A Tale of Two Monkeys, and other stories

Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Monkey-Shines.
THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN
NEW YORK CINCINNATI
The late Dr. John Torrey, of Columbia College, was extremely fond of pets, and expressed admiration for the pretty little Brazilian monkeys with gentle, human faces and velvety, mouse-colored coats. A gentleman who heard it went shortly afterward to Brazil. Upon his return, he presented the doctor with a choice pair. A cage was provided for them, and they soon became members of the family, petted by all, and tenderly loved by the doctor, in whose study they lived.
One Sunday, the entire family went to church and the monkeys were left at home in their cage. When the churchgoers returned they found the stay-at-homes on the top of the folding doors of the parlors, trembling and crying piteously—and for reasons, as they soon discovered. The little mischief-makers had forced open the door of their cage, and, finding themselves free, had proceeded to enjoy themselves in a manner that was scandalous.
In the cellar a bag of hops and ten baskets of strawberries were dumped together and hopelessly mixed; the pans of milk were without cream, and there was unmistakable evidence that the monkeys had skimmed them with their tails! A cistern in the yard offered a fine opening, and the little mischiefs gathered some clothes from the line, the cook’s aprons from the kitchen, and plumped them all in.
An open watch belonging to a daughter of the house attracted one of the monkeys. He removed the hands, took it down stairs and carefully covered the face with mud, and then brought it back and placed it on her bed. Not so carefully did they pull the cover from her writing table, bringing ink and papers with it, and spilling the ink; and when it came to the pulling down of muslin curtains and bed hangings, and tearing them into strips, the fun must have risen to frenzy, for they proceeded to do up the parlor window draperies in the same style. The dining room table next engaged their attention, and the fact that they made a salad of the flowers in the center with the pepper, salt, and mustard may have accounted for their tearful state when they were found perched above the door.