, 1888-11-18

monkey grabbed up the end of his string,
dropped stealthily from the floor of the
veranda, and went sagging gently off over
the ground toward the doctors ram. Evi.
IDENTIFY gOingto monkey" a bit, thought;
also, 1 c~onjectured that he didn't half
know the fourth part of what he had to
deal with. l ventured this much even
before l guessed the suicidal extent to
which the prank was to be carried.
IF a monkey may be tied up, a nice
monkey at that, why not this sodden, stu
pid creature?"
But wait q bit. Which end of that
cord are you going to use, you little crab?
That theory like your string, has right
and a wrong end, and if you get hold of
the wrong one, you are lost. Exactly
what are you going to tie that sheep TOT"
In this way sat silently questioning and
specializing while the misguided little
thief hoped nearer and nearer Nan Ord.
Once alongside, he dropped the end of the
cord over Donald's upper hind leg, fished
it out below, and set earnestly to work to
make 1t fast. How gentle and silent he
was in and out, up and down, back and
forth, he pushed, pulled, twisted and
fouled that Incl Not a sound did he make
or utter until he had succeeded in accom-
plishing that which, if it would not level
up with any known knot, was yet a good
N'AhSASs III L1lol1td VIII IL nIDCk VI
delight which demonstrated that his
wicked little heart was being destroyed
with glee, the unwarned founding of the
forest made a dash for his original posi-
ton. Once there he proposed, l presume,
to wind himself up in the fun afforded BY
the situation.
Yes, he had tied up Nan Ord, but al
ready the quality of satisfaction originally
achieved had dwindled until it graded up
rather badly. AS we have seen, there was
a mistake, and a pretty predicament my
nice monkey was in. Poor little Humbug
SIM had already named him so-he
found himself safely caught in the blight
of trouble, and the glee snuffed out, Just
as the mirth wentyout of Graham the night
he put his hand on a black cobra's coil.
Whangi went the taut line. Baai phtl
pitt blew Donald, as he sprang to his feet
and stamped an angry inquiry.
A momentary glare on the part of the
Hammerer, a quick dash, a dodge, and a
period of mutual contemplation filed the
first half minute.
One, two, three. scootl Then followed
the most cheerful occasion of my life.
Surely mortal man never beheld the like
before. Around and over, hither and
yon, few little Humbug, with the ram
finishing a good second at every turn. 1t
was my monkey IA Graham's sheep,
United States a.: .nst Caledonia, and a
blue day for [ - Sam. Around they
went, and back they came, Donald doing
his best to score a hit, and taking his
shots, quarter" or straight away" Just
as they came, and the monkey straining
every hber to keep up a system of vanish
ing targets. 1t was a tumbling match, a
bull fight, a swift chariot race, and a fit
apiece. Sometimes the ten feet of cord
would foul and shorten, so that for the
moment it looked as if Donald was going
to come aboard. Then it would reel off
again, and the dance take up it's furious
measure once more. Now and then a
brief cessation of hostilities would tran
spire, which occasions both parties filed
in with earnest inquiries as to the
exact shape of the next evolution; espe-
cially did little Humbug seem anxious to
keep track of these little details. Per
haps he thought it vital for him to know
IN time to get up some sort of makeshift
counter that would last him around the
ring and back again. Then, with q rush
and a snort, a shrek and a wild leap, the
two would go revolving and whirling
about like chain shot once more, one of
them trying to slack the line, and The
other to haul it taut. The Hammerer's
eyes got to blazing like head lights, while
the troubled victim of his own native
'NAO 4 LtClllR dtlu
tumbling about like a spider fight.
Plainly my side was getting the worst of
II, but somehow l was given the grace to
bear it. | seemed to have no end of
courage, and l am glad it happened SO,
for just along where we were then it had
begun to look like 1.-The saddest time of
az the year, mother" Evidently, if things
held up as they were going, our name was
mud-AsI.saW it either that line had to
mart tho Sham 10 80 tva1 Oy,A 1;1-. - CT
stocking, or else my monkey must take
the alternative of getting rammed beyond
recognition, or of flying into bits like hen
feathers in a furry by force of his own
exertions.
But just as things began to look dark
est for us a something flashed by and
whizzed into the house. 1t was our side.
The tie had failed, and we were free.
70, it isn't every bit of string that will
DO to tie to every sheep you find lying
around. In some cases you might as well
mitch up to a pestilence and be lone
with it.
Now after this blunder in the matter of
a hitch, the confusion of hitcher and
hltchee, and the consequent unwholesome
aspects OF things generally, it would seem
that my monkey would pick him out a
good placein which to sit down and square
up experiences; that he would graduate
ms progress toward experiments involv-
ing string or anything else. Thought
SO, but l was ignorant. l went to a win
dow, drew the print curtains slightly
apart, and became wiser, for there was
my unterrifed, unrepentant little beast
pottering about the room Just as indus.
triously and as blithely as if he had not
but just narrowly escaped being butted
out as fiat as a gun wad by a sheep. The
room was Graham's, and was used as q
combined medicine shop, study and bird
stutfery. Truly a bad place for such an
occupant, but l was disposed to take the
risk ON my property.
Over the breakfast table in the morn
ing Graham and l had exchanged a num-
Der of little amenities that now served to
cheer me to the venture. He said to me
that America was not historically great,
and could never be SO. To clinch this, he
asserted that Americans place no value
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