mped here, was it,
and threw the s-same at Steve's head? Oh! my s-s-stars, a real live
monkey. I w-w-wonder now if it's got a r-r-ringed tail like Steve said."

"But looky here, Max," interposed Bandy-legs, "monkeys don't eat fish
and frogs, do they? I understood they lived on nuts and roots and
fruit."

"So they do, as near as I can say," acknowledged Max; "although there
may be a species that does eat animal food, though I doubt it. This
fellow has lived pretty much all his life in the circus, and is as
tricky as they make them. He watched Toby here working, and wondered
what he had so good in that basket; so when the chance came he just
dropped down and made away with it."

Toby began to scan the neighboring trees as though he half expected to
see a grinning hairy face projected through the branches and leering at
him.

"But after he looks in and sees what's there, he might drop the basket,
mightn't he, Max?" Steve inquired.

"I think there's a fair chance that way, Steve; and so let's look
around. Each choose a certain territory to cover; but don't wander _too_
far away; and remember our old signal for assembling in a hurry. Whoever
finds the creel give the Indian whoop twice. Once for trouble, and help
wanted. Now scatter!"

They had done this sort of thing many times in days gone by, and were
pretty well trained for service. Following the idea Max suggested, they
headed in four different points of the compass, though the pond being
behind cut out half the circle, and shortened their labors considerably.

Barely three minutes had gone by than a whoop rang out, coming from the
quarter where Steve had gone. The others raised their heads eagerly and
listened, for if no second call followed it would mean that the one who
signalled needed assistance in a hurry. But almost immediately there
came a second cry, proving that the missing basket had been found.

A minute later and they were clustered there, examining the trout creel.
It had been opened, for part of its contents had vanished; but when Toby
began to discover fine frogs' "saddles" scattered on the ground, he
started to collect them in great haste.

"Seemed like the monk must have been disgusted when he opened the
basket, after climbing a tree here, and found that he didn't fancy the
smell of what it held," Steve gave as his opinion.

"And I guess Toby is likely to get about all his frog supplies back
again," Max went on to say, in a satisfied way; "s