ne
by men. Many ridiculous stories are told of them in this respect. I have
heard of a monkey that resided in a gentleman's family, and that
frequently observed his master undergo the operation of shaving. The
imitative animal one day took it into his head to turn barber, and,
seizing in one hand a cat that lived in the same house, and a bottle of
ink in the other, he carried her up to the top of a very fine marble
staircase. The servants were all attracted by the screams of the cat,
who did not relish the operation which was going forward; and, running
out, were equally surprised and diverted to see the monkey gravely
seated upon the landing-place of the stairs, and holding the cat fast in
one of his paws, while with the other he continually applied ink to
puss's face, rubbing it all over, just as he had observed the barber do
to his master. Whenever the cat struggled to escape, the monkey gave her
a pat with his paw, chattering all the time, and making the most
ridiculous grimaces; and when she was quiet, he applied himself to his
bottle, and continued the operation. But I have heard a more tragic
story of the imitative genius of these animals. One of them lived in a
fortified town, and used frequently to run up and down upon the
ramparts, where he had observed the gunner discharge the great guns that
defended the town. One day he got possession of the lighted match with
which the man used to perform his business, and, applying it to the
touch-hole of a gun, he ran to the mouth of it to see the explosion; but
the cannon, which happened to be loaded, instantly went off, and blew
the poor monkey into a thousand pieces."

When they came back to Mr Barlow's they found Master Merton's servant
and horses waiting to bring him home. When he arrived there he was
received with the greatest joy and tenderness by his parents; but
though he gave them an account of everything else that had happened, he
did not say a word about the money he had given to the farmer. But the
next day, being Sunday, Mr and Mrs Merton and Tommy went together to the
parish church, which they had scarcely entered when a general whisper
ran through the whole congregation, and all eyes were in an instant
turned upon the little boy. Mr and Mrs Merton were very much astonished
at this, but they forbore to inquire until the end of the service; then
as they were going out of the church together, Mr Merton asked his son
what could be the reason of the general at