excited
way, screamed two or three times, as if he were calling them back, and
then started off in vigorous pursuit.

"Now he's gone too!" said Toby, disconsolately, believing the old fellow
had run away from him. "I didn't think Mr. Stubbs would treat me this
way!"

VIII. CAPTURE OF THE MONKEYS

The boy tried to rise to his feet, but his head whirled so, and he felt
so dizzy and sick from the effects of his fall, that he was obliged to
sit down again until he should feel able to stand. Meanwhile the crowd
around the wagon paid no attention to him, and he lay there quietly
enough, until he heard the hateful voice of Mr. Lord asking if his boy
were hurt.

The sound of his voice affected Toby very much as the chills and fever
affect a sufferer, and he shook so with fear, and his heart beat so
loudly, that he thought Mr. Lord must know where he was by the sound.
Seeing, however, that his employer did not come directly toward him,
the thought flashed upon his mind that now would be a good chance to run
away, and he acted upon it at once. He rolled himself over in the mud
until he reached a low growth of fir trees that skirted the road, and
when beneath their friendly shade he rose to his feet and walked swiftly
toward the woods, following the direction the monkeys had taken.

He no longer felt dizzy and sick; the fear of Mr. Lord had dispelled all
that, and he felt strong and active again.

He had walked rapidly for some distance, and was nearly beyond the
sound of the voices in the road, when he was startled by seeing quite
a procession of figures emerge from the trees and come directly toward
him.

He could not understand the meaning of this strange company, and it so
frightened him that he attempted to hide behind a tree, in the hope
that they might pass without seeing him. But no sooner had he secreted
himself than a strange, shrill chattering came from the foremost of the
group, and in an instant Toby emerged from his place of concealment.

He had recognized the peculiar sound as that of the old monkey who had
left him a few moments before, and he knew now what he did not know
then, owing to the darkness. The newcomers were the monkeys that had
escaped from the cage, and had been overtaken and compelled to come
back by the old monkey, who seemed to have the most perfect control over
them.

The old fellow was leading the band, and all were linked "hand in hand"
with each other, which gave the whole