Me and Joe just looked amazed as the hippo stood on the platform, I grabbed the trailing end of the rope to stop the hippo wandering. The driver pushed his hat onto the back of his head and said they would have to be off and went back to his engine.

I tied the rope holding the hippo around one of the iron columns that held the station up just in case it decided to bolt when the engine started off. As engine puffed slowly out of the station the station sank back into its dark loneliness. The only difference was, now we had a hippopotamus.

Well we had better got off to the zoo Joe said untying the rope. Joe pulled the rope and I pushed at the hippo from the rear. Slowly very, very slowly we proceed toward the zoo.

You can tell how slowly we were going if I say that twenty five minutes later we had just reached the ticket office, which must have been all of thirty five feet away.

This was not going to be any good we were worn out and we had another mile to go, we decided there must be an easier way. I tied the hippo to another of the stations iron columns, this one was holding up the front canopy of the station entrance.

Then we both slumped down onto a wooden bench looking down station road while we tried to think of a better way of moving the hippo.

After we had sat there pondering Joe ask why did we tied the hippo up. After another long pause I replied it was so the hippo did not run away. I said this without thinking really because we had just spent half an hour trying to get him to do just that.

We must have been sitting there for some time when a little green van came down Station road turned right and disappeared out of sight down Albert street. A few moments later the van came backwards out of Albert street and reversed all the way up to where we were sitting. The side window of the van wound down and an astonished face looked out at us. It was Mr Patarney on his way to open up the bakery.

" What are you two doing here at this time in the morning." he said to us through the van window.

" Sitting." said Joe.

" And what is that." said Mr Patarney nodding at the hippo still tied to the station column.

" It's a baby hippopotamus." I said.

" You're mad you two." said Mr Patarney. " Utterly mad, I've always said it and this proves it." He crunched his van into gear and slowly drove off shaking his head.

" That's it." shouted Joe and leapt off the bench as if his trousers were on fire. " Mr Patarney." he shouted at the top of his voice. " Mr Patarney stop ! stop ! "

Joe ran after the van as fast as his legs could carry him. Mr Patarney jammed his brakes on. Joe by this time had reached such a speed that he ran straight past the van. I could not hear what Joe was saying to Mr Patarney, but after a few minutes Joe got into the van and they both drove off.

I was too cold and tired to be able to think to many nasty thoughts about Joe for abandoning me with the hippo, I did manage however to make a mental note to do Joe in, after that is, I had done Spotty in.

I was pondering about what to do with the hippo and wondering what passengers would think in the morning when they found a hippo blocking there way, when Joe and Mr Patarney returned in the van. Joe got out and opened the back of the van. He took out a large lumpy sack and closed the door. Mr Patarney then drove away.

Joe opened the sack and pulled out a large brown loaf, he threw it at the hippopotamus. I ask Joe where he had got that lot from he explained simply that they were yesterdays unsold loaves from Mr Patarneys bakery.

The hippo sniffed at the loaf and wooommf it was gone. Just like a sparrow picking up a crumb. Joe now had the hippos full attention. Joe held out a loaf and the hippo moved forward, the station gave a definite lurch when the hippo reached the full length of the rope.

I told joe that was a brilliant idea and cancelled my mental note to do him in. I rushed to the rope to let the hippo go before he pulled the station down. Struggling with the ever tightening knot, burning my finger and taking the skin off my knuckles, suddenly free the hippo made a dash for Joe.

" Hold him." shouted Joe throwing down another loaf.

I held onto the rope, it didn't slow him down much but I could just about manage a bit of steering. I just hoped we had got enough bread to last all the way to the zoo. Joe decided we had better break them up a bit.

It turned out to be quite an eventful trip that night to the zoo driving our little hippopotamus through the town. We learnt several very interesting little things. One of them being that you should not grow praise chrysanthemums in you front garden if there are hippos about. I did not know hippos liked chrysanthemums, or how fast they could eat a garden full.

As we were passing the waste ground near the swimming baths where there are some large hoardings advertising various things, the hippo for some reason took a dislike to the woman advertising cheese, it took two whole loaves and a current bun to stop him pushing the whole row of hoardings over.

By the time we arrived at the gates of the zoo we were getting very low on loves and extremely tired, the hippo was extremely full, the last thing we wanted now was any trouble. We rang the bell and rattled the gates. The night guard came out with his torch.

" What do you want." he said.

" We've brought you a hippo." I said.

" Bloody funny." said the guard and turned to go back inside. " Drunks." he muttered under his breath.