CHAPTER VII 



Meeting with Nellie — Nellie was my Guest — Her Speech and 

 Manners — Helen Keller and Nellie — One of Nellie's Friends 

 — Her Sight and Hearing — Her Toys and how She Played 

 with Them 



ONE of the most intelligent of my brown Capuchin 

 friends was little Nellie. When she arrived in 

 Washington, I was invited to visit her. I introduced 

 myself by speaking to her the sound of food. To that she 

 promptly replied. She was rather informal, and we were 

 soon engaged in a chat on that subject — the one that 

 above all others interests a monkey. On my second visit 

 she acted like an old acquaintance, and we had a fine time. 

 On a later visit she allowed me to put my hands into her 

 cage to handle and caress her. On another visit I took 

 her out of the cage and we had a real jolly romp. This 

 continued for some days, during which time she answered 

 me when I gave the word for food or drink. She had 

 grown quite fond of me, and always recognized me when I 

 entered the door. 



About this time there came to Washington a little girl 

 who was deaf, dumb, and blind. It was little Helen Keller. 

 She was accompanied by her teacher, who acted as her in- 

 terpreter. A great desire of Helen's life was to see a live 

 monkey — that is, to see one with her fingers. The owner 



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