“Yes,” answered Mappo, “that is a circus.”
“And you ran away from it—you ran away from a nice place like that?” asked Slicko in surprise.
“Oh, well, I got tired of being in a cage all the while,” said Mappo, the merry monkey. “I am going back again soon, I guess, as it is no fun to have to hunt for things to eat all the while. In the circus, though I did have to stay in a cage, I got all I wanted to eat without any trouble. Yes, I think I shall run back again, soon.”
“I should think, if you had run away, they would come after you, to find you,” said Slicko.
“They did come once,” spoke Mappo, with a laugh. “Once when I was in the woods, talking to Squinty, the comical pig, some circus men came after me to catch me, but I ran away. They haven’t caught me yet,” and he laughed and chattered, showing his many, white teeth.
For a little while Slicko and Mappo sat in the woods looking at the circus, and then, all of a sudden, the little girl squirrel cried out:
“Oh, Mappo! What are those funny animals, as big as houses, with two tails? What are they?”
“Ha! Ha! Ha!” laughed Mappo, the merry monkey. “Two tails! Ho! Ho!”
“Well, they do have two tails,” said Slicko. “What are they?”