once upon a time, not so very many years ago, there were two little monkey boys who lived with their papa and mamma off in the woods in a funny house at the top of a tall tree. these little monkeys were the cutest and most cunning chaps you would want to see, even if you went in an airship to the circus.
i have already told you something about one of them—a red monkey—who traveled with uncle wiggily longears, when the old gentleman rabbit was going about, seeking his fortune. well, this red monkey's name was jacko kinkytail; and his tail, as were the tails of all his family, was all twisted up in kinks. that's how jacko got his last name—kinkytail. his brother's name was jumpo, and jumpo was colored green. the reason for that was this:
once jumpo's mamma bought him a green balloon at the circus. jumpo was a little baby then, and he didn't know any better than to try to eat the green balloon. perhaps he thought it was candy. at any rate, before his mamma saw him he had chewed nearly half of the balloon, and he soon turned a pretty green color like the leaves on the trees. oh! his mamma and papa felt dreadful about it, and they did everything they could to get the color out of the little monkey, but they couldn't, and green he stayed.
"but it doesn't much matter," said jumpo's papa, "for as long as jacko is red i think it is nice to have his brother colored green. they look so odd and queer when they go out walking together."
"oh, but think of having one's children red and green, like some flag," cried mamma kinkytail. however, it couldn't be helped, so now i'll tell you some stories of jacko and jumpo.
one morning when the two little monkey boys were eating their breakfast in the funny house up in a tree, they suddenly heard a bell ringing.
"ding dong! dong ding! ding-ding! dong-dong!" rang the bell.
"my! i wonder what that can be?" exclaimed jumpo, as he finished eating some toasted peanuts with cocoanut on.
"perhaps it's a fire," suggested jacko, as he looked to see if any of his red color had come off on his napkin, but it hadn't, i am glad to say.
"oh, if it's a fire, let's run and see it!" cried jumpo, getting out of his chair. "maybe they'll let us squirt some water on the blaze."
"silly monkey chaps!" cried mamma kinkytail, as she laughed at them, "that is not a fire bell, that is the school bell, for school starts to-day, and you must hurry or you will be late."
"oh, dear! school!" cried jacko, making a funny face.
"oh, me! oh, my!" said jumpo. "have we got to go to school?"
"to be sure," answered their mamma. "vacation and play time is over, and you must be at your lessons. hurry now, there go sammie and susie littletail, and sammie has on a new suit."
"yes, and there go the bushytail brothers," added jumpo as he saw two squirrel boys hurrying past while the school bell rang louder and louder.
"oh, come on, let's go. we'll have some fun!" cried jacko, and before you knew it he was hanging by his tail from the front door bell knob, and the next moment he had scrambled down the tree trunk and was running after the squirrels and rabbits.
"you've forgotten your books!" called his mamma.
"never mind, i'll take them," said jumpo, kindly, so, picking up his own books and those of his brother, he wound his long tail about them, and down he scrambled from the little house in the tree, and soon he, too, was running to school, while the bell went on ringing.
"ding-dong! dong-ding!"
now the school where the monkeys, and all the other animal children studied, was a hollow stump in the woods, and a wise old owl bird was the teacher. soon all the pupils were in the room, and the teacher told them how glad she was to see them back, and she said she hoped they had all had nice vacations.
"and i have quite a treat for you," went on the teacher. "uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit, who has just returned from seeking his fortune all over the world, is going to tell you a story this afternoon, if you all have your lessons this morning. now we will have the class in spelling. jacko kinkytail, please spell me the word dog."
"i don't like to," said jacko, waving his tail to and fro, bashful like.
"why not?" asked the owl teacher, surprised like.
"i'm afraid if i spell the word a dog might come in through the window and bite us."
"nonsense!" exclaimed the teacher. "jumpo, you spell dog."
"d-o-g," spelled jumpo, as nicely as could be.
"very good," said the teacher. "now, jacko, you see no dog came in at all, so you may go to the blackboard, jumpo, and write the word dog."
now jumpo was a very mischievous little monkey—that is, he was always doing something funny, and it was not always right and proper, either. i forgot to tell you this at first, so i put it in here.
when jumpo went to the blackboard he took a piece of chalk in one paw, and, very nicely indeed, he wrote the word "dog." and then he did what wasn't exactly right. with his long tail, which was almost like another hand for him, he took a second piece of chalk, and, while he was once more writing the word "dog," he drew a funny picture of an elephant standing on his head. he did this with the chalk in his tail, and when the other pupils saw the queer picture they laughed right out loud in school. "ha! ha!"
"why, jumpo!" exclaimed the teacher, sorrowful like. "i am surprised at you! you are here to learn, and not to make funny pictures. there is time enough at recess for that. i shall have to ask you to stay in after school. go to your seat."
well, jumpo felt badly. he hadn't meant to make trouble, but you see he didn't think. all the rest of the morning he sat in his seat, feeling sorry, and he didn't want to stay in after school, but he knew he had to. and then something happened.
all of a sudden, just as susie littletail, the rabbit girl, was reciting in the number class, and telling how many lollypops two apples and two pears made, a lean, hungry wolf looked in at the schoolroom window, and growled:
"oh, ho! what a fine meal i see before me! i'll eat you all, even the owl teacher!"
oh, my! how frightened every one was. that is, all but jumpo kinkytail. up he leaped and rushed to the blackboard. then, using his two front paws and his tail, he drew with the chalk a big picture of a man shooting a bang-bang gun.
"look at that, mr. wolf!" cried jumpo, and when the wolf saw the picture of the man with the gun he thought it was real, and wolf was so afraid he would be shot that he ran off as fast as he could go, and he didn't eat anybody for nearly two weeks.
"oh, jumpo!" exclaimed the owl teacher after she had gotten over being frightened. "we can't thank you enough. i forgive you for being bad in the spelling class, and you needn't stay in after school. but please be good after this." so jumpo said he would.
but i'm sorry to say he soon forgot, and did more mischief. i'll tell you about it in the next story which will be about jumpo kinkytail and the cocoanut—that is, if the chocolate cake doesn't fall off the table and splash all over the lemon pie when it makes its bow to the spoon holder.[pg 16]
