TON, THE FAT WOMAN, |
| OLD BEN, LITTLE ELLA. |
+---------------------------------+

Toby took the collar, and as he fastened it on the monkey's neck he
said, in a voice that trembled considerably with emotion:

"You've all of you been awful good to me, an' I don't know what to say
so's you'll know how much I thank you. It seems as if ever since I
started with the circus you've all tried to see how good you could be;
an' now you've given me this monkey that I wanted so much. Some time,
when I'm a man, I'll show you how much I think of all you've done for
me."

The tears of gratitude that were gathering in Toby's eyes prevented him
from saying anything more, and then Mrs. Treat and Ella both kissed him,
while Ben said, in a gruff tone:

"Now carry the monkey home, an' get your supper, for you'll want to come
down here this evening, an' you won't have time if you don't go now."

Ella, after making Toby promise that he would see her again that night,
went with Mr. and Mrs. Treat, while old Ben, as if afraid he might
receive more thanks, walked quickly away towards the dressing-rooms, and
there was nothing else for Toby and Abner to do but go home.

It surely seemed as if every boy in the village knew that Toby Tyler had
remained in the tent after the circus was over, and almost all of them
were waiting around the entrance when the two boys came out with the
monkey.

If Toby had stayed there until each one of his friends had looked at and
handled the monkey as much as he wanted to, he and Abner would have
remained until morning, and Mr. Stubbs's brother would have been made
very ill-natured.

He waited until his friends had each looked at the monkey, and then he
and Abner started home, escorted by nearly all the boys in town.

The partners in the amateur-circus scheme were nearly as wild with joy
as Toby was, for now their enterprise seemed an assured success, since
they had two real ponies and a live monkey to begin with. They seemed to
consider it their right to go to Uncle Daniel's with Toby; and when the
party reached the corner that marked the centre of the village, they
decided that the others of the escort should go no farther--a decision
which relieved Toby of an inconvenient number of friends.

As it was, the party was quite large enough to give Aunt Olive some
uneasiness lest they should track dirt in upon her clean kitchen floor,
and she insisted that both the boys and the mon