"Oh, then it's a squirrel!" guessed Rose. "No, it isn't a squirrel," said Laddie, shaking his head. "It's got a tail! I can see it!" cried Vi, as she stooped down and looked under her brother's coat. "I can see it sticking out. It's brown." "Yes, it's got a tail," admitted Laddie. "Is it a kite?" asked Russ, for he had not yet finished the one he was making. "Nope! 'Tisn't a kite!" Laddie answered. "It's alive, and kites aren't that way!" "They wiggle around as if they were alive, sometimes," said Rose. "Oh, I heard it squeak!" cried Mun Bun. "Is it a little kittie?" Again Laddie shook his head. "Nope," he answered, "'tisn't a kittie. But it's got fur on. Now I'll give you each one more guess for my riddle, and----" But Laddie's "riddle" seemed to think the fun had gone on long enough, and it didn't want to be guessed about any more. All at once the little boy began to wiggle and try to hold something still beneath his coat--something which seemed very much alive indeed. "Oh! Oh! Oh, dear!" cried Laddie, but he was laughing. "What's the matter?" asked his mother. "It--it's _tickling_ me!" he exclaimed. "Oh--there it is!" As he spoke a funny little wrinkled black face, followed by a little brown furry body and a long tail, scrambled out from under Laddie's buttoned coat and sat on his shoulder. "Oh, look!" cried Rose. "It's a black pussy with a long tail!" cried Violet. "No, it isn't!" Russ exclaimed. "It's a monkey! That's what it is! A monkey!" "A monkey!" repeated Mrs. Bunker. "Why, so it is. Oh, Laddie boy! where did you get a monkey?" Laddie put up his hand to stroke the funny little creature, which seemed to like it, crouching down on Laddie's shoulder and nestling close to him. The monkey was not much larger than a cat. "Where'd you get it?" repeated the children's mother. "Have they got any more? Can I get one?" cried Russ. "I'll go and find some peanuts!" "Don't let him wind his tail on me!" begged Mun Bun, hiding behind his mother's skirts. "Can he play a hand-organ?" asked Violet. The children were laughing so hard, and asking so many questions as they crowded around Laddie, that their mother exclaimed: "Oh, my dear six little Bunkers! please be quiet a minute until I can hear what Laddie has to say. Tell us where you got such a cute little riddle!" "I got him with peanuts," Laddie said. "He was up in a tree and I saw him, and I held out some peanuts in my hand and he came down and sat on my shoulder and ate 'em and then I put him under my coat and he liked it and I brought him home." "But where did you find him?" asked Aunt Jo. "In what tree?" "Oh, just down by the corner at the end of this street," answered Laddie with a wave of his hand. "Mercy," gasped Aunt Jo, "are monkeys beginning to make their homes in the trees of the Boston streets?" and she and Mother Bunker laughed. "But was he up a tree?" asked Russ.