ene on whom the thieves had scarcely
reckoned. In his usual berth, crouched at the side of the fireplace, sat
Gum. The robber was weighing the gold in his hand, turning it round and
round, and gloating over it, when the glitter from the precious metal
attracted the monkey's eye. It seemed to feel some sense of property in
this gold, for, quick as lightning, one hairy paw brushed the robber's
hand, and the next moment the nugget was gone. With a great oath the
robber turned on Gum, and dealt it a blow on the head which knocked it
senseless to the other side of the room. But, before that blow fell, two
things happened. With one hand held out to protect itself against this
sudden onslaught, the monkey made a grab at its assailant's face, and
tore off the black mask, so that Donald instantly recognised the man, in
the glow of the firelight; with the other hand, which held the gold, the
monkey swiftly transferred the nugget to its mouth.

The robber's eye followed this last movement, however, and he picked up
Gum roughly, and proceeded to wrench open its jaws. He felt all round
his mouth, but the nugget was not there. He held the senseless body up
by the tail and shook it, but no gold appeared. He took his head between
his knees, and sounded all over its throat, but the nugget was not to be
found. As a matter of fact it was not there. The blow which had fallen
upon the monkey's head had knocked it down its throat. Gum had swallowed
the nugget!

What was to be done now? If the robber had had a knife in his pocket,
Gum would have been a dead monkey in two seconds. But while he was
unsuccessfully feeling for his knife, Gum suddenly came to, and with one
violent wriggle shook itself free, and sprang on the highest shelf. The
robber gave chase; then followed the most comical hunt you ever saw. The
robber's face being now exposed (he had no idea that Donald had already
recognised him), he was afraid to turn round, and he had to keep up the
hunt without once facing in the direction where Donald lay, with the
result that he was fairly baffled, and after a quarter of an hour's hard
work, gave up the chase. All that remained now was to blind Donald.
Roughly approaching the bed, the robber drew the blankets over Donald's
face, and told him he would shoot him if he dared to stir. As an extra
precaution, the miner's revolver was taken out of reach, and then both
men started, with a piece of rope, to secure the monkey. Clever as Gum
was,