Seeing his evident hunger, Toby was sure it would be possible to capture the monkey by means of the food, and he walked around the trunk of the tree, holding a piece of gingerbread temptingly in his fingers.
The monkey came down from branch to branch, as if he had decided to allow himself to be made a prisoner for the sake of the food; but just as Toby was about to seize him, he jumped back with a cry that sounded much as if he were laughing at the disappointment he had caused.
Then Joe tried his skill, coming about as near success as Toby had done; and Leander was roused to action by the new phase the chase had assumed. He too held out some food in order to give Mr. Stubbs's brother the impression that all he had to do was to come and get it.
In thus trying the coaxing plan, all three of the boys got on one side of the tree, while the greater part of their provisions was on the opposite side.
The monkey descended again, first toward one boy and then toward another, as if it were his purpose to allow all three to catch him, and all were equally certain they were about to succeed, when Mr. Stubbs's brother suddenly ran along the branches toward the food. Before it was possible for any of the boys to intercept him, he had dropped to the ground, seized two of the very largest pieces of cake, and was up in the tree again so quickly that but for the cake he had in his paws it might have been doubted whether or not he had been on the ground at all.
Now Mr. Stubbs's brother could laugh at his pursuers, if it is possible for a monkey to laugh; for, without any thanks to them, he had a trifle more than his share of the provisions, and was still at liberty.
"It ain't any use," said Joe, in despair, as he threw himself on the ground, and attacked the luncheon savagely. "I don't believe we shall ever get him; an' if we don't, it won't be much use for us to have our show, for every real circus has a monkey."
"We must catch him," replied Toby, mournfully, looking up into the tree where his pet sat eating the stolen food with the greatest possible enjoyment. "I wouldn't go home an' leave him here if I had to stay all night."
"One might watch here while the others went back to the village an' got every feller there to come out an' help," suggested Leander, who was famous for having ideas so brilliant that no one could carry them into execution.
"We're goin' away from home all the time this way," said Toby, after he had studied the matter carefully, without paying any attention to the suggestion made by Leander; "now let's get a little ways the other side of the tree, an' when he comes down again he'll have to go toward home. Even if we can't catch him, perhaps we can drive him into the village."