THE FOREST FIRE.
And so it was, our absent-minded botanist who had got up this mighty conflagration, and frightened all the wild beasts out of their senses. It was lucky for him that he lighted the fire, otherwise it is more than probable some one of the wild beasts would have made short work of him in the course of the night.
His next adventure was a very serious one, and yet it was very funny too. It happened when the expedition was returning to Cape Town. By that time Mr. Reed’s herbarium was filled with specimens. It was of more value, he said, than diamonds. He expected to astonish and delight the scientific world with that book of plants. He would never trust it to any one else for more than a few moments at a time. He slept with it under his pillow.
And yet he allowed this precious book to be stolen from him.
And by whom?
By a baboon!
In one of his fits of abstraction he had again wandered out of sight of his companions. He had the herbarium open, and, as he walked along, was studying his contents. Suddenly a great, black, hairy paw was thrust right under his nose, and the book snatched out of his hand in a twinkling.
Looking up, he saw in the tree far above his head, a large baboon, grinning and chattering, and turning over the leaves of his beloved herbarium with no gentle hand. But Mr. Reed had no idea of losing his book, and immediately began to climb the tree. The baboon grasped his stolen property, firmly, and swung himself lightly to the next tree.
Seeing the folly of attempting to follow the animal, Mr. Reed returned to his companions, finding his way with some difficulty; and implored them to recover for him this lost treasure.
They laughed at him, but good-naturedly accompanied him to the place of the theft, though they did not expect to find the monkey there; much less did they suppose the book to be still entire.