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In the Old Tree · The Bobbsey Twins at Cherry Corners

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  Chapter twenty three of The Bobbsey Twins at Cherry Corners by Laura Lee Hope.
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  This sleebrivox recording is in the public domain. In the old tree, seated
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  on the ground, sadly looking at their paws caught in the small opening of
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  the jars, or trying to pull away, which they could not do on
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  account of the jars being tied to the trees, were about a dozen monkeys.
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  They were chattering and screaming. It sounded like scolding, the Bobbsey Twins
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  thought, But almost the whole band of long tailed apes had been caught by
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  the circus man's trap, or rather traps, for he had set out about
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  twenty jars baited with the nuts in the night. The monkeys had gathered in
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  the grove. They had climbed down the trees when all was quiet, and
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  eager to get the nuts, as well as curious to see what was in
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  the jars. They had thrust in their paws greedily. They had grasped as
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  many nuts as their fingers would hold. And then said mister Dalton, as
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  he stood looking at the howling, struggling monkeys, they were caught. They
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  didn't know enough to let go of the nuts. If they had, they
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  could have gotten away. How are you going to make them let go?
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  Now, asked Bert. Some will drop the nuts as soon as we tie
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  them up with ropes, ready to be put back in some small cages I
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  brought with me, said the circus man. In other cases, we may
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  have to break the jars to make the monkey understand that he must open his
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  fingers. But the jars are made of clay and crack easily. The monkeys
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  will not be harmed. At the sight of the Bobbsey twins and others,
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  who came to see how the traps had worked, the monkeys became very much
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  excited. They tried harder than ever to get away, but they simply would
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  not let go the nuts inside the jars, and so they were held captive
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  by their own greed and curiosity. Mister Dalton knew how to handle monkeys,
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  and he soon had the twelve bound with ropes, freed from the jars by
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  one way or the other, and ready to be put into cages. How
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  many escaped from the circus car, asked some one. Eighteen in all,
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  was the answer. If the other six are around here, I'll get them
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  to night. See if any of em has my fire engine, begged Freddy.
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  But it was plain that none of the captured monkeys had the toy,
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  nor did any of them have Bird's watch, or mister Bobbsey's knife or his
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  wife's pen. The things may be hidden around here in the woods, suggested
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  mister Dalton. We'll look after I set the traps again tonight. The monkeys
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  were well cared for, given a good feed of the very nuts that had
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  aided in their capture, and put in small cages to be sent on to
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  the circus. Did you find any of my pans, asked Dinah when the
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  children returned to breakfast. No, but maybe the monkeys were going to catch
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  tonight, will have them, said Bert. During the cherry picking that day,
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  little was talked of save the catching of the monkeys, and what would
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  happen by next morning was eagerly discussed again. The jar traps and nuts were
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  successful, and five more of the long tailed animals were prisoners the next morning,
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  chattering and scolding over their plight. Well, I have seventeen out of
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  the eighteen, I guess I won't bother about the other one, said the
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  circus man as he made ready to ship his beasts on and return to his
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  show. And now we won't have to worry about things being taken, said
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  Bert. I guess we were wrong in thinking Nick took things. He may
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  have heard that we suspected him, said missus Bobbsey. Perhaps it would be
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  well to say we know now he had nothing to do with it. But
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  they did not get this chance, for Nick left his place when the circus
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  man arrived. Perhaps the boy fel he might be arrested for having let the
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  monkeys escape, though he really it may Bee did not intend to do so.
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  At any rate, He left cherry corners in a hurry. The last
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  of the cherries were almost picked, and Bert decided that he could take a
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  day off and look for some of the things the monkeys had taken. He
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  and Nan went to the grove where the traps had been set, and after
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  looking around and poking in holes and holl of stumps, they found Freddy's toy
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  engine. It was down in a hole, almost covered with leaves. Freddy
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  will be glad to get this back, said Bert, noting that the toy
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  had suffered little harm. The rubber hose was missing, a monkey probably having
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  pulled that loose or perhaps there was a dispute between two of the beasts over
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  the plaything. I guess it was too heavy for them to carry around,
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  suggested Nan, as she and her brother hastened home with the recovered toy,
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  which Freddy was delighted to get back. I won't shoot any monkeys now,
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  he said. Though Nan and Bert searched during the next two days, they
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  found no trace of the silver watch, their mother's cameo pin, nor of
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  their father's knife. However, some of Dinah's pans were discovered in the weeds
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  at the end of the garden where the monkeys had dropped them, and other
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  things taken from the farms near by were found in various places. The missing
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  eighteenth monkey was not found, and what became of him was never learned by
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  the Bobbsey twins. The last of the cherry crop had been shipped away,
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  and Missus Bobbsey and Dinah had canned enough of the fruit to last all winter.
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  We have finished just about in time, too, said mister Bobbsey on
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  the night when the last of the fruit had been gathered and the pickers had
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  left. Why, ask Bert, Because I think we're going to have a
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  bad storm. The weather has been very good so far, but now we're
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  going to have some of the other sort. So it proved for in the
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  middle of the night, the wind began to howl and the rain began to
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  fall, so that when the Bobbsey twins awakened in the morning, they looked
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  out on a water swept and wind lashed orchard and farm. We couldn't pick
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  cherries to day if we wanted to, and it's a good thing we don't,
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  said mister Bobbsey. We shall soon be going back home. Now.
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  Then we want to have some fun, exclaimed Bert. Let's play up in
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  the attic, suggested Nan, and the four had a jolly time dressing up
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  in the soldier uniform and playing with the other things found there. Just before
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  noon, the storm grew worse. The wind blew a gale, and suddenly
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  a loud crash sounded outside the rear of the house. What was that,
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  cried Nan. Bert ran to the attic window and looked out. It's the
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  big cherry tree, he cried. It's blown down. Oh, let's go
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  out and see it, cried Floss See and Freddy. However, their mother
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  would not allow this until after the storm had ceased. It showed signs of
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  slackening in the middle of the afternoon, and then the children with their father
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  and mother went out to look at the fallen tree. It was very old,
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  hollow and rotten, said mister Bobbsey as they walked toward it, with
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  snap barking and leaping about. The old tree has given us its last cherries.
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  The Bobbseys gathered around the fallen trunk, which had broken off about three
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  feet from the ground, leaving a jagged hollow stump sticking up. Bert leaned
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  over and looked down into the hollow. Then he gave a startled cry.
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  What is it, Nan asked the missing monkey, No, answered Bert,
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  But my missing watch and mother's missing pin. Here they are in this old
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  hollow tree. The monkeys must have stuffed them into a hole in the trunk,
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  and they fell to the bottom and have been here ever since, said
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  missus bob Boby as she took her pen from Bert. It had been kept
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  dry in the deep hollow cherry tree, as had Bert's watch, and neither
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  was harmed. See if my knife is there, suggested mister Bobbsey, but
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  that was not to be found. However, as Nan said, they were
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  lucky to get back the watch and the pin, and I got my fire
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  engine, shouted Freddy, as if that were all but mattered. Well,
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  the monkeys made it a lot of fun while they were here, remarked Bert
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  as he put his watch in his pocket. With Missus Bobbsey wearing her Cameo
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  pin, the family went back to the house. The falling tree had done
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  no harm. The storm was soon over, and after a few more happy
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  days on Redgate Farm at Cherry Corners, the Bobbsey twins started back to Lakeport.
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  I wonder what will happen next, exclaimed Nan excitedly. I don't know,
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  answered Bert, but I hope we'd come cherry picking again next summer.
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  What was to happen to him and his brother and sisters was far different,
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  but just as much fun. The story is called The Bobbsey Twins and their
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  Schoolmates. Before this, however, they were to return home and get acquainted
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  again with their pets and the little friends with whom they loved to play.
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  End of chapter twenty three, read by Martha Heaton, October twenty twenty three.
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  End of The Bobbsey Twins at Cherry Corners by Laura Lee Hope