to scoop up some of this powder before my
mother comes home," said Jumpo. So he and Buddy were brushing it up off
the floor when, all at once, the front door opened, and in came Mrs.
Kinkytail. She saw the two white, powder-covered little animal boys and
she screamed:

"Oh my! What has happened! Fire! Police! Burglars! Who are those two
queer white things in my bathroom? Where is my little boy Jumpo? Has
some one taken him?"

"Here I am!" cried Jumpo, with a laugh, for his mamma really didn't know
him, all white as he was. And she didn't know Buddy, either.

"Are you sure it's you, Jumpo, and not a white rabbit?" she asked, after
a while.

"Oh, yes, mamma," he said, "I was putting some talcum powder on Buddy's
mosquito bite and--and--and the cover came off all at once."

"Off the box, not off my bite," said Buddy, careful-like.

"Oh, I see!" exclaimed Mrs. Kinkytail with a laugh. "Well, I hope the
bite is better? And now I must get the whisk broom, and dust the powder
off you boys! Oh, what sights you are!"

But they were soon clean and they smelled like perfume for a long time
after that, and the next time Jumpo wanted talcum powder he asked his
mamma for it, and he didn't try to open the box himself.

Now, if the bottle of perfume doesn't spill itself into the bathtub and
make a smell like a pocket handkerchief, I'll tell you next about Jacko
washing the dishes.

STORY XXXI

HOW JACKO WASHED THE DISHES

One morning, when Jacko Kinkytail, the red monkey boy, woke up, he heard
his papa rattling the pots and pans and dishes out in the kitchen.

"Ha! That's queer," said Jacko. "I wonder what papa is doing out there,
and I wonder why mother isn't up?" Then he looked over in the bed where
Jumpo slept, and Jumpo wasn't there.

"Why, where's Jumpo?" thought Jacko, and then he happened to remember
that Jumpo had gone on a visit to Buddy Pigg, and had stayed there all
night. So that's why he wasn't home. "But still I wonder what papa is
doing in the kitchen?" said Jacko to himself. "I guess I'll get up and
find out."

Then he smelled the coffee being made, and pretty soon he saw his papa
going upstairs with a hot cup of coffee in his hand.

"What is the matter, papa?" asked Jacko.

"Your mother has a headache," answered the monkey gentleman, "so I got
up to make her some coffee and get the breakfast. And you may help if
you like."

"Oh, I'm so sorry mamma has a headache," spoke Jacko, "but I am gla