You've probably been wondering whatever happened to Willie's former friend, Joe, during all this time. I have hesitated telling you, because this part of the story is not very pleasant, but I'd better get to it now.
      Soon after leaving Willie, Joe got everything in his life he ever thought he wanted. He trained a cow elephant (using hypnosis) to wear petticoats and dance the cancan, while playing a trumpet with her trunk, none of which the elephant enjoyed.

The act proved to be a howling boxoffice success and soon Joe owned as large troupe of half-dazed dancing and trupmet-blowing elephants who were featured in a Hollywood musical film purporting to dramatize the love life of elephants. The film earned its producer a fortune and Joe became a rich and powerful man in show business.

      But Joe had enough conscience to be ashamed of himself because the once-proud elephants were humiliated by their act. He got no satisfaction from the money which came from exploiting unhappy cow elephants hypnotized into wearing petticoats, kicking up their legs and blowing trumpets.
      He gradually realized that from the time he had left his friend, Willie, he had not experienced one true moment of joy in his work or in his personal relationships. He could find neither a male nor a female companions who was amenable and responsive to him, so he had no friends. This state of affairs could only lead in one direction - downwards.
      He became addicted to alcohol, besotting his brain, so he wouldn't have to think about anything and would be able to forget Willie, the best friend he'd ever had.

He became the easy victim of a gang of unscrupulous businessmen who stole his elephants and then all his money in shady business undertakings. When last heard of, he was slithering fast down the road to ruin - to loneliness, starvation and painful isolation.
      We shall have to leave him in this sad state for the moment, and return to the Smiths and the Pickerings.