one of us?"

"And how can it be?" lamented they all; "has he not danced at our
balls? An ape! an ape? It is a miracle! It is witchcraft!"

"Yes, it is witchcraft, and a satanic spook!" echoed the mayor,
exhibiting the cravat of the nephew, or ape. "See, this cloth contains
the magic that made him so acceptable to our eyes. There is a broad
strip of elastic parchment covered with all manner of singular
characters. I think it must be Latin. Can any one read it?"

The minister, a scholarly gentleman who had lost many a game of chess
to the young Englishman, walked up, examined the parchment, and said:
"By no means! They are only Latin letters," and read:

"THE APE CAN DO MOST COMIC FEATS,
WHEN OF THE APPLE FRUIT HE EATS."

"Yes, it is a wicked fraud, a kind of sorcery; and the perpetrator of
it should be made an example of."

The mayor was of the same opinion, and started to go to the house of
the stranger, who must be a sorcerer; while six militia-men took the
ape along, as the stranger would be immediately put on trial.

They arrived at the desolate house, accompanied by a large crowd of
people, as every one was anxious to see the outcome of the affair. They
knocked on the door and pulled the bell, but no one responded. The
mayor, in his wrath, had the door beaten in, and went up to the room of
the stranger. But nothing was to be seen there save various kinds of
old furniture. The strange gentleman was not to be found; but on his
work-table lay a large sealed letter, directed to the mayor, who
immediately opened it. He read:

"MY DEAR GRUENWIESEL FRIENDS:--When you read this I shall be far away
from your town, and you will have discovered of what rank and country
my dear nephew is. Take this joke, which I have allowed myself to
indulge in at your expense, as a lesson not to seek the society of a
stranger who prefers to live quietly by himself. I felt above sharing
in your eternal clack, in your miserable customs, and your ridiculous
manners. Therefore, I educated a young orang-outang, which, as my
deputy, won such a warm place in your affections. Farewell; make the
best use of this lesson."

The people of Gruenwiesel were not a little ashamed at the position
they were in before the whole country. They had hoped that all this
could be shown to have some connection with supernatural things. But
the young people experienced the deepest sense of shame, because they
had copied the bad cu