The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1896-07-18


siderable portion of my clothes, and
by the time that a policeman arrived
suppose my appearance did justify him
in conveying Jacko, the Italian and mo
to the police station. There | spent
most miserable night. Ny utmost en-
treaties failed to induce the police 20
send to Mrs. Tremaine to bail me out.
I think their malevolenee was prompted
by the policeman who had been SO rude
ly interrupted in his tryst with tho
cook.
''In the morning we appeared before
his worship. The italian and | were
charged with creating a disturbances
and assaults, and breaches of the peace
and that kind of thing, and, as far as
remember. the police threw in n
charge of drunk and disorderly against
me. His worship asked to see the mon
key, and, when they brought him in,
10 and behold! there were two Jackos.
"After some explanation the magis-
trate dismissed the charges against us
with caution, on the ground of ex-
cusable mistake. And, indeed, it was
most exeusable. Apparently the Ital-
ian had really lost his monkey, and
whether it was his monkey or Jaello
that he had been pursuing when / en-
countered it / do not know to this day.
The other monkey during the night and
had shut the two up together. There
they sat, two ugly, grinning, indistin-
guishable creatures, both guilty, ac-
cording to the evidence, of aggravated
assaults on the police.
sWhen we were released from the
dock the magistrate asked us to re-
move the monkeys. The Italian and |
stared at each ether blankly. He knew
no more than | which was his property.
OF course, it was useless to consult the
police about their identity. As the mag
istrate pointed out, there is no pre-
sumption either in law or in fact as to
the ownership of two stray monkeys.
| appealed to him TO decide the question
himself, and he pointed out that it was
the duty of the police to restore proper
" to its owners. He said that he was
not Solomon, but only police magis-
trate, and that he doubted whether even
the house of lords could throw much
light on the subject. The matter, he
thought, was eminently one to be set
tied out of court.
AT first tried to solve the difficulty
by buying out the Italians claim -
either of the monkeys, with the idea OF
sorting them afterward. But he, also,
it appeared, had romantic attachment
for his earrissimo monkey, and he de-
clned my overtures with fervent APP
peals to most of the saints on the reg
lister. The whole thing. he seemed to
think, was base attempt on the part of
2 foreign brutal government to trample
on the rights of an Italian citizen and
to consign his monkey to the dungeons
of the Zoo. Then l offered him his
choice of the two, and this might have
saved all trouble if Mrs. Tremaine had
not arrived at that moment to inquire
for Jacko and had not learned the whole
affair from a communicative inspector.
Neither Jacko nor the alleged Jacko
showed the faintest signs of recognition.
Indeed, they almost Mt once devoted
themselves to sanguinary fight, in
which Mrs. Tremaine interviewed with
considerable injury to herself. Then
she turned to me, and / could see from
her manner that she considered me re-
sponsible for the whole difficulty. For
Il quarter of an hour had really lively
time. Mrs. Tremaine hectored the ltal-
ian, and the Italian objurgnted Mrs. Ire
maine. Neither of them understood a
word that the other said, and | had 10
act as interpreter and buffer.
Eventually, / made the best terms
that l could. The Italian agreed, for a
consideration, to allow us to keep both
monkeys for Il week, during which we
might discover their identity. Mrs.
Tremanc quite readily agreed to the
proposal, for she was confident that no
monkey but Jacko could posses Jacko's
virtues. | was more doubtful. bcliev-
ing that the virtues were few enough to
be common to many monkeys. And so
il turned out. Both monkeys made
themselves quite at home, overate them
selves equally, stole as. clevcrly, and.
what was most remarkable, searched
with identical persistence for the de-
ceased Capt. Tremaine. Twice that
week | had TO catch two monkeys. and
when they were both in the butterfly
net they nearly killed each other. Mrs.
Tremaine used to look at them Ivy the
hour, and sob, and call JACKIE softly.
They both answered to the name, il
there was any food about, and at other
times preferred to be the other monkey.
AT the end of the week, the organ
grinder appeared punctually, and a
heartrending scene followed. No de-
cision had been come to till the morning
of his arrival, and then Mrs. Tremaine
and Maud differed as to which was the
real Jacko. Then the question had to
really mattered little which we kept, [
suggested that we should toss up. The
fiippancy of the suggestion annoyed
them and led to recrimination, but at
last we agreed to decide by lot, that
being Biblical way out of the diff
Suitgi anu Suitdoic W tIlS oCCdHIol. l rs
organ grinder went on his way con-
tcntedly, and hoped that the affair was
at an end. But l was very much mis-
taken. No sooner had he gone than
Mrs. Tremaine and Maud became alike
convinced that they had given up the
real Jacko. They said they were now
certain of it, Poor, dear Jacko was sit
ting on barrel organ in the cold
street, and engaged in the degrading oc-
cupation of collecting coppers, and