Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Monkey-Shines.
A TALE
OF
TWO MONKEYS
And Other Stories
A TALE OF TWO MONKEYS.
The late Dr. John Torrey, of ColumbiaCollege, was extremely fond of pets,and expressed admiration for the prettylittle Brazilian monkeys with gentle, humanfaces and velvety, mouse-coloredcoats. A gentleman who heard it wentshortly afterward to Brazil. Upon his return,he presented the doctor with a choicepair. A cage was provided for them, andthey soon became members of the family,petted by all, and tenderly loved by thedoctor, in whose study they lived.
One Sunday, the entire family went tochurch and the monkeys were left at homein their cage. When the churchgoers returnedthey found the stay-at-homes onthe top of the folding doors of the parlors,trembling and crying piteously—and for6reasons, as they soon discovered. Thelittle mischief-makers had forced open thedoor of their cage, and, finding themselvesfree, had proceeded to enjoy themselves ina manner that was scandalous.
In the cellar a bag of hops and ten basketsof strawberries were dumped together7and hopelessly mixed; the pans of milkwere without cream, and there was unmistakableevidence that the monkeys hadskimmed them with their tails! A cisternin the yard offered a fine opening, and thelittle mischiefs gathered some clothes fromthe line, the cook’s aprons from the kitchen,and plumped them all in.
An open watch belonging to a daughterof the house attracted one of the monkeys.He removed the hands, took it down stairsand carefully covered the face with mud,and then brought it back and placed it onher bed. Not so carefully did they pullthe cover from her writing table, bringingink and papers with it, and spilling theink; and when it came to the pulling downof muslin curtains and bed hangings, andtearing them into strips, the fun must haverisen to frenzy, for they proceeded to doup the parlor window draperies in thesame style. The dining room table nextengaged their attention, and the fact that8they made a salad of the flowers in thecenter with the pepper, salt, and mustardmay have accounted for their tearful statewhen they were found perched above thedoor.
The little penitents were forgiven, forthey seemed really sorry. But soon afterwardone of the midgets carefully removedthe glasses from the doctor’s spectacles,twisted the bows and put them in thestove, from which they both took ashesand sprinkled round the