“I heard of a monkey once,” exclaimed Frank, laughing merrily, “who made great use of his tail. If a nut or apple were thrown to him which fell beyond his reach, he would run to the full length of his chain, turn his back, then stretch out his tail, and draw toward him the coveted delicacy.”
“Let’s see whether Jacko would do so,” shouted Minnie, greatly excited with the project.
“When we can catch him. But see how funny he looks. There he goes up the hay mow, the chain dangling after him.”
“If we don’t try to catch him, he’ll come quicker,” said Minnie, gravely.
“I know another story about a monkey—a real funny one,” added the boy. “I don’t know what his name was; but he used to sleep in the barn with the cattle and horses. I suppose monkeys are always cold here; at any rate, this one was; and when he saw the hostler give the horse a nice feed of hay, he said to himself, ‘What a comfortable bed that would make for me!’
“When the man went away, he jumped into the hay and hid, and every time the horse came near enough to eat, he sprang forward and bit her ears with his sharp teeth.
“Of course, as the poor horse couldn’t get her food, she grew very thin, and at last was so frightened that the hostler could scarcely get her into the stall. Several times he had to whip her before she would enter it, and then she stood as far back as possible, trembling like a leaf.
“It was a long time before they found out what the matter was; and then the monkey had to take a whipping, I guess.”
“If his mother had been there, she would have whipped him,” said Minnie, laughing.
“What do you mean?”