The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1875-05-14

of the deceased bird.
After toying with the bones and other
remnants of the repast the brute's atten-
ton was suddenly attracted to the cradle.
To walk nearly erect was the normal
habit of this ill-favOred beast. He
quietly approached the sleeping child
and squatted down at its side. 1t IS
probable that among the select visitors
to Lord Dcrby's museum the babOOn
had never seen an infant any way so frail
and young. The sight was therefore
very novel, and he gazed upon the IN
conscious creature with manifest interest
as he removed the covcrlet from its
Steering form. The father, from out
the curtains of his bed. behcld the entire
proceedings with understandable agony.
1t was not presence of mind which pre-
. vented him leaping ont 10 the rescue,
but a feeling of spellbound hclplessness.
The poor farmer was not deficient in
ordinary courage, and would have faced
a dozen OF his own species without a
particle of fear had circumstances de
manded it, but he felt utterly incapable
Of wrestling with such Il foe as the one
now sitting before the rudy chamber
fire. After Il little while the creature
lifted the infant from the cradle and
,,1,.>I - I'LL, infinite f,,J,,n,nu r ,.,,np
the ~hearth-rug. 1t then proceeded to
make Il rigid examination of the child's
limbs, SO soft and plump, and SO devoid
of all hirsute decoration. It was this
fact that probably amazed and staggered
the examiner most. He no doubt re-
tanned some recollection of the young
progeny of his own kith and kin in the
days of his liberty in the distant African
forests, but never before had he gazed
upon q little alabaster form like this.
So gently had he removed the babe from
its cot, and 80 considerable did he con
duct his researches, that its sleep sur
vived the process. Apparently satisfied
in the extreme with his investigation,
the mOnstcr-mOnster with touch so
delicate Transferred his attentions to
a general scrutiny Of the chamber in
which he now found himself, without in
vitation, and possibly with greater emo
tons of surprise than those experienced
by the farmer, if that could be.
Furniture was certainly a novel spec
tacle, for in his recent home a dead, leaf
less tree was the sole decorative article,
and he now rOamcd the room with such
a look of critical acumen that he strongly
resembled an auctioneer's clerk, taking
an inventory of the household property.
The old-fashioned bed in which the
farmer lay, in ~speechless suspense, was
evidently destined to cCme last upon the
intruder's catalogue, but come it did,
and the terrible brute, exceeding III
height the average human race, and with
evidences of innate strength equally in
excess, now stood at the farmers side.
The visitor remained there but for Il
moment, yet to the farmer, who had
affected to be sound asleep, it was no
such brief period of time. All at once
a timid cry from The tiny child, who
evidently preferred the coseyness Of its
cradle to the discomforts of the hearth
rug, altered the programme instantly.
The baboon Immediately deserted the
father and ran to the side of the awak-
ened child.
The nurse, from her room above, had
heard the cry, the doors being purpose
ly open, and she prepared to descend
the narrow stairs. But the wretched
father could no longer support the awful
tension in which his nerves had been
held during the last ten minutes, and he
gave vent to a wild, half frantic shout.
The monster was terrified and instantly
prepared for escape. He leapcd along
the room to the ho~usekeeper's staircase,
where he encountered the unsuspecting
old lady. More than the grim outline
of the brute could not have been visible
in that darkened stairway. The nurse
and the brute appeared to have closed
in a fixed embrace, for in that position
they struggled and fell to the foot of
the staircase. Then the brute olsen
itself from the old woman's
hold and effected his escape frcm the
house.
The scene which ensued can scarcely
be imagined. The nurse lay apparently