“Those monkeys beat any menagerie show I ever saw!” declared Gus, as they stood watching two old fellows, who had evidently got into a dispute over the ownership of a particular cocoanut.
“My, just hear them call each other names! See, now the black has got it! But the red won’t let him keep it. See, he has it now, and is going to break it open. There! the black has it again, and he—well, by crickety!”
As Gus uttered the last word he dodged, and just in time. The monkey who held the nut had discovered that he was being watched, and without ceremony had hurled the nut at the stout youth’s head.
“Thank you for the nut,” said Gus, picking it up and bowing in mock politeness, “but next time please don’t present it so forcibly.”
Going to a tree, he endeavored to break the shell of the cocoanut by hammering the article against the trunk. As he did so, two more nuts landed beside him.
“Hello! what does this mean?” he exclaimed. “Did I knock those down?”
“No, you didn’t; they threw them,” replied Oliver. “We had better get out of here before we have our heads cracked open. Look out!” and he dodged just as a perfect volley came raining down.
One of the nuts just grazed Gus’s ear, causing him to cry out with pain. He dropped the nut he held and ran across the clearing, followed by Oliver.
“By crickety! but that was a narrow escape!” he cried when they were once more safe. “If one of those nuts had hit us, it would have ended our existence right then and there.”