, and I want you to do many tricks for the boys and girls."

"I'll do all I can!" chattered Mappo, in his monkey language.

This time, after he had ridden around the ring once or twice on the back
of Prince, the circus man brought out some big wooden hoops, covered
with paper.

"You are to jump through these, Mappo," said the man. "Come, let me see
how you can do it." Mappo was riding on Prince's back. All of a sudden,
as Prince went around the sawdust ring, he came near to one of the rings
the man held out. Mappo did not in the least know what he was to do,
but, all at once, the man caught him up off the dog's back, and fairly
tossed him through the paper ring. The paper burst with a crackling
noise, and Mappo felt himself falling.

"Oh dear!" thought the little monkey, "I wonder where I shall land!"

CHAPTER IX

MAPPO RUNS AWAY

Mappo was so surprised, as he felt himself fairly flying through the
paper hoop, that he did not know exactly what was happening.

"I may land on the back of Tum Tum, for all I know," he thought.

But, just as he said that to himself, he came down on the back of
Prince, as if nothing had happened.

"Hello, here we are again!" cried Prince, running on around the sawdust
ring, with Mappo on his back. "You did that trick all right."

"Yes, but the man tossed me through the paper-covered hoop," spoke
Mappo, wonderingly.

"That was to show you how to do it," went on Prince. "I have seen many
monkeys do that trick."

"Oh, I see," said Mappo. "There's the man with another hoop. Shall I
jump right through it?"

"Yes, don't wait for him to toss you," Prince said. "Though he didn't
hurt you, did he?"

"Not a bit," laughed Mappo, who rather liked doing that trick.

The circus man stood up on a little box, holding the ring, all covered
with red paper, ready for Mappo to jump through. And the man would have
picked Mappo up, and tossed him through the ring, only the monkey did
not wait for that. Instead, he gave a jump himself, and right through
the ring he went, coming down on Prince's back as nicely as you please.
Prince kept right on running around the sawdust ring.

"Fine! That's the way to do it!" cried the circus man, clapping his
hands. "I'll have to get you to show the other monkeys how to do it,
Mappo! You're the first monkey who ever learned that trick so quickly."

I guess I told you Mappo was a smart little chap.

The rest of that day he spent practicing jumping th