ROSE BREAKS HER SKATE
Out on the porch Mrs. Bunker found her six children, for Rose had
followed her mother out of the house, finally running ahead of her to
see if any one had yet guessed Laddie's latest riddle.
"What have you there, Sonny?" asked Laddie's mother, as she saw him
standing in front of Russ, Rose and the others, with something under his
coat.
"He says it's a riddle," explained Russ.
"It is, sort of!" declared Laddie. "Yet 'tisn't zactly a riddle. I just
told 'em to guess what I had under my coat."
"Where'd you get it?" asked Aunt Jo, who came out to see what the fun
was about.
"I got it with the peanuts I had in my pocket," the little boy answered.
"Oh, then it's a squirrel!" guessed Rose.
"No, it isn't a squirrel," said Laddie, shaking his head.
"It's got a tail! I can see it!" cried Vi, as she stooped down and
looked under her brother's coat. "I can see it sticking out. It's
brown."
"Yes, it's got a tail," admitted Laddie.
"Is it a kite?" asked Russ, for he had not yet finished the one he was
making.
"Nope! 'Tisn't a kite!" Laddie answered. "It's alive, and kites aren't
that way!"
"They wiggle around as if they were alive, sometimes," said Rose.
"Oh, I heard it squeak!" cried Mun Bun. "Is it a little kittie?"
Again Laddie shook his head.
"Nope," he answered, "'tisn't a kittie. But it's got fur on. Now I'll
give you each one more guess for my riddle, and----"
But Laddie's "riddle" seemed to think the fun had gone on long enough,
and it didn't want to be guessed about any more. All at once the little
boy began to wiggle and try to hold something still beneath his
coat--something which seemed very much alive indeed.
"Oh! Oh! Oh, dear!" cried Laddie, but he was laughing.
"What's the matter?" asked his mother.
"It--it's _tickling_ me!" he exclaimed. "Oh--there it is!"
As he spoke a funny little wrinkled black face, followed by a little
brown furry body and a long tail, scrambled out from under Laddie's
buttoned coat and sat on his shoulder.
"Oh, look!" cried Rose.
"It's a black pussy with a long tail!" cried Violet.
"No, it isn't!" Russ exclaimed. "It's a monkey! That's what it is! A
monkey!"
"A monkey!" repeated Mrs. Bunker. "Why, so it is. Oh, Laddie boy! where
did you get a monkey?"
Laddie put up his hand to stroke the funny little creature, which seemed
to like it, crouching down on Laddie's shoulder and nestling close to
him. The monkey was not much larger than a cat.
"Where'd you get it?" repeated the children's mother.
"Have they got any more? Can I get one?" cried Russ. "I'll go and find
some peanuts!"
"Don't let him wind his tail on me!" begged Mun Bun, hiding behind his
mother's skirts.
"Can he play a hand-organ?" asked Violet.
The children were laughing so hard, and asking so many questions as they
crowded around Laddie, that their mother exclaimed:
"Oh, my dear six little Bunkers! please be quiet a minute until I can
hear what Laddie has to say. Tell us where you got such a cute little
riddle!"
"I got him with peanuts," Laddie said. "He was up in a tree and I saw
him, and I held out some peanuts in my hand and he came down and sat on
my shoulder and ate 'em and then I put him under my coat and he liked it
and I brought him home."
"But where did you find him?" asked Aunt Jo. "In what tree?"
"Oh, just down by the corner at the end of this street," answered Laddie
with a wave of his hand.
"Mercy," gasped Aunt Jo, "are monkeys beginning to make their homes in
the trees of the Boston streets?" and she and Mother Bunker laughed.
"But was he up a tree?" asked Russ.
"Yes, he was," Laddie went on. "First I thought it was a cat, but when I
saw him hang by his tail I knew it wasn't a cat."
"Oh, we're finding lots of things!" cried Rose. "I found a pocketbook,
and now Laddie finds a monkey."
"And I'm going to keep it and get a hand-organ and then I'm going around
and take in pennies," said the little boy, on whose shoulder the monkey
was still perched, looking here and there at the other children, and
wrinkling up his funny black face.
"I know where it came from," said Russ, after thinking a moment.
"Where?" asked Vi. "Do you mean out of a circus?"
"No," answered Russ. "But it must have got away from a hand-organ man."
"I think that's just what happened," said Aunt Jo. "Hand-organ men, with
monkeys fast to the ends of long strings, often come up this way, and
play what they call music, and they let the funny little animals go
after the pennies. One of these Italians must have been around here
with his music-machine, and his monkey must have run away from him and
hidden up in a tree where you saw him, Laddie."
"But I found him, and he's mine. I want to keep him," said the little
boy. "He's awful soft and fuzzy, and he likes me."
Indeed the monkey was a nice, clean little chap, and he seemed to like
Laddie. And he seemed to like to have the other children pet him, also.
He wore a funny little red jacket and a green cap, and every now and
then he would take off his cap and hold it out, as he had been taught to
do, for pennies.
Mun Bun, who had been afraid the monkey would wind its long tail around
him, came out from behind his mother's skirts, and even dared to pet
Laddie's "riddle," as they called it.
"He's awful nice!" said Mun Bun.
"He'd make a lovely doll," observed Rose. "I wish I had a doll that was
alive."
"I'll let you play with him sometimes," promised Laddie. "I'm going to
call him. 'Peanuts' 'cause he likes 'em so."
"Well, that would be a nice name for a monkey," said Mrs. Bunker. "But
don't get your heart set on keeping this one, Laddie."
"Why not, Mother? Can't I have him?"
"I'm afraid not. In the first place Aunt Jo has no place in her Boston
home for a monkey, and, in the second place, Alexis, the big dog, might
bark at Peanuts and scare him."
Alexis was not there just then, or he would have seen the monkey, and
surely would have barked, as he always did when he saw anything new or
strange.
"Another reason why you can't keep him," said Mother Bunker, "is that
the Italian hand-organ grinder will want his monkey himself. That is how
he makes his living--by having the monkey collect pennies for him."
"But can I keep him until the organ man comes?" asked Laddie, as he
cuddled his "riddle" in his arms.
"Oh, yes, I guess you can keep him until then," said Mrs. Bunker. "We
couldn't turn the poor little monkey loose, anyhow, or dogs would chase
him. We'll see what your father says when he comes home."
"And we can have some fun now, with Peanuts," added Russ. "We can tie a
string to his collar and make-believe we have a circus."
"Maybe he'll bite," said Margy.
"He didn't bite me," Laddie explained, "and I carried him under my coat
from down the street. He tickled me though, when he wanted to get out."
Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo said the children could play with the monkey
awhile on the side porch, fastening it by a string attached to the
collar around its neck, so it could not get away.
"The Italian may be along pretty soon looking for it," said William, the
chauffeur, who had been called from the garage to see Laddie's new pet.
"Peanuts," as the six little Bunkers called the monkey, seemed to enjoy
being with them. He climbed about the porch, and came down when they
held out in their hands bread, bits of crackers or cake, which the
monkey liked to eat.
The children were having lots of fun with their funny little pet, and
they were talking over and over again their wish that they might keep
him, when, from out in front, came the sound of a hand-organ. It played
rather a sad and doleful tune, and, at the sound of it, the monkey
seemed to prick up his ears, much as a dog might do.
"Oh, dear!" sighed Rose. "Maybe that's the hand-organ man that owns this
monkey."
"If it is I'd better see about it," said Aunt Jo. "I want you children
to have all the fun you can, but we don't want to keep a poor man's
monkey, any more than we do the poor woman's purse, though she hasn't
come for that yet."
William, the chauffeur, who also heard the hand-organ tune, went out in
front, and came back to tell Aunt Jo that the Italian had indeed lost
his monkey, and was looking everywhere for it.
"Tell him to come in," said Miss Bunker.
And a little later, walking along and grinding out the doleful tune, the
Italian came into the yard.
"Is this your monkey?" asked Aunt Jo, pointing to the one that Laddie
had coaxed down out of the tree with peanuts.
"Oh, Petro! Petro!" cried the Italian, leaning his hand-organ up against
a tree and rushing to the porch. "Ah, Petro! I have found you again, my
baby!" and he held out his arms. The monkey made a jump for them, and
sat up on the man's shoulder, chattering and taking off and putting on
his green cap so often that, as Russ said, he looked like a moving
picture.
"Ah, Petro! Petro!" cried the hand-organ man, and then he began to talk
to the monkey in Italian, which the little creature seemed to
understand, for he chattered back, though of course he spoke monkey
talk, or, maybe, jungle talk.
"Is that your animal?" asked William.
"Sure, he mine!" exclaimed the Italian. "His name Petro! I make-a de
music down de street, an' a big dog chase after Petro! He break-a de
string an' jump oop de tree. I no can find! Now I have him back! Ah, my
Petro!"
"Well, the children will be sorry to lose their pet," said Aunt Jo, "but
I'm glad you have him back."
"I glad. Vera mooch-a glad, too!" said the Italian, taking off his hat,
and bowing to Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker. "Petro bring me in pennies. I
play for you, but I no want-a pennies. No take pennies--you find my
Petro."
"This little boy found him," said William, pointing to Laddie.
"I gave him peanuts," said Laddie. "He was up a tree."
"Mooch 'bliged," said the Italian. "I make-a de music for you. Petro do
tricks."
Then he fastened the long cord he had in his pocket to Petro's collar,
and began to grind out what he called "music." He also made the monkey
do several tricks, such as turning somersaults or climbing trees and
jumping from one branch to another.
Then, with more thanks, and promising to come and play again for them,
and not to let Petro take any pennies, the Italian went on his way with
the monkey and the hand-organ.
Laddie and the others were sorry to lose their pet, but, as Daddy Bunker
said afterward, the monkey and Alexis might not have been good friends.
"Well, I found a monkey, and somebody came for it," said Laddie that
night. "But nobody has come for the pocketbook yet."
"And, if they don't, I'm going to have the money," said Rose. "Anyhow, I
can have some of it, daddy says. And I'm going to buy a pair of new
roller skates, 'cause my old ones are 'most worn out."
However, Rose could still skate on them, and speaking of them as she
did, made her think of them the next day. So, when she had put her dolls
to "sleep," the little girl went out roller-skating on the sidewalk in
front of Aunt Jo's house.
Rose had not been skating long before her mother heard her crying.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" Rose was saying.
"What's the matter?" asked her mother, hurrying out to the porch. "Did
you fall and hurt yourself, Rose, my dear?"
"No. But I struck my foot against the curbstone, and now one of my
roller skates is broken, and I can't have any fun!"
Rose held up one foot. The skate that had been on it was now in two
pieces, and Mrs. Bunker saw that it could not easily be fixed again. It
was too bad!