance, a lion roared.
    â€œLike him,” boomed the ostrich.
    The sound of the lion seemed
to excite all the animals. The zebras hee-hawed rudely in reply and set off at a gallop, the ostriches sped away at great speed on their powerful legs that ended in huge two-toed feet, and the two giraffes cantered off gracefully together, in perfect step, like dancers.

    Left to himself, Hezekiah walked over to a water trough that stood by the fence and drank a dozen gallons of water. Then he heard the noise of motors and looked up to
see a Land Rover coming up the road toward him. It was followed by a van marked in large letters FILM UNIT (which meant nothing to Hezekiah), and after that came a pickup truck loaded with hay (which meant a lot).
    When they drew up by him, there stepped from the Land Rover a bearded figure dressed in riding breeches above bright yellow stockings and suede boots and wearing a cowboy hat.
    â€œGood morning, my friend!” said the camel loudly.
    â€œFeed him!” cried the Earl to the rangers in the pickup truck. To the film crew who emerged from the van he said, “Here he is, chaps! Isn’t he magnificent? Did you ever see anything so hairy?”
    The director, the cameraman, and the soundman all looked at the camel.

    Then they looked at the Earl.
    Then they looked at one another.
    Then they replied, “No. Never.”

8

    As darkness fell, the rangers came to take the camel back to his shed.
    â€œHezekiah!” they called, and at the sound of his name, he came immediately to them like a well-trained dog, while the zebras, the ostriches, and the giraffes watched.
    â€œWow! He’s obedient!” said the zebras.
    â€œKnows his name,” said the ostriches.

    The giraffes, of course, said nothing.
    Hezekiah talked to the rangers as they went down the road.