“Here's a story from a St Louis newspaper,” said Harry, “about an incident that must have been very funny:
“'Yesterday was a good day for the monkeys at the Fair grounds, and they liked it. They frisked about in the sunshine, and cut their antics with an abandon that showed them to be bubbling over with fun and mischief. There is one that by some amusing peculiarities becomes an immediate favorite with every spectator. A gentleman in the crowd yesterday happened to have a small pocket-mirror, and just for sport passed it to the favorite. The monkey's behavior, on seeing his face reflected in the glass, kept the crowd in a roar of laughter for nearly an hour. The monkey of course failed to recognize the reflection of himself, and took it for another monkey, and his anxiety to get hold of that monkey was what made the fun. He would look behind the glass, and feel for it in such a comical way while he was looking in the glass, that one could not help laughing. While the glass was close to his eye he gradually bent over, casually, and noticing that the evanescent monkey was on his back apparently he dropped the glass and made a sudden grab for him. When he didn't get him he looked surprised and commenced looking under the straw to see what had become of him. He was then seized with a luminous idea. He picked up the glass and ran to the topmost branch of the dead tree that is erected in the cage, and climbing to the extreme end, again looked in the glass. It seemed he reasoned that in such a position the monkey could not get away. He felt for it, grabbed at it, and tried all sorts of strategy to capture it, notwithstanding repeated failures.'”
That the monkey can be a hero is shown by a story which George found in Our Animal Friends, credited to The Children's Treasury.
“A nobleman had a favorite monkey, a large orang-outang.
This monkey was very much attached to his master and to the baby boy who was the pet of the whole family. One day, a fire suddenly broke out in the house, and everybody was running here and there to put it out, while the little boy in the nursery was almost forgotten; and, when they thought of him, the staircase was all in flames. What could be done?
“As they were looking up and wondering, a large hairy hand and arm opened the window: and presently the monkey appeared with the baby in his arms, and carefully climbed down over the porch, and brought the child safely to his nurse. Nobody else could have done it; for a man cannot climb like a monkey and is not nearly so strong.
“You may imagine how the faithful creature was praised and petted after that. This is a true story, and the child who was saved was the young Marquis of Kildare.”