The Story of Dago

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The Story of Dago

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Dago, by Annie Fellows-Johnston This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Story of Dago
Author: Annie Fellows-Johnston
Illustrator: Etheldred B. Barry
Release Date: December 31, 2005 [EBook #17429]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE STORY OF DAGO
BY
ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON
[Illustration: "IT WAS HER SWINGING AND JERKING ON THE ROPE THAT RANG THE BELL."]
THE STORY OF DAGO
BY
ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON
AUTHOR OF "THE LITTLE COLONEL," "BIG BROTHER," "OLE MAMMY'S TORMENT," "THE GATE OF THE GIANT SCISSORS," "TWO LITTLE KNIGHTS OF KENTUCKY," ETC.
Illustrated by
ETHELDRED B. BARRY
BOSTON L.C. PAGE & COMPANY 1900
Copyright, 1900
BY L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY (Incorporated)
TO
"Gin the Monk"
WHOSE PRANKS ARE LINKED WITH THE BOYHOOD MEMORIES OF DR. GAVIN FULTON, ONE OF THE BEST OF PHYSICIANS AND FRIENDS, THIS STORY OF DAGO IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. THIS IS THE STORY THAT DAGO TOLD TO THE MIRROR-MONKEY ON MONDAY 1
II. WHAT DAGO SAID TO THE MIRROR-MONKEY ON TUESDAY 16
III. WHAT THE MIRROR-MONKEY HEARD ON WEDNESDAY 32
IV. THE TALE THE MIRROR-MONKEY HEARD ON THURSDAY 46
V. WHAT DAGO TOLD ON FRIDAY 60
VI. WHAT DAGO SAID TO THE MIRROR-MONKEY ON SATURDAY 72
VII. WHAT DAGO TOLD THE MIRROR-MONKEY ON SUNDAY 92
VIII. DAGO BIDS FAREWELL TO THE MIRROR-MONKEY 102
ILLVSTRATIONS
PAGE
"IT WAS HER SWINGING AND JERKING ON THE ROPE THAT RANG THE BELL" Frontispiece "THE GARDENER FISHED HER OUT OF THE FOUNTAIN" 9
"HER HANDS WERE FOLDED IN HER LAP" 19
MATCHES'S FUNERAL 25
"SHE FAIRLY STIFFENED WITH HORROR" 43
"AT LAST THE BLUE CUSHION WAS EMPTY, AND I SAT DOWN ON IT" 48
"'OH, YOU LITTLE TORMENT!' SHE CRIED" 63
"THEIR VOICES RANG OUT LUSTILY" 73
"ALL WENT WELL UNTIL WE REACHED AN ALLEY CROSSING" 81
"GOOD-BYE! OLD FELLOW!" 103

THE STORY OF DAGO.
CHAPTER I.
THIS IS THE STORY THAT DAGO TOLD TO THE MIRROR-MONKEY ON MONDAY.
Here I am at last, Ring-tail! The boys have gone to school, thank fortune, and little Elsie has been taken to kindergarten. Everybody in the house thinks that I am safe up-stairs in the little prison of a room that they made for me in the attic. I suppose they never thought how easy it would be for me to swing out of the open window and climb down the lightning-rod. Wouldn't Miss Patricia be surprised if she knew that I am down here now in the parlour, talking to you, and sitting up here among all these costly, breakable things!
I have been wanting to get back into this room ever since that first morning that I slipped in and found you sitting here in the looking-glass, but the door has been shut every time that I have tried to come in. Do you remember that morning? You were the first ring-tail monkey that I had seen since I left the Zoo, and you looked so much like my twin brother, who used to swing with me in the tangled vines of my native forests, and pelt me with cocoanut-shells, and chatter to me all day long under those hot, bright skies, that I wanted to put my arms around you and hug you; but the looking-glass was between us. Some day I shall break that glass, and crawl back behind there with you.
It is a pity that you are dumb and do not seem to be able to answer me, for if you could talk to me about the old jungle days I would not be so homesick. Still, it is some comfort to know that you are not deaf, and I intend to come in here every morning after the children go to school; that is, every morning that I find the door open. I've had a very exciting life in the past, and I think that you'll find my experiences interesting.
Of course I'll not begin at the beginning, for, being a ring-tail monkey yourself, you know what life is like in the great tropical forests. Perhaps it would be better to skip the circus part, too, for it was a very unhappy time that followed, after I was stolen from home by some men who came on a big ship, and carried me away to be sold to a travelling showman.
It makes my back ache to this day to think of the ring-master's whip. I was as quick to learn as any of the other monkeys who were in training, but an animal who has done nothing all his life but climb and