KEES THE BABOON 219 



him to come down. When they reached the tent it was 

 quite plain that he remembered his fault, and expected to 

 be punished ; but Le Vaillant was too glad to get his pet 

 back to take any further notice. Besides, what would 

 have been the use ? 



In spite of his penitence — or the shame of having been 

 found out — Kees went on stealing as badly as ever. At 

 least every article of food that disappeared — especially 

 eggs — was always said to have been taken by him, and 

 Le Vaillant determined to discover how far the charge 

 was true. So one day he hid himself near where the hen 

 was kept and waited till her loud cackling told all whom 

 it might concern that she had laid an egg. Kees, who 

 had been sitting patiently on a cart, at once jumped down 

 and ran towards the egg, when his master strolled care- 

 lessly towards him. In an instant he stopped, assumed 

 his most innocent air, and balanced himself on his hind 

 legs, as if he had merely come out to see the sun rise. 

 His master pretended not to be aware of the meaning of 

 all this, and turned his back on the bush where the egg 

 lay. Of course the baboon seized it with a bound, and, 

 when Le Vaillant looked round, he was in the very act 

 of swallowing the coveted treasure. 



A good whipping followed, but that did not save the 

 eggs, so Le Vaillant hit upon another plan. He shut 

 Kees carefully up for a few mornings, while he trained 

 one of the dogs to find the egg and bring it to him without 

 breaking it. Then Kees was let out and Le Vaillant 

 watched with some curiosity to see what would happen. 

 What did happen was this. As soon as the hen began 

 to cackle both ape and dog ran a race to the nest. Each 

 tried to reach the egg first, and in general it was Kees 

 who was the lucky one. If the dog managed to pick it 

 up he brought it straight to his master and laid it in his 

 hand, Kees all the while following, muttering and making 

 faces at him, though he seemed pleased that the dog did 

 not wish to eat the egg himself. If Kees was the victor 



