"Me? Mine? Why, Ben—"
Toby was so completely bewildered as to be unable to say a word, and just as he was beginning to think it some joke, Ben said:
"The skeleton an' his wife, an' Ella and I, bought that monkey this forenoon, an' we give him to you so's you'll still be able to have a Mr. Stubbs in the family."
"Oh, Ben!" was all Toby could say; with the monkey tightly clasped in his arms, he took the old driver by the hand; but just then the skeleton stepped forward holding something which glistened.
"Mr. Tyler," he said, in his usual speech-making style, "when our friend Ben told us this morning about your having discovered Mr. Stubbs's brother, we sent out and got this collar for the monkey, and we take the greatest possible pride in presenting it to you; although, if it had been something that my Lilly could have made with her own fair fingers, I should have liked it better."
As he ceased speaking, he handed Toby a very pretty little dog-collar, on the silver plate of which was inscribed:
Toby took the collar, and as he fastened it on the monkey's neck he said, in a voice that trembled considerably with emotion: