Ralph Helfer by Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived Read Free Book Online

strength is also in the collective family support. He knew he would grow and become stronger until he, too, could shoulder responsibility with dignity and respect.
    Bram loved all forms of nature, worshipping it as others did religion. He believed the whole of God was in every atom as well as in the totality of nature. In the eagle as in the feather, God was all Creation. His father had once told him, “Only things that have no power of choice are perfect. Nature is, man isn’t.”
    Gertie had fallen asleep under Bram’s gentle stroking. A wave of fulfillment swept through him as he realized his happiness. While Gertie slept, Modoc found a sandbar just beneath the surface of the water where she could lie and scratch her sides, rubbing all the ecstasy off. Then she, too, took a nap, the muddy upper half of her body quickly drying in the hot sun. Birds landed on her, picking and searching for any tidbit to be found, not knowing they were walking on a living matriarch.
    A cool breeze alerted Bram to the lateness of the day. He kissed Gertie awake and yelled to Mo, “Move up, Mo! They began packing as Modoc rose from the sandbar.
    Bram tied a rope around Gertie’s waist and his own, then looped it into the rope weave mat. A quick pull brought them both together. It also prevented them from falling off were they to doze. As the sun began to descend slowly behind the horizon, Bram and Gertie slept soundly, rocked by the gentle motion of Modoc as she rounded Cryer Lake and headed up the ridge toward home.

7
    T HE SIDESHOW , which many patrons considered a “freak show,” featured a group of people who were born with, or had suffered, a mishap in their lives. This made them different from others, shunned by not-so-polite society. These people had joined together as a family unit for their own security and because of a love of the circus.
    Curpo was billed as the Littlest Man in Germany. He hated being referred to as a “freak” and was overjoyed when Herr Gobel allowed him, at Josef’s insistence, to help with Emma and her baby.
    Lilith, the Fat Lady, weighed over six hundred pounds. She was helped from place to place by whichever four or five people were at hand. Her house trailer had a special door cut into it to allow for her girth and heavy-duty springs to support her weight. Occasionally Lilith even needed some assistance with her toilette, but the circus was her “family” and they managed to get through most things together.
    String, the Thin Man, was also billed as the Tallest Man Alive, hovering almost eight feet in the air, resembling a human daddy longlegs spider. When he bent over to speak to you, he lowered himself slowly, deliberately, as the change of height would oftimes make him dizzy. Canvas billboards were best hung by him. He had no meat on his bones to speak of, had very little strength, and wobbled as if on weak springs whenever he walked. Doctors claimed he probably would have died years ago without the circus. His performance gave him a purpose. He was needed.
    Schulz was called the Seal Man because his hands grew out of his shoulders, resembling flippers. Normal in all other ways, Schulz had never learned to accept his defects. He hated people helping him and yet needed their assistance.
    Sweet Little Marigold, a woman twenty-three inches long, had been born with only a head and upper torso above the waist, and no limbs whatsoever. Blessed in other ways, however, she was a finely educated and intelligent lady, with a fluent mastery of five languages. Her skin had the fine sheen of delicate porcelain, her eyes were almond-shaped and pale hazel. Her head, crowned by a thick mass of long, flowing golden blond hair, completely encircled her torso. Lovingly cared for, Marigold was carefully carried on a velvet pillow by a large mulatto woman who answered to the unusual name of Moonspirit. French was the only language spoken between them. Moonspirit was always ready to help, and their smiles to each