Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-03
they did no harm and kept out of the cap


tain's cabin.
There were monkeys of all sizes-some no
larger than kittens, others as big as human
babies. We kept them aft as much as pos
sible, away from the officers quarters.
where they coHgregated in a lively, chat
tering community.
Each monkey had an individuality dis
tinctly different from the rest. Few people
have seen monkeys together in numbers
and know how strikingly marked is the in
dividual character of each one. Some were
fighters and self-assertive. some were tim
id. some were sentimental. some suilen,
some cheerful and fond of jokes. and some
were thoughtful.
My monkey soon became famous-or no.
torious, rather-as the bruiSer of the COM
munity. She-for it was lady monkey
spent her entire time of wakefulness in
slouchiEg about the decks hunting trouble
Her presence was always announced by
short. rasping coughs that struck terror to
all the other monkeys and sent them scam
perlng. Then Jenny, as we called her.
would come swinging down some rope or
backstay, or around some corner. her Shout
ders hunched up. her long arms swaying
and her small fists doubled up. Nor did
she draw any sharp lines between men and
monkeys
One night the bos'n sat in my room when
JennyS cough sounded in the open window.
She leaped down to the washstand whence
she reached up and laid claim to the Dos n s
cigar. or course, the bos refused to part
with his smoke. whereupon Jenny gave
MN resoundfng slap across the cheek.
Ihls so ratified the bosn that he dropped
his cigar. and a minute later Jenny disap-
peared out Of the window with her prize.
whether she smoked it or not We never
knew. but her sense of morality never de-
tered her
The Monkey That Was Sentimental.
Then there was little Tommy. He was a
small chap and belonged to my watch mate
Tommy was the sentimental monkey No
matter who came near him. he would put
mis- arms around his neck, and. closing his
eyes. lean his little head on the mans
shoulder. For every monkey who would
let him he showed similar affectionate
regard
Above my washstand was looking glass
under which. in a rack. were two bottles of
fire extinguishing fluid. Tommy would sit
.on the cork of one bottle hold fast to the
neck of the other with his feet and loving
~ cuddle up to his reflection in the glass
kissing it most fervently and closing his
eyes in ecstasy
OF evenings would all gather around
our community of pets and watch them in
social intercourse. On these occasions we
Kept Jenny locked up. as she always gave
an atmosphere of impending trouble to
these meetings. which were none too peace
full without her.
But one day this happy state of affairs
was Drought to sudden end Jimmy. the
m1schlevous sDrite of the outfit. a little
black-faced fellow, belonging to a sergeant
brought disgrace upon himself and the rest
OF us by venturing into forbidden domain
the captains cabin.
we all heard about it soon enough He
got on top of the captains desk and became
Interested in the log book. Whether from
editorlai dlsapproval, or simply pure mis-
chief, we never knew, but he deliberately
tore out whole pages from the log book and
also dipped his paws into the ink well and
then smeared out entries of entire days
i his was all, otherwise he did no harm 1t
was Just his attempted revision of the log
book that brought on the storm. Next day
the whole colony of monkeys. Jenny Tom
my and Jimmy included. We're sent ashore
and sorroWful and petless we disconsolately
watched them go.