himself is very handsomely dressed. There's gold braid on his
coat, and on his cap, too."

The old gentleman talked so much about the Major's uniform that a good
many of the neighbors thought that Mr. Crow ought to postpone his
party for a few days, until they could get Mr. Frog, the tailor, to
make them some new clothes.

But Mr. Crow wouldn't listen to them.

"No!" he said. "We mustn't wait. My friend the Major is a great
traveller. There's no knowing when he will take it into his head to
move on. And if you want to meet him there's no time like the
present."

Well, people were so busy getting ready for the party that there was a
great flurry everywhere all day long--except at the haystack, where
Major Monkey was hiding. And even he did not have so dull a time as
you might suppose.

Luckily, he had discovered a lone apple tree near-by. And being fond
of fruit he crept out of the haystack every few minutes and gathered
apples.

What he could eat, he ate greedily. And what he couldn't he hid under
the stack.

And on the whole, he had rather a pleasant time.

V

Meeting Major Monkey

Everybody was prompt when the hour came for Mr. Crow's party. In fact,
everybody was ahead of time. Old Mr. Crow had talked so much about his
old friend Major Monkey and the Major's gold-braided uniform that
people simply couldn't wait to see the stranger and his fine clothes.

There was just one difficulty: the Major himself was not on hand.

Old Mr. Crow began to be terribly worried. But he tried not to let
anybody know that he was disturbed.

"He'll be here soon," he said when people asked him where Major Monkey
was. "I've never known my friend the Major to break an engagement.
He's a bit late--that's all. I only hope he isn't lost. You know he's a
stranger in these parts."

Now, Mr. Crow was sitting in a tree, gazing toward the haystack in the
distance, where he had told the Major to hide. And he had hardly
finished speaking when a big red apple struck the tree just above his
head with a loud _smack_ and broke into bits.

Mr. Crow jumped. And so did everybody else. But before the party had
time to scatter, Major Monkey peeped from behind a neighboring tree
and uttered a piercing whistle.

"Don't go, friends!" Mr. Crow cried to his companions. "Here he is
now! Here's Major Monkey himself.... That's only one of his jokes," he
added, for he noticed that some of his cronies appeared somewhat
nervous.

Major