Monkey Jack and Other Stories   By: Palmer Cox (1840-1924)

Edited by Palmer Cox

MONKEY JACK.

A lit tle maid weeps pit e ous ly, In dire dis tress de mand ing aid; Her pre cious ball is up a tree, And ev ery boy shrinks back a fraid.

It hangs a loft, a shin ing thing, Caught by the ve ry top most spray, Where slen der branch es ta per ing 'Neath the light bur den move and sway.

Hur rah! he comes whom all ad mire, Whose nim ble legs, and lis som back, And read y pluck, that naught can tire, Win him the name of "Mon key Jack."

See how he leaps from bough to bough To gain that most be lov'd of balls! His out stretch'd hand has caught it now; The branch gives way the he ro falls!

The fright en'd chil dren ut ter cries, But e ven yet he does his best; His vic tor hand re tains the prize, And clasps it to his faith ful breast.

Laid on his bed, com pos'd, though sad, With bro ken leg and in jured back, We find a lit tle pa tient lad, A las, no long er "Mon key Jack!"

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With books and toys, what e'er is best, His com rades seek him, one and all, And shy ly peep ing through the rest, Poor lit tle Ro sa brings her ball.

Placed at the win dow, day by day, While pil lows raise his wea ry head, His wist ful eyes be hold the play Which once with joy ous heart he led.

And in his hand the ball is laid, And if to fling it is his whim, The sig nal is at once obey'd, With ea ger feet they run to him.

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But more than this they glad ly do Each coin they get they save with care, And Ro sa brings her six pence, too, To swell the splen did treas ure there.

Mon ey can pur chase any thing. The hap py chil dren send to town, And to the crip ple's bed they bring A sur geon of the first re nown.

Oh, beau ti ful tri um phant day! When light of heart and free from pain, The pa tient lad has slipped away, And "Mon key Jack" climbs trees again!

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Here are a num ber of lit tle tots, and what do you think they are do ing? I think the lit tle girl on her knees is pay ing for feits.

A PAIR OF FRIENDS.

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Tab by and Rover are very good friends, so that she is not at all a fraid to eat out of his dish when ev er she has not din ner e nough of her own.

A RAIN Y DAY.

Rain, rain, rain! How it did rain! The great drops ran down the glass in streams. Tom, Jack, and lit tle Meg watched it for a long time. "O dear!" they said at last, "do you think it will nev er clear? We want to go out and play."

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"Why do you not go up to the gar ret, and play?" asked their mam ma.

That struck them as a fine plan; and off they trooped, pound ing up the bare stairs with their nois y feet. They found three old brooms, and be gan to play soldier, Tom first, then Jack, with Meg last of all. The gar ret was ver y large; and their mam ma could hear them as they tramped a long, and could hear Tom's com mand to right a bout face when they had reached the farth er end.

By and by they tired of play ing sol dier; and then they pulled down some old dress es and hats that hung on a peg, and put them on, and made be lieve that they were grown peo ple. Then, out of an old box, they dragged a scrap book full of pic tures, and sat them down to look them o ver.

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Mean time their friend Rose had come, all wrapped up, through the rain, to make them a call. She brought a bas ket, in which were her two kit tens.

"The chil dren are in the gar ret," said their mam ma.

So Rose ran up to find them. She did find them; but what do you think? they were fast a sleep.

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Sweet is the voice that calls From bab bling wa ter falls In mead ows where the down y seeds are fly ing, And soft the breez es blow, And ed dy ing come and go, In fad ed gar dens where the rose is dy ing