Far away in a distant city where all the people love music and dancing, there was a hurdy-gurdy man whom all the children knew as Uncle Antoine. Uncle Antoine had a pet monkey called Monko, who went with him every day on his round of music-making. One day, when the sun was shining brightly, they chanced upon a pretty little blue-eyed girl with golden curls, who was sitting on a doorstep weeping. When Uncle Antoine asked her why she was crying so bitterly, she replied that she was all alone in the world and had no place to live. Poor Uncle Antoine had a great, big heart and he felt very sorry for her, so he told her that he would be her uncle and that she might join him and Monko. Now Colette, for that was the little girl’s name, was as good as she was pretty, and when she found someone to love her and look after her, she proceeded to dance for joy. A crowd soon gathered, and everyone was so enchanted with the music and the dancing that they threw shining heaps of gold pennies into Monko’s cup. At the end of the day they had collected more gold pennies than Uncle Antoine had ever seen in his life before, and the three partners dreamed dreams of a beautiful future, where pennies would be so plentiful that they could afford to buy a nice little house of their very own and live happily ever after. So each night found Uncle Antoine, Colette, and Monko ’way off in the country falling asleep under some nice big tree, tired but happy in their dreams of the future. And every morning they were awakened by little leaves fluttering down upon their faces, and by the chirping of the tiny birds above them. One day Colette suggested going to the Zoo to entertain the people who were watching the animals, and since Uncle Antoine and Monko were always ready to please her, they hurried across the city, pushing the big hurdy-gurdy before them. [Illustration: _Only a Tiny Bunch of Whiskers Remained_] When they arrived at the Zoo they found that great crowds were there before them, and when Uncle Antoine started to play and Colette to dance, not only did the boys and girls and grown-ups turn to look and listen, but all the animals began to cut capers. The monkeys started to two-step, and one old Grandfather Ape did a loop-the-loop of joy. Old Leo Lion whistled the _Star Spangled Banner_ and the big clumsy elephants sang _Yankee Doodle_ all at the same time; old Uncle Hippopotamus humped about his cage, trying his best to waltz.