The Autobiography of a Monkey

Part Third
THE BUTTERFLY WHIRL

 
It was then for the triumphs of conquest!
Oh, then for the life of the swell!
I dwelt like a lord with my patron
In a suite of a gilded hotel.
 
 
And we went out to plays and to dinners —
On the ladies he took me to call —
And once we received invitations
To a beautiful fancy-dress ball.
 
 
'Twas a famous affair and it won me,
With its titter and tinsel and tune,
For it carried me back to the jungle
And the monkey-dance under the moon.
 
 
Then I mingled with other diversions.
I learned how to paint and to ride;
I cut a great figure at polo —
The science of golfing I tried.
 
 
As a wheelman I soon became famous
And made a great score on the track —
I was known as the king of the scorchers,
With the typical bicycle back.
 
 
Then a girl who was youthful and silly
Made love to me just for a lark,
And came with an elegant turnout
And took me to drive in the park.
 
 
And I took her out boating next morning,
For the face of my charmer was fair;
It carried me back to the jungle —
To the flow'rs that were blossoming there.
 
 
But soon, in the midst of my pleasure,
In the glow of a roseate dream,
The boat struck a rock and tipped over
And tumbled us both in the stream.
 
 
Then, ho, for the skill of the jungle!
The deftness of foot and of hand!
For I hung from a limb and I saved her
And drew her at last to the strand.
 
 
And then to her home I went proudly
To claim the fair maid for my own,
But her father demanded a title,
And hardened his heart like a stone.
 
 
And now came the death of my patron,