THE BATTLE OF WITS
After that Toby seemed to have but one object in life, which was to
hatch up a clever scheme whereby the educated monkey could be trapped.
He wandered around in the near vicinity of the camp, with his eyes
constantly searching the branches of the trees in the vague hope that he
might discover the runaway snugly squatted in some crotch and fast
asleep.
"I believe Toby's got an idea he's able to jabber monkey talk," said
Steve, after the day was fairly well spent, and they could hardly coax
Toby to come in to his midday meal, much less do his share of cooking;
"and that he expects, if only he, might find where that slick old Link
holds out, he could pan-handle him, and get him to come into camp with
us."
"Now you're hewing pretty close to the line," commented Bandy-legs, "and
I'll let you know why. Toby's got a handful of the nut stuff in his
pocket. I saw him get it out of the bag the circus man left with us. And
I just bet you he's thinking of tempting Link with it."
Steve jumped up and stepped into the tent; he came out again with a
broad grin on his face.
"I was mistaken, glad to say!" he remarked.
"About what?" Max asked him.
"Well, when Bandy-legs here said Toby was running around with a pocket
full of the nut meat, it struck me that perhaps he'd scooped that bottle
of hard stuff too, which Mr. Jenks said we might use to soak, first the
dry bread and then Link. But the country is safe, for he never touched
it."
"None of us have seen or heard anything of the monkey since he stole
Toby's basket of frog legs this morning," ventured Max; "and it may be
he's left us--cleared out in disgust because what he steals here doesn't
seem to touch the right spot with him."
"Don't mention that to Toby, or you'll give him the blind staggers,"
said Steve; "because he's set his mind on capturing the monk; and when
Toby gets a thing in that head of his he's a mighty unhappy fellow if he
can't carry it through."
"What d'ye think," Bandy-legs went on to say, "I heard him grumbling to
himself, and seems like he was wondering whether he couldn't keep the
old monkey and let the two hundred go glimmering. Actually thinks more
about an old rascal of a Simian than a handful of plunks. But we're
three to one, and we'll see to it that no such fool deal as that goes
through."
"No danger of it," chirped Steve, briskly; "that circus man thinks more
than two hundred of Link; and five times that wouldn't tempt him to let
the monkey slip through his fingers. Think of him coming away back here
in hopes of bagging the slippery old scamp! No, if we do get hold of
that Missing Link he's going to keep on amusing the circus public, and
not just Toby Jucklin."
When the afternoon came to an end they managed to get the restless Toby
to come in near the campfire; but it was impossible for him to talk, or
even think of any other subject than capturing the stray monkey.
Max had considered the subject, and arrived at a sensible conclusion.
They had really come out just to break the ice for the new season, and
without any definite object in view save to enjoy the open air, and
renew some of their pleasures of camp life.
It would be as well for them to spend some of their time in inventing
ingenious traps calculated to ensnare the trick monkey. This would be
pitting their smartness against that of a suspicious and clever animal;
and if they won out why it would be reckoned not only a glorious triumph
but at the same time put a nice little sum of good money in their
pockets.
He announced this policy as they were finishing their supper, and the
others had to smile to see the look of ecstatic joy that spread all over
Toby's face.
"Oh! that's just fine of you boys to stand by me like that!" he burst
out with, and not tripping even once, strange to say. "I'll never forget
it, give you my word I won't. And some time I'll find a chance to pay
you back, see if I don't."
"Hear! hear!" cried Steve.
"Bravo!" exclaimed Max.
"Good stuff, Toby," remarked Bandy-legs, "and he never fell all over
himself once, you notice, fellers."
"Of course," Max continued, "we don't know whether we'll have another
chance to see Link. He may have kicked the dust of these parts off his
feet, and started out to find easier picking among the farmers' houses,
where he could sneak in and loot the kitchens while the missus was out
gathering eggs, or hanging up the wash. But if we can coax him to stay
around our camp we'll keep on hoping to get him in the end."
"But, Max," ventured Steve, "if all our smart traps go begging, and he
gives us the merry ha! ha! every time, wouldn't you try that
monkey-catcher trick the circus man told us about?"
"I've been thinking it over," said Max, "and while I'd much prefer to
take Link by some fairer scheme, if he is too sharp for us, why I reckon
we'll have to turn to that way. If he isn't captured he could live by
stealing through the summer, but when the cold weather came the poor
beast would freeze to death, because he's a native of a hot climate, you
know."
"G-g-good for you, Max!" exclaimed Toby, beaming with joy; "oh! I know
now we'll g-g-get Link in the end. And to coax him to hang out around
here r-r-right along I've g-g-gone and b-b-baited the place."
"How?" questioned Bandy-legs.
"I h-h-hunted up some likely p-p-places where I just thought he'd be apt
to come and I p-p-put a few kernels of nuts in the crotch, each one
closer to the camp. You k-k-know that's the way they ketch wild
t-t-turkeys, make a t-t-trap of lathes, and have a road leading into the
same, comin' up in the m-m-middle, covered over just inside. Then they
strew corn all along and up onto the t-t-trap. Mister T-t-turk he starts
pickin' up the g-g-grains, and is so busy that he f-f-follows on till he
comes up inside the slats. Then he g-g-gets so excited that he just runs
around and around, tryin' to p-p-poke his old head through the bars, and
never once rememberin' that he came up in the m-m-middle!"
"Well, now, that wasn't a halfway bad idea of yours, Toby, to bait a
line with the nut meat, so's to coax Link to come closer," Steve
ventured to say, after listening patiently to Toby's staggering
explanation; "but tell us how you expect to trap the monk after you've
got him close in? I take it that's goin' to be the job that'll make us
think we're up against a stone wall."
"I saw Toby practicing with a piece of old rope this afternoon,
throwing a lariat, and I bet you now he's meaning to try and drop a loop
over the head of that Link," Bandy-legs asserted.
Max shook his head as though the idea did not find much favor with him.
"A regular cow-puncher might manage to do it," he remarked, "but no
bungler like any one of us would be. That trick monkey is too quick and
smart to let a noose fall over his head while he's awake. You'd see him
duck every time, and slip off, chattering like a parrot. You'll have to
try something better than a lariat, Toby, if you hope to trap a
wideawake monkey."
"Oh! well, I've been, h-h-hammering my h-h-head all the while," Toby
explained, "and I've fixed up a lot of g-g-good schemes that I'd like to
try out. Once we g-g-get him to understand that there are n-n-nuts
around here, and he ain't goin' to desert us in a h-h-hurry; so I'll
have a c-c-chance to sample 'em all."
"How about to-night; think it'll pay to rig that rope snare again, and
bait it with some of the nuts?" asked Steve, who was rapidly becoming
quite interested in the game, which appealed to his sporting instincts
more and more the deeper he allowed himself to be drawn into it.
"I expected to," admitted Toby.
"We might set a number of the rope snares," suggested Bandy-legs, "so
that if he missed connections with one he'd get stuck in another. They
could all be connected with that stout hickory stick; or mebbe we might
find others just as full of spring."
Max agreed that at least it would do no harm.
"All the same," he went on to tell Toby, "if I was you I wouldn't expect
too much from that spring trap, no matter how many snares you set. If
that smart monkey really put that stick in the noose, and set it off for
fun, or in spite, chances are you'll never trap him that way. He knows
too much about tricks and all that. But we'll give the thing another
try-out to-night, and if it doesn't work we'd better change off to
something else."
Accordingly all of them became very busy for some time. It was found
that they could fasten two other cords to the same bent sapling, making
a regular network of nooses, among which they scattered some of the nut
meat which the circus man had brought along with him, knowing the
weakness of the missing animal for the same.
"Whew! if he eats up all that and doesn't get caught, I'll believe he's
sure a close relation of the Old Nick," Steve gave as his opinion, after
this labor had been completed, and they surveyed the trap with
complacency.
Toby was very enthusiastic. He declared that he felt it in his bones
they would be awakened by a screaming and scolding, to find poor old
Link dangling in mid-air, gripped by the hind leg in one of those
entangling nooses. He even went so far as to arrange the stout collar,
with its padlock and chain, which Mr. Jenks had left with them before
going back, so as to have it handy in case of sudden need.
None of them slept very soundly, even Toby, who as a rule could be
depended on to get his full share of rest. Not that there was any wild
alarm, for the night crept on and everything remained peaceful enough;
but all of the boys felt more or less excitement; and upon being
awakened by some dream would lie there listening, and occasionally
peeping out from the upturned flap of the tent.
The fire smouldered, and went out, for no one ventured to replenish the
exhausted fuel; and during the last section of the night there was not
even a spark remaining; only the cold moon above to dispel the darkness.
Then came morning, and as Bandy-legs aroused them all with his kicking
to get free from his blanket, which seemed to be twisted around his
neck, while his feet were chilled, they thought it best to start another
day.
Toby of course was out as soon as he could get some clothes on. He had
expressed himself as keenly disappointed because there had been no sign
of the trap being sprung; but shortly after he went out to investigate,
the others heard him coming back on the jump.
"Sounds like he's found signs to tell that Link _did_ pay us a call,"
suggested Steve, rightly guessing why Toby should manifest so much
excitement.
He proved to be a true prophet, for Toby, as soon as he reached them,
burst out with his lament.
"What d'ye think, he's been and d-d-done it, fellers? Say, there isn't a
c-c-crumb of all that nut meat left; but he stepped over every n-n-noose
as neat as you p-p-please. My stars! but he's a c-c-corker. G-g-guess
they make him walk on the tops of a h-h-hundred bottles in the
c-c-circus. He c'n do it easy, g-g-give you my word for it. He's a
w-w-wonder, that's what he is. Whew! means I've g-g-got to do some more
high thinkin' if I expect to g-g-grab that Link. But I will, if I have
to p-p-play hookey from school, and s-s-stay up here right along!"
Upon investigation it was found that the clever simian had indeed
managed to pass in and out amidst that network of waiting loops without
displacing even one of the same. Every crumb of the nut meat had
vanished, too, showing how careful the sly rascal had been, and cleaned
up as he went.
Bandy-legs suggested that perhaps woods rats might have done the trick,
or even chipmunks or red squirrels; whereupon a close examination
disclosed the plain imprints of the monkey's feet in numerous places,
which proved the identity of the culprit beyond any dispute.
Max was highly amused at the outcome, for he always liked to find
himself pitted against a worthy antagonist. He seldom felt like exerting
himself when the game was not worth the candle. He liked to cast a fly
for bass, and having deceived them with a feathery lure, play them with
a slender rod and fine line, giving them the sportsman's chance to get
free if only they knew how to jump out of the water and throw themselves
across the taut line.
It began to look as though the boys had found a foeman worthy of their
steel in this sly trick monkey; and they would possibly have all the fun
they could want during the balance of their little Easter outing, in
trying to outwit him.
From time to time during that day they talked matters over. Toby was not
left alone in the endeavor to invent some scheme whereby Link might be
caught. Steve hatched up one that they determined to try that same
night. It was to dig a pit, cover it skillfully with a delicate mattress
that, when sprinkled with earth would seem to be perfectly sound; but
which was calculated to give way, once a weight of thirty pounds or more
had embarked on the covering.
With high hopes, then, they carefully baited this trap just before
retiring to the interior of the tent. Toby, always sanguine, was
confident that it was going to work. He had told long stories as they
sat around the camp fire, about how hunters of big game, sent out by
those who dealt in wild animals, always used this trap in the shape of
a pit in order to secure various species that could not be caught in
their lion and tiger nets.
They had slept so poorly of late that once they did manage to forget
things the entire four boys slumbered heavily for several hours. Any
ordinary noise would not have awakened Toby when at home; indeed, his
folks had threatened to get a patent bed that, connected with clock-work
machinery, would throw him out on the floor at a certain hour arranged
for. But he had something on his mind now, and hence when there suddenly
arose a tremendous squealing and crashing, Toby was up on his feet as
quickly as any of his three chums.
"Whoop! hurrah! we've g-g-got him at last, fellers! Quick, let's hurry
and k-k-keep the beggar from c-c-climbing out again! Oh! joy! D-d-didn't
he make an awful r-r-row, though? Listen to him, would you? P-p-please
hurry, Bandy-legs; you're as s-s-slow as molasses in winter!"
Not stopping to even pull on their shoes they all hastened to reach the
outer air, and rush toward the spot where the pit had been dug.