It was with difficulty that Master Green restrained his anger, and perhaps he might not have been able to do so but for the fact that Tom reminded him they were wasting time which should be spent viewing the animals; therefore he contented himself by saying threateningly:—
“I’ll lay for that feller. Jest as likely’s not we’ll catch him down town sometime, an’ then he’ll find out whether he can come ’round stealin’ money, an’ knocking the heads offer fellers without gettin’ as good as he sends, or not.”
“That’s the style! Wait till we get him on our own ground, an’ then pay him up. Now come on; we’ve fooled more’n an hour away, an’ before you know what’s what it’ll be time to go home.”
Then, without waiting to parley further, Tom started off in the direction of the zoölogical collection, and his companions could do no less than follow.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE ZOÖLOGICAL COLLECTION.
Even if the bogus collector of admissions to Central Park had dealt him a much heavier blow than really was the case, Josiah would have forgotten about the injury entirely, in the amazement and delight with which he viewed the inmates of the monkey-cage.
Never but once before had he seen any of these long-tailed animals; and that single occasion was when an organ-grinder, with such a companion, visited Berry’s Corner, to the intense delight of the younger portion of the population, and the annoyance of their elders.
But that monkey, held by a chain, and buckled into a coat so small that he could hardly breathe, was an entirely different sort of an animal from those who were revelling in the semi-freedom of the cage; and it seemed to Josiah as if he would never weary of looking at them.
With a reckless disregard of the amount of money on hand, and an utter forgetfulness of the presents which he wished to carry home to his parents, Josiah purchased peanuts and cookies for the purpose of feeding the occupants of the monkey-house, until there was every danger his supply of ready cash would be entirely exhausted.
What seemed to him quite remarkable was the fact that so many of the animals resembled certain inhabitants of Berry’s Corner.