FOUR-HANDED SINNERS. in 



the freedom of every town, those four-handed pensioners often 

 assist the police in enforcing the riot-laws by charging en masse 

 for the scene of every dog-fight and school-boy scuffle. They will 

 rescue worried cats, and, for greater security, deposit them on the 

 next roof, or suppress rowdyism in general, the stout Rhesus 

 baboon, for instance, being physically as well as morally quali- 

 fied to quell the aggressive disposition of the fiercest cur. On the 

 platform of a public warehouse the British residents of Agra, a 

 few years ago, witnessed a scene which put that character-trait in 

 even a stronger light. A little street Arab had spread his pallet 

 in the shade of a stack of country produce, and had just dropped 

 asleep, when the proprietor of the Planters' Hotel strolled up with 

 a pet leopard that had learned to accompany him in all his ram- 

 bles. A troop of tramp monkeys had taken post on the opposite 

 end of the shed, and, like the beggar boy, seemed to enjoy a com- 

 fortable siesta, but at sight of the speckled intruder the whole 

 gang charged along the platform like a squadron of spahis, and, 

 instantly forming a semicircle about the little sleeper, faced the 

 leopard with bristling manes, evidently resolved to defeat the sus- 

 pected purpose of his visit. 



Our four-handed cousins apparently credit their biped kins- 

 men with reciprocative tendencies. Three years ago a New York 

 pet-dealer shipped me a bonnet-macaque to Tallulah, Ga., where 

 my guest happened to arrive during the temporary absence of 

 the regular express agent. His assistants, in trying to feed the 

 interesting stranger, managed to break the top of the box, and, 

 after taking to their heels, made matters worse by attacking the 

 deserter with stones and brickbats, till he evaded their missiles 

 on the turrets of a three-story hotel. Here a literal "steeple- 

 chase " was kept up for hours, with the co-operation of an ever- 

 increasing number of volunteers, till the approach of night 

 obliged me to adopt the plan of a veteran squirrel-hunter, who 

 offered to recapture the fugitive by a " crease-shot " — i. e., to crip- 

 ple him just enough to compel his surrender. The expedient led 

 to the desired result; but from that day our prisoner behaved 

 like a captive wild cat, bristling up at the approach of every vis- 

 itor, and wearing out his teeth in a series of desperate attempts 

 to break his wire chain. By dint of perseverance he at last 

 effected his purpose, and once more enacted a declaration of inde- 

 pendence ; but this time fate was too close on his heels, and, be- 

 fore he had run more than a hundred yards, the dogs obliged him 

 to take refuge in the top of a small pine-bush. On my arrival 

 the leader of his pursuers, a big deer-hound, was assailing that 

 bush with leaps that speedily threatened to make the hostile posi- 

 tion untenable, and was just bracing himself for another spring, 

 when the deserter suddenly leaped upon my shoulder, and, clasp- 



