Well, sir, the keeper who trained the ourang outang took me in hand, and
in an hour I was perfect, I had rubber feet and wore black gloves, and
had a tail fastened with a safety pin, that would deceive the oldest
showman in the business. When the crowd was the biggest, in the middle
ring, the keeper led me out of the dressing room with a chain. The
announcement was made by the barker that Dennis, the educated ourang
outang, that had performed before crowned heads in Europe and sapheads
in Newport, the only man-monkey in the known world, would now entertain
the most select audience that had ever been under the tent. Then I was
dragged into the ring and put on the platform.
[Illustration: The Keeper Who Trained the Ourang outang Took Me in
Hand.]
They didn't put on my dress clothes at first, but had a little screen on
the platform for me to go behind to dress, and I appeared first in the
natural state of the ourang outang, with a suit of buffalo robe stuff
that looked exactly like a big monkey. I bowed and the audience cheered,
and I stood on my hands and scratched at an imaginary flea, and pa, who
was leaning against the platform, whispered to me that I was making the
hit of the season.
Then the attendants set the table and the keeper took me behind the
screen and dressed me, and the old fool forgot to put on my tail.
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