XXIII
THE MAJOR GOES SOUTH
OUT of one of his pockets
the hand-organ man pulled a stout collar, from which dangled a long,
thin chain.
And Major Monkey made no protest when his master buckled the
collar about his
neck.
To tell the truth, the Major
appeared to like being a captive. He was enjoying, especially, the
maple sugar
which the hand-organ man had turned out of the pitcher for him.
At the farmhouse, a little
later, Major Monkey went through all his tricks for Johnnie Green and
the rest
of the family. Though he had once told Mr. Crow that he never wanted to
hear
the sound of a hand-organ again, the music that his master ground
out while he
himself capered about seemed to him the sweetest he had ever heard.
Of the Major's audience, the
most astonished of all sat, unnoticed, in a tree in the dooryard
and listened
and looked on as if he could scarcely believe his eyes.
This one was Jolly Robin.
And when, at length, the organ-grinder looped the long chain over his
arm,
slung the organ over his back, and went toiling up the Toad, with Major
Monkey
perched on top of the hand-organ, Jolly Robin had a very queer feeling.
He dew
down and alighted upon Farmer Greene's fence and trilled a quavering
good-by.
Major Monkey stood up and made a low bow to him. "He's going South,
after
all!" Jolly Robin said to himself. If that was so, old dog Spot must
have
been glad of it. Anyhow, he dashed out of the dooryard and ran a little
way up
the road, growling and barking, and telling Major Monkey exactly what
he
thought of him.
The Major seemed to enjoy
old Spot's farewell. He danced up and down, and pulled back his arm, as
if to
throw something at Spot. But he changed his mind. He had a red
apple, which
Johnnie Green had given him. And instead of wasting it on old dog Spot,
the
Major took a bite out of it then and there.
Old Spot had trotted back to
the farmhouse, looking very brave, in spite of the scolding Johnnie
Green gave
him. And Major Monkey was busily engaged with his apple, when he heard
a sound
that made him. look up.
"Caw! Caw!" It was old Mr. Crow, whose
keen eyes had caught sight of the hand-organ man plodding along with
his
precious load. Major Monkey whistled. And just for a moment, as he
watched Mr.
Crow sailing lazily overhead, he almost wished that be hadn't been
quite so
fond of sugar. For he knew that he could no longer wander through
Pleasant
Valley wherever his fancy led him.
But the hand-organ man began
singing a merry song. And Major Monkey liked it so well that before he
had gone
a mile he wouldn't have turned back for anything. Now that his
play-time had
come to an end, he was eager to journey on, wherever his master
might take
him.
For Major Monkey – as he had
told Mr. Crow in the beginning – was a great traveller. THE END
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