VII. 



THE END OF KOKO. 



After five hours of revels that kept his audi- 

 ence in shrieks of laughter, or in terror for his 

 life, the time came for Koko to go to bed. He 

 was never willing ; on the contrary he was deter- 

 mined to stay out. On this one point he never 

 had his desire, but catching him required always 

 a little stratagem. The cage he was careful 

 never to enter without leaving a leg hanging out ; 

 capturing by the chase was not to be thought of, 

 so nimble, so quick was he in movement, and so 

 mighty in leaps ; slippery and elusive was his fur 

 to hold ; there was but one way. It was for his 

 best friend to wait patiently till he was quiet on 

 her lap, in exactly the right position so that there 

 should not be any chance of failure, then bring 

 two hands down upon him suddenly and firmly, 

 and carry him to his cage. When the hands of 

 his friend came upon him in this way, he sub- 

 mitted as to fate ; but if any one else tried it, 

 he rebelled, wriggled, struggled, bit, and usually 

 got away. 



It was curious to see him prepare for the 

 night. His bed was in a round wooden box, fast- 



