losed the box for her to open again. On the following
day, when some friends came in to visit her, I gave her the match-box to
open again. On this occasion, however, she was in her cage and could not
reach the wall through its meshes, and hence had nothing against which
to strike the spring to force it open. After looking around her in all
directions and striking the box against the wires of her cage a few
times, she discovered a block of wood in her cage about six inches
square by an inch thick, and this she took and mounted her perch.
Balancing the block on the perch she held it with the left foot, while
with her right foot she held on to the perch, and with her tail wound
through the meshes of her cage to steady herself, she carefully adjusted
the match-box in her hands in such a manner as to protect her fingers
from the blow. Then striking the spring against the block of wood the
lid flew open, and she fairly screamed with delight, and held the box up
with pride, wanting me to close the lid again, in order that she might
open it.

Finding that the late hours which I kept were beginning to tell on
Nellie, and that during the day from time to time I would catch her
taking a little nap, I concluded to use some curtains around her cage to
avoid disturbing her rest. I drew them around the cage, lapped them
over, and pinned them down in front. Then I turned down the light and
kept quiet for a while to allow her to go to sleep. After the lapse of
a few minutes, I slowly turned up the light and resumed my writing. In
an instant I heard the curtains rustle, and looked around, and there I
saw her little brown eyes peeping through the folds of the curtains,
which she held apart with her little black hands. When she saw what it
was that caused all this disturbance, she chattered to me in her soft
rich tones, and tried so hard to pull the curtains apart that I removed
them from her cage so that she could look around the room. To see her
holding the curtains apart in that graceful manner, turning her head
from side to side, peeping and smiling at me, and talking in such low
tones, was so much like a real flirtation that one who has not seen the
like cannot fully appreciate it. And only those who have experienced the
warm and unselfish friendship of these little creatures can realise how
strong the attachment becomes. When once you enjoy the confidence of a
monkey, nothing can shake it, except some act of your own, or one at
least