"Ding-dong! Dong-ding!"
Now the school where the monkeys, and all the other animal children studied, was a hollow stump in the woods, and a wise old owl bird was the teacher. Soon all the pupils were in the room, and the teacher told them how glad she was to see them back, and she said she hoped they had all had nice vacations.
"And I have quite a treat for you," went on the teacher. "Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit, who has just returned from seeking his fortune all over the world, is going to tell you a story this afternoon, if you all have your lessons this morning. Now we will have the class in spelling. Jacko Kinkytail, please spell me the word dog."
"I don't like to," said Jacko, waving his tail to and fro, bashful like.
"Why not?" asked the owl teacher, surprised like.
"I'm afraid if I spell the word a dog might come in through the window and bite us."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed the teacher. "Jumpo, you spell dog."
"D-o-g," spelled Jumpo, as nicely as could be.
"Very good," said the teacher. "Now, Jacko, you see no dog came in at all, so you may go to the blackboard, Jumpo, and write the word dog."
Now Jumpo was a very mischievous little monkey—that is, he was always doing something funny, and it was not always right and proper, either. I forgot to tell you this at first, so I put it in here.