good boy lately I'll let him stay."

Well, of course the others were somewhat disappointed, which means
sorry, but there was no help for it, and they always did as teacher
told them to, except sometimes, but this was not one of those times.

So they all went out, leaving Jacko the monkey boy and the teacher in
the schoolroom, with the blackboards all covered with words, and
sentences, and examples, and number work and maps of different
countries, including the one where cocoanuts grow.

Jacko took the erasers and a cloth and so did the teacher and they began
work. The red monkey boy could hear the other animal chaps playing ball
outside, and getting ready to fly their kites, and the girls were
shouting and giggling and screaming like anything, and they didn't know
why they did it, either, but girls most always scream, you know.

"They are having lots of fun," said the owl teacher to Jacko, "aren't
you sorry you stayed in to help me?"

"No'm," said Jacko, politely, and he brushed the chalk marks off the
blackboards harder than ever. Then, after a while, when there was only
one more board left to clean, the teacher said:

"Well, Jacko, thank you very much. You have been a great help to me. Run
along now and have a good time."

But it was getting late then, and the other animal boys and girls had
gone home. So Jacko, putting his books in a loop in his kinky tail,
also started for his house.

He had to go through rather a dark piece of woods, but he didn't mind
that, for he made up his mind to run as fast as he could, so the burglar
fox, or the wolf, wouldn't get him.

And pretty soon he came to the woods, so, holding his books tighter than
ever in his tail, away he started. And, just as he got to a hollow stump
a voice called to him:

"Hold on there, Jacko Kinkytail! Wait a minute!"

"Indeed, I will not!" cried Jacko, thinking it was the burglar fox, but
he happened to look back, and he saw that it was a kind old gentleman
squirrel, who was perched on the stump, eating a butternut.

"I just thought you might be hungry, and would like some chestnuts,"
went on the squirrel. "I have more than I need. Help yourself to a
handful."

"Thank you, I will," said Jacko, so he took some chestnuts for himself,
and some for his brother Jumpo. Then Jacko hurried on, as it was getting
darker, and on the way he ate some of the chestnuts. And, whether it was
because he was frightened, or because he was so busy eating the
ch