"Not a bit of it!" cried the red monkey with a jolly laugh. "This is my house. I went out this morning and left the door open. It must have blown shut by mistake. I'm sorry you were frightened. Wait, I'll do some tricks to make you laugh."
So the red monkey stood on his nose, and then on one ear, and then he made all the letters of the alphabet on his tail, all except the letter "X," which is very hard for a monkey to make. Then the monkey took two apple pies and made them into one, and he and Uncle Wiggily ate it, and my! how good it was. By this time the rabbit wasn't frightened any more, and he told the red monkey all about his travels to find a fortune. And then the grasshopper came hopping back with Old Dog Percival to help Uncle Wiggily get out of the trap, but there wasn't any need, for it was no trap at all, you see.
So the red monkey and the dog and the grasshopper and the old gentleman rabbit had a nice time at the house of the red monkey, who told them many stories, and one was how he came to be colored red.
I'll tell you about that as soon as I can, when, in case the fishpole doesn't go out in the rain and catch cold, the Bedtime Story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the butterfly.
STORY XX
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUTTERFLY
"You have a very nice house here," said Uncle Wiggily to the red monkey after they had all sat down, and Old Dog Percival had been told that there was no need to rescue his rabbit friend from a trap.
"Yes, it is a fine little house," said the red monkey. "I built it away off in the woods so as to be nice and quiet. You see I used to live with the monkey who plays five hand organs at once, but finally it got so that I couldn't stand the music any longer, so I went off by myself and made this little house."