Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 34.djvu/121

Rh the freedom of every town, those four-handed pensioners often assist the police in enforcing the riot-laws by charging en masse for the scene of every dog-fight and school-boy scuffle. They will rescue worried cats, and, for greater security, deposit them on the next roof, or suppress rowdyism in general, the stout Rhesus baboon, for instance, being physically as well as morally qualified to quell the aggressive disposition of the fiercest cur. On the platform of a public warehouse the British residents of Agra, a few years ago, witnessed a scene which put that character-trait in even a stronger light. A little street Arab had spread his pallet in the shade of a stack of country produce, and had just dropped asleep, when the proprietor of the Planters' Hotel strolled up with a pet leopard that had learned to accompany him in all his rambles. A troop of tramp monkeys had taken post on the opposite end of the shed, and, like the beggar boy, seemed to enjoy a comfortable siesta, but at sight of the speckled intruder the whole gang charged along the platform like a squadron of spahis, and, instantly forming a semicircle about the little sleeper, faced the leopard with bristling manes, evidently resolved to defeat the suspected purpose of his visit.

Our four-handed cousins apparently credit their biped kinsmen with reciprocative tendencies. Three years ago a New York pet-dealer shipped me a bonnet-macaque to Tallulah, Ga., where my guest happened to arrive during the temporary absence of the regular express agent. His assistants, in trying to feed the interesting stranger, managed to break the top of the box, and, after taking to their heels, made matters worse by attacking the deserter with stones and brickbats, till he evaded their missiles on the turrets of a three-story hotel. Here a literal "steeple-chase" was kept up for hours, with the co-operation of an ever-increasing number of volunteers, till the approach of night obliged me to adopt the plan of a veteran squirrel-hunter, who offered to recapture the fugitive by a "crease-shot"—i.e., to cripple him just enough to compel his surrender. The expedient led to the desired result; but from that day our prisoner behaved like a captive wild cat, bristling up at the approach of every visitor, and wearing out his teeth in a series of desperate attempts to break his wire chain. By dint of perseverance he at last effected his purpose, and once more enacted a declaration of independence; but this time fate was too close on his heels, and, before he had run more than a hundred yards, the dogs obliged him to take refuge in the top of a small pine-bush. On my arrival the leader of his pursuers, a big deer-hound, was assailing that bush with leaps that speedily threatened to make the hostile position untenable, and was just bracing himself for another spring, when the deserter suddenly leaped upon my shoulder, and,