136 



FOUR-HANDED FOLK. 



frolic lie chanced to get within reach, snap ! she 

 would snatch him and run to her perch. This 

 insult from a monkey, who in a wild state is food 

 for an ocelot, was not to be endured. The baby 

 " yowled " in a fearful way, and scratched like 

 any old cat. But Gila was not discouraged ; 

 she pressed him closer than ever to her breast, 

 and played baby as long as she chose. 



Poor Gila ! she had trouble in finding a play- 

 thing to please her, but she did have one that 

 was everything she could desire. Her only grief 

 was that her pleasure did not last long. It was 

 another monkey, one of a much smaller kind, a 

 Friar monkey. She was almost too happy when 

 he came, and she adopted him at once, hugging 

 and kissing him, — at least if pressing her lips 

 to him is kissing. Happily, he liked to be pet- 

 ted, and he enjoyed hanging on to Gila's neck, 

 and riding around in her arms, as much as she 

 enjoyed having him. 



They were very happy for a while, but he was 

 more mischievous than she, if possible, and his 

 career was short. The first thing he did was 

 to get loose, and, as I could not attend to him 

 at the moment, I put him in my room, and un- 

 fortunately forgot him for some hours. The 

 poor little fellow, left with nothing to do in 

 a room full of wonders, naturally indulged his 

 thirst for knowledge, and such a sight as greeted 



