it was almost time for school to be out, and jacko and jumpo, the red and green monkey boys, could hardly wait, as they wanted to run home and go for another ride in their little auto. of course, all the other animal children also wished school was over, for jacko and jumpo had promised to let all of them have turns riding in the gasoline car. but just when it was almost time for school to be out the owl school teacher said:

"now, children, i am going to give you all some lessons to study at home, and i want you all to do them as nicely as you can. now pay attention, please."

so she gave some of the pupils examples to do, and to others she gave spelling, and to still others writing, while the bigger children, like sammie littletail or johnnie and billie bushytail, had geography to study. and the little kindergarten children had to cut things out of paper—horses and cows and houses and trees, and things like that.

"now you may all go," said the teacher, "and bring your lessons in with you to-morrow morning."

well, the animal children marched out, but they weren't very happy. they didn't think they ought to have to study at home, but it has to be done, sometimes, you know. and really it isn't so hard if you don't think so.

"oh, dear!" exclaimed jacko to his brother, when they were outside the school. "we can't go for an auto ride if we have to study our examples."

"no; isn't it mean?" exclaimed his brother. "but perhaps if we run along quickly we'll have time for just a little ride before we have to do our home work."

so they hurried as fast as they could and they soon reached home. then their mamma said they might ride around the block a couple of times in their auto before doing any study.

"and then, after your lessons are done, you may ride some more," she said; "that is if it isn't too dark."

well, jacko and jumpo took their little ride, and they gave rides to as many of their friends as they could. then they went in the house to study.

but alas and alack-a-day! you know how it happens sometimes. jacko got his example all twisted up, and the answer wouldn't come right. and jumpo's numbers got all snarled up, until the figure six looked like a nine and the figure eight like a brown cruller which his mamma sometimes made in the lard kettle.

"oh, dear!" cried both the monkey boys. "we'll never get done in time to go auto riding before dark."

"never mind," spoke their mamma, "i'll help you." and she did; but even then it was dark before they were finished, and quite too late to go out in the auto, for they might have hit a lamp post and bent the rubber tires into a figure forty-'leven.

"what can we do to have some fun?" asked jumpo, as he untied two hard knots in his tail.

"how would you like to roast some marshmallow candies?" asked his mother, looking over the top of the piano.

"how do you do it?" inquired jacko, who was still studying.

"you build a little fire," said his mamma, "only you must be very careful not to get too near it. then you take a stick and sharpen the end. then you fasten a soft marshmallow candy on the pointed stick, and hold it near the fire, but not too close, and pretty soon the marshmallow candy puffs up and gets nice and brown and you eat it—only you must wait until it is cool, or you might burn your tongue. do you want to do that?"

"burn my tongue? no, indeed!" cried jumpo, making a funny face and wriggling his tail up and down like a fan.

"oh, i didn't mean burn your tongue, you funny boy," spoke his mamma with a laugh. "i meant do you want to build a fire and roast marshmallows?"

"surely," said jumpo politely. "don't you, jacko?"

"no, i guess not," said the red monkey boy. "i think i'll read a little after my lessons are done and then go to bed. to-morrow we may not have to study at home, and we can take a longer auto ride."

so jumpo went out alone in front of his house to roast the marshmallows. his mamma gave him some of the candies in a tin box, and he sharpened his own stick, and built a nice little fire, being careful not to make it too large. and he was also careful not to get burned.

by this time it was quite dark, and the fire looked very pretty, blazing just on the edge of the woods near where the monkey's tree-house was built. when there were some nice, glowing, hot coals in the blaze jumpo got ready to roast the marshmallow candies. he stuck one on the sharp stick, and held it close to the fire.

but, oh, dear me, hum suz dud! jumpo held the candy too close, and the first thing you know it caught fire and melted and fell off the stick down into the blaze and was burned up! wasn't that too bad?

"i'll not hold the next one so close," he said, and he was careful; so the second candy turned a nice golden brown and puffed up nearly twice as big as it had been before.

"oh, i know what i'll do!" suddenly exclaimed jumpo. "i'll toast a lot of them and take them in the house for mamma and papa and jacko."

so he roasted the candies as fast as he could until he had quite a pile of them in a box. as they were very hot he pushed them off the end on the pointed stick, using a piece of bark for a pusher.

jumpo was so busy that he didn't look behind him. if he had done so he would have been very much frightened. for there, creeping out of the bushes, was the burglar fox, with his big tail and sharp teeth. and he was creeping, creeping up toward jumpo to eat him. but jumpo didn't know a thing about it. he was so busy roasting marshmallow candies.

all of a sudden the fox accidentally stepped on a stick, and it broke in two pieces and made a loud noise. jumpo heard it and turned around. then, by the light of the fire, he saw the fox coming toward him.

"ah, ha! now i have you!" cried the bad creature, and he made a spring to catch the monkey boy. jumpo didn't wait to be caught, you may be sure of that. he jumped, too, and the green monkey happened to tip over the box of toasted marshmallow candies as he leaped to one side. he upset them all over the ground, and then what do you s'pose happened?

why, that bad fox landed right in the midst of the hot, soft candies, and they got all over his feet, like sticky flypaper, and they burned him. oh, how he howled! the more he tried to get the candies off, the tighter they stuck. the fox turned a somersault, and then the candies got all over his fur, until he looked like a marshmallow fox. and, of course, he couldn't catch jumpo then, for he was so stuck up.

the monkey boy ran in the house and told his papa about the fox, and mr. kinkytail came out with his gun. but by that time the fox had run off to find a puddle of water so that he could wash the candy out of his fur, and he wasn't in sight for papa kinkytail to shoot.

"oh, my poor marshmallows!" cried jumpo, when he saw that they were all spoiled by the fox rolling in them. "oh, dear!"

"never mind, i have another boxful," said his mother, kindly.

"and this time i'll help you roast them," said jacko. so he did, and there were enough candies for the whole family. then they all went to bed and the fox didn't bother them for a long time after that.

now, if the egg beater doesn't knock all the dust out of the piano cover when it dresses up like a rag doll, i'll tell you next about jacko and the busy bee.