The Story of a Monkey on a Stick | Page 9

just the same."
And the Monkey really could. The ink on his tail didn't bother him a bit.
Up and down the stick he went, when Herbert pulled the string, and
even the teacher had to laugh, the Monkey was so funny.
"I'm so glad I have my Monkey back!" thought Herbert as he ran along
the street.
All the other boys and girls were ahead of him, as he had been kept in a

little while after school to get his toy back. All at once, as Herbert was
passing a candy store, he saw, coming out of it, Dick, the boy who
owned the White Rocking Horse.
"Oh, hello, Herbert!" called Dick, giving his friend a piece of candy.
"So you have your Monkey back!"
"Yes," Herbert answered. "I stayed in to get him."
"I know how we can have some fun with him," went on Dick.
"How?" Herbert wanted to know.
"We can give him a ride on the back of our dog Carlo," went on Dick.
"We can take the Monkey off the stick, and tie him on Carlo's back.
Then Carlo will run and the Monkey will have a fine ride."
The two boys hurried down the street toward Dick's house.
"This world is full of surprises," thought the Monkey. "I wonder what
my toy friends in the store would think if they knew I was going to
have a ride on a dog's back. What a wonderful adventure it may be!"
The Monkey was not afraid. He was a courageous chap, almost as
brave as the Bold Tin Soldier. One has to be brave to climb up and
down a stick day after day, and turn somersaults from the top; I think.
"How can we make my Monkey stay on your Carlo's back?" asked
Herbert, as they reached Dick's house.
"We can tie him on, same as my sister once tied her Sawdust Doll to
the back of the Lamb on Wheels," Dick answered.
"And maybe, some day, we can have a little show," said Herbert.
"What kind of show?" Dick asked, as he ate the last piece of candy he
had bought on his way from school, having shared some with Herbert.
"Oh, a show with my Monkey in it, and your Rocking Horse, and

Arnold's Tin Soldiers, and Mirabell's Lamb and Madeline's Candy
Rabbit," Herbert replied.
"Here, Carlo! Carlo!" called Dick. "Come and give Herbert's Monkey a
ride on your back."
Carlo came running up, wagging his tail. He liked to play with the boys,
and he did not make a bit of fuss when Dick and Herbert tied the
Monkey on his back. Of course the Monkey was taken off his stick for
this strange ride. He was tied on with bits of string, as the boys had
plenty of this in their pockets.
"Hold still a minute, Carlo!" called Dick, for the dog was wiggling and
twisting around. "Hold still and we'll soon be ready."
"How are you going to make him run, after we get the Monkey fastened
on his back?" asked Herbert.
"Oh, that's easy," Dick answered. "We'll just run down the meadow
toward the brook and he'll follow us all right. He'll give the Monkey a
fine ride, won't you, Carlo?"
"Bow wow!" barked the dog, which, I suppose, was his way of saying:
"Yes!"
"Well, I surely hope nothing serious will happen," thought the Monkey,
as he found himself being tied on the dog's fuzzy back. "I have had
many adventures, but never one like this. I hope nothing terrible
happens!"
In another minute the boys tied the last knot. There sat the Monkey, off
his stick, on Carlo's back.
"Come on, now!" cried Dick, and he and Herbert started to run.
With a bark Carlo took after them, the Monkey bobbing backward and
forward on the dog's back.
"As long as they can't very well see me, I'll grab hold of the dog's hair

in my hands," said the Monkey. "In that way I can hold on better. Some
of the strings may break."
He clutched his hands tightly in the dog's hair. Carlo ran faster and
faster after the boys.
"Don't go so quick!" begged the Monkey.
"Bow wow! I have to!" barked Carlo.
"Oh, I know something dreadful will happen!" exclaimed the Monkey.
"I just know it!"
CHAPTER V
MONKEYSHINES
Over the green meadow, with the Monkey on his back, ran Carlo the
dog. In front of the dog raced Herbert and Dick, now and then looking
back and laughing. It was great fun for the boys to see the Monkey
having a ride on the dog's back. And, to tell the truth, Carlo and the
Monkey were enjoying it themselves.
"Do I hurt you, holding on this way?" asked the Monkey of Carlo,
grasping tightly