w.

"A little brown animal----"

"A red squirrel!" cried Lance.

"Hark!" cried Chet. "I hear him."

There certainly did come to their ears a chattering sound.

"That's no squirrel," announced Otto. "I haf been hunting enough for
them alretty."

"No squirrel was ever so noisy as that, Chet," said his sister.

"There! I see it again," cried the quick-eyed Bobby.

"My goodness, gracious me!" gasped Purt, who was craning his neck to see
into the tree tops so that the back of his high collar sawed his neck.
"I--I thought it looked like a blue-jay."

"Say!" exclaimed Lance. "You're looking in the wrong direction."

"It's a monkey!" cried Dora Lockwood, at that moment.

"It's Tony Allegretto's monkey," added her twin.

Some of the others caught sight of the animal then. It was truly the
large monkey the friends had seen only the week before at the amusement
park at the other end of the island.

"He's run away!" cried Laura.

"I hope he has," Dorothy Lockwood said. "That Italian didn't treat him
kindly. What was his name?"

"He called the monk 'Bebe'," said Lance.

"Let's see if he will come down to us," suggested Laura, crossing the
hollow.

"Now, keep back, the rest of you," commanded Lance. "If anybody can get
the little beast, Laura can do it."

"Sure!" chuckled Bobby. "Mother Wit can charm either boys, or
monkeys--and right out of the trees!"

But they gave way to Mother Wit and she went alone to the foot of the
tree in which Bebe was swinging. He chattered when she came near, and
swung upright on the branch. But he did not appear to be much afraid.

Laura found an apple in her pocket, and she offered it to the monkey,
calling to him soothingly. Whether his monkeyship was fond of apples, or
not, he was curious, and he began to descend the tree slowly.

He was dressed in a part of his odd Neapolitan suit; but it was torn and
bedraggled. A cord was fastened to his collar, but it had become frayed
and so was broken. His queer, ugly face was wrinkled into an expression
of doubt as he approached Laura, and his little eyes snapped greedily.
The apple tempted him.

"Come down, Bebe," coaxed Laura.

"Talk Italian to him--he understands that better," giggled Jess.

Bebe chattered angrily.

"Hush!" commanded Lance. "She'll get him yet, if you'll let her alone."

The monkey did seem, when all was quiet, to be about to leap into
Laura's arms.

"Come, Bebe," she coaxed, and finally the chattering crea