132 



FOUB-HANDED FOLK. 



bles, which she carried on her head, Gila sprang 

 upon her, frightened her nearly out of her wits, 

 scattered her load far and wide, and scampered 

 up into the rafters where no one could reach her, 

 — grinning and chuckling over it till the excite- 

 ment passed and she considered it safe to come 

 down. A special favorite with this monkey was 

 the woman who sold certain dainties made of 

 rice-flour and milk, which she carried in a tray 

 upon her head. Gila could throw herself out 

 very far from her bar by holding on with her feet, 

 and it was almost impossible for this woman to 

 get past her without giving the watchful crea- 

 ture a chance to snatch a handful of her w r ares. 

 As I always paid for them, possibly she did not 

 try to keep out of the monkey's reach. 



When Gila got loose, as she sometimes did in 

 spite of our care, there seemed no end to the 

 things she would think of to do ; and to think of 

 them was to do them, with her. If interrupted 

 in her fun, she would climb nimbly to the top 

 of a tall tree, and no coaxing would bring her 

 down. 



One day she made much trouble by upsetting 

 and injuring many house-plants, and then re- 

 treated to her usual place. Every way was tried 

 to get her down, talking to her and tempting her 

 with fruit that she liked, but she would not 

 come. At last we thought of a certain jaguar 



