104 FOUR-HANDED FOLK. 



guest, and answer by most expressive panto- 

 mime. Under these circumstances he appeared 

 gentle and friendly, and as if he might be made 

 companionable. He looked one steadily in the 

 eye, without that furtive glance that makes us 

 always suspect the next move of a monkey ; he 

 observed dress and manners with an air of in- 

 terest. That he had thoughts and opinions of 

 his own no one who studied him closely could 

 doubt, and the stranger often felt inclined to 

 offer his next of kin a friendly hand through 

 the bars. But when the ropes at the entrance 

 were taken down, and the waiting multitudes 

 trooped in, — men and boys, if early, women and 

 children at a later hour, — instantly the human 

 disappeared and the monkey came to the front ; 

 the thoughtful fellow-creature became a buffoon. 

 He sprang from his seat, took a flying leap to 

 the roof, crossed it by two or three swings of his 

 long arms, and flung himself upon his two tra- 

 pezes — which were, perhaps, six feet apart — 

 with a violence that would destroy anything less 

 strong than those inch-thick iron bars. On and 

 around these he performed mad capers that 

 made the spectator hold his breath, lest he get 

 his death-blow from the erratic movement of 

 the heavy iron swings. The ape had no misgiv- 

 ings ; his agility was equal to the demand, and 

 he kept both trapezes in violent and irregular 



