The others crowded close to their leader, and three pairs of hungry eyes were fastened upon the ground. Toby gave a cry of mingled astonishment and disgust.
"W-w-why, would you believe it," he gasped, "after all it was a silly little b-b-baby, and barefooted at that, g-g-got away with the b-b-basket! Oh! rats!"
Both Steve and Bandy-legs were staring at the plain imprint of a foot, and such a queer foot too, long and slender.
"Max, what's the answer?" begged Steve; "it don't seem possible that that track was ever made by any baby like Toby says."
"It wasn't," the other told him, with a smile; "that was a full-grown monkey, and I should think he would stand about as high as Bandy-legs here!"
"A m-m-monkey!" echoed Toby, scratching his head; "and that was what stole our f-f-fine h-h-ham the f-f-first night we camped here, was it, and threw the s-same at Steve's head? Oh! my s-s-stars, a real live monkey. I w-w-wonder now if it's got a r-r-ringed tail like Steve said."
"But looky here, Max," interposed Bandy-legs, "monkeys don't eat fish and frogs, do they? I understood they lived on nuts and roots and fruit."
"So they do, as near as I can say," acknowledged Max; "although there may be a species that does eat animal food, though I doubt it. This fellow has lived pretty much all his life in the circus, and is as tricky as they make them. He watched Toby here working, and wondered what he had so good in that basket; so when the chance came he just dropped down and made away with it."
Toby began to scan the neighboring trees as though he half expected to see a grinning hairy face projected through the branches and leering at him.
"But after he looks in and sees what's there, he might drop the basket, mightn't he, Max?" Steve inquired.