At sight of the two excited girls he stopped short to stare in astonishment.
“Babes in the woods,” he said at last. “Now where is the wicked old queen or the dragon, or—Oh, now I know,” he said changing his tone. “You are Doris, Dorn’s cousin. He’s told me all about you. He—”
“Forget about it and be quiet.” Doris took a step toward him. “There’s a monkey in this tree and he has a diamond ring on his arm.”
“A—a monkey!” The boy stared as if he thought her out of her senses. “A diamond ring on a monkey’s arm!”
“Be quiet, I tell you.” Doris put a finger over his lips. “It’s true. I—we—we saw him! There! There he goes now!” she exclaimed as a brown streak surging from a branch set the dry pods rattling, then vaulted into the top of a cocoanut palm.
“And there he leaps again,” said Johnny, losing himself in wild excitement. “Come on. We’ll get him.”
They all went tumbling down the hill.
They were quite out of sight of the “chattering woman” and still following the monkey when Doris stopped short. “I—I think I saw him.”
“Where? Where is he?” demanded Nieta. Her eyes were wide with excitement.
“There! There!” The white girl’s words came in a shrill whisper. “He’s up in that small mahogany tree looking down at us.”