70 



FOUB-IIANDED FOLK. 



and quite unexpectedly, as I sat beside it read- 

 ing, the monkey came with a bound upon it. I 

 was alone and he was not startled, so he pro- 

 ceeded to make careful study of everything 

 upon it — books, papers, and lastly a small 

 Japanese tray on which was fastened a bronze 

 frog about half an inch long. After some 

 examination of this creature, he cautiously ap- 

 proached and pounced upon it with both hands, 

 showing that he was familiar with the business 

 of catching insects. While he was busily lift- 

 ing the corners of newspapers, as if looking for 

 something he had lost, I happened to turn sud- 

 denly, when he made one tremendous bound and 

 landed on the mantel, four feet away. I don't 

 know which of us was the most startled. 



From his mantel or the top of his chair, our 

 South American guest — as I said — looked on 

 at the life about him, and expressed his views of 

 the same, with great freedom. He knew every 

 one of the family, and had his opinion of them 

 too, and he considered the presence of a stranger 

 entirely uncalled for, and not to be tolerated. 



He watched one who came in very closely, 

 with a grave air of suspicion, and generally 

 ended his scrutiny by a vehement harangue, 

 which although in his native tongue, and un- 

 translatable by us, left no doubt of his meaning. 

 His manner at the time was most droll.- He 



