_The Twelfth Surprise_
THE LAND OF THE CIVILIZED MONKEYS
I must now tell you of a very strange adventure that befell Prince Zingle, which, had it not turned out exactly as it did, might have resulted in making him a captive for life in a remarkable country.
By consulting Smith"s History of Prince Zingle you will notice that from boyhood he had a great pa.s.sion for flying kites, and unlike other boys, he always undertook to make each kite larger than the last one.
Therefore his kites grew in size, and became larger and larger, until at length the Prince made one twice as tall as himself.
When it was finished he was very proud of this great kite, and took it out to a level place to see how well it would fly, being accompanied by many of the people of Mo, who took considerable interest in the Prince"s amus.e.m.e.nt.
There happened to be a strong south wind blowing and, fearing the kite might get away from him, Zingle tied the string around his waist. It flew beautifully at first, but pulled so hard the Prince could scarcely hold it.
At last, when the string was all let out, there came a sudden gust of wind, and in an instant poor Zingle was drawn into the air as easily as an ordinary kite draws its tail. Up and up he soared, and the kite followed the wind and carried him over many countries until the strength died out of the air, when the kite slowly settled toward the earth and landed the Prince in the top of a tall tree.
He now untied the string from his waist and fastened it to a branch of the tree, as he did not wish to lose the kite after all his bother in making it.
Then he began to climb down to the ground, but on reaching the lower branches he was arrested by a most curious sight.
Standing on the ground, and gazing up at him, were a dozen monkeys, all very neatly dressed and all evidently filled with surprise at the Prince"s sudden appearance in the tree.
"What a very queer animal!" exclaimed an old monkey, who wore a tall silk hat and had white kid gloves on his hands. Gold spectacles rested on his nose, and he pointed toward the Prince with a gold-headed cane.
By his side was a little girl-monkey, dressed in pink skirts and a blue bonnet; and when she saw Zingle she clung to the old monkey"s hand and seemed frightened.
"Oh, grandpapa!" she cried; "take me back to mamma; I"m afraid the strange beast will bite me."
Just then a big monkey, wearing a blue coat with bra.s.s b.u.t.tons and swinging a short club in his hand, strutted up to them and said:
"Don"t be afraid, little one. The beast can"t hurt you while I"m around!" And then he tipped his cap over his left ear and shook his club at the Prince, as if he did not know what fear meant.
Two monkeys, who were dressed in red jackets and carried muskets in their hands, now came running up, and, having looked at Zingle with much interest, they called for some one to bring them a strong rope.
"We will capture the brute and put him in the Zoo," said one of the soldier-monkeys.
"What kind of animal is it?" asked the other.
"I do not know. But some of our college professors can doubtless tell, and even if they can"t they will give it some scientific name that will satisfy the people just as well."
All this time Prince Zingle remained clinging to the branches of the tree. He could not understand a word of the monkey language, and therefore had no idea what they were talking about; but he judged from their actions that the monkeys were not friendly. When they brought a long and stout rope, and prepared to throw one end of it over his head, in order to capture him, he became angry and called out to them:
"Stop--I command you! What is the meaning of this strange conduct? I am Prince Zingle, eldest son of the Monarch of Mo, and, since I have been blown into your country through an accident, I certainly deserve kind treatment at your hands."
But this speech had no meaning in the ears of the monkeys, who said to each other:
"Hear him bark! He jabbers away almost as if he could talk!"
By this time a large crowd of monkeys had surrounded the tree, some being barefooted boy-monkeys, and some lady-monkeys dressed in silken gowns and gorgeous raiment of the latest mode, and others men-monkeys of all sorts and conditions. There were dandified monkeys and sober-looking business monkeys, as well as several who appeared to be politicians and officials of high degree.
"Stand back, all of you!" shouted one of the soldiers. "We"re going to capture this remarkable beast for the royal menagerie, and unless you stand out of the way he may show fight and bite some one."
So they moved back to a safe distance, and the soldier-monkey prepared to throw a rope.
"Stop!" cried Zingle, again; "do you take me for a thief, that you try to bind me? I am a prince of the royal blood, and unless you treat me respectfully I shall have my father, the King, march his army on you and destroy your whole country."
"He barks louder," said the soldier. "Look out for him; he may be dangerous." The next moment he threw the rope and caught poor Zingle around his arms and body, so that he was helpless. Then the soldier-monkey pulled hard on the rope, and Prince Zingle fell out of the tree to the ground.
At first the monkeys all pressed backward, as if frightened, but their soldiers cried out:
"We"ve got him; he can"t bite now."
Then one of them approached the Prince and punched him with a stick, saying, "Stand up!"
Zingle did not understand the words, but he resented being prodded with the stick, so he sprang up and rushed on the soldier, kicking the stick from his hands, his own arms being bound by the rope.
The monkeys screamed and rushed in every direction, but the other soldier came behind the Prince and knocked him down with the b.u.t.t of his gun. Then he tied his legs with another rope, and, seeing him thus bound, the crowd of monkeys, which had scattered and fallen over one another in their efforts to escape, came creeping timidly back, and looked on him with fear and trembling.
"We"ve subdued him at last," remarked the soldier who had been kicked.
"But he"s a very fierce animal, and I shall take him to the Zoo and lock him in one of the strongest cages."
So they led poor Zingle away to where the Royal Zoological Gardens were located, and there they put him into a big cage with iron bars, the door being fastened with two great padlocks.
Before very long every monkey in the country learned that a strange beast had been captured and brought to the Zoo; and soon a large crowd had gathered before Zingle"s cage to examine him.
"Isn"t he sweet!" said a lady-monkey who held a green parasol over her head and wore a purple veil on her face.
"Sweet!" grunted a man-monkey standing beside her, "he"s the ugliest looking brute I ever saw! Scarcely has any hair on him at all, and no tail, and very little chin. I wonder where on earth the creature came from?"
"It may be one of those beings from whom our race is descended," said another onlooker. "The professors say we evolved from some primitive creature of this sort."
"Heaven forbid!" cried a dandy-monkey, whose collar was so high that it kept tipping his hat over his eyes. "If I thought such a creature as that was one of my forefathers, I should commit suicide at once."
Zingle had been sitting on the floor of his cage and wondering what was to become of him in this strange country of monkeys, and now, to show his authority, one of the keepers took a long stick and began to poke the Prince to make him stand up.
"Stop that!" shouted the angry captive, and catching hold of the stick he jerked it from the keeper"s hand and struck him a sharp blow on the head with it.
All the lady-monkeys screamed at this, and the men-monkeys exclaimed:
"What an ugly disposition the beast has!"
The children-monkeys began to throw peanuts between the bars of the cage, and Zingle, who had now become very hungry, picked them up and ate them. This act so pleased the little monkeys that they shouted with laughter.
At last two solemn-looking monkeys with gray hair, and wearing long black coats and white neckties, came up to the cage, where they were greeted with much respect by the other monkeys.
"So this is the strange animal," said one of the new-comers, putting on his spectacles and looking sharply at the captive; "do you recognize the species, Professor?"
The other aged monkey also regarded the Prince critically before he answered:
"I can not say I have ever seen a specimen of this genus before. But one of our text-books mentions an obscure animal called h.o.m.o Peculiaris, and I have no doubt this is one of that family. I shall write an article on the creature and claim he is a h.o.m.o, and without doubt the paper will create quite a stir in the scientific world."