The little comical pig was rather lonesome after Slicko had left him, but he was no longer hungry, thanks to the acorns.

So he walked on and on, and pretty soon he came to a road.  And down the road he saw coming the strangest sight.

There were a lot of big wagons, all painted red and green and gold.  Many horses drew each wagon, the big wheels of which rattled like thunder, and beside the wagons there were many strange animals walking along—­animals which Squinty had never seen before.

“Oh my!” cried Squinty.  “This is worse than the balloon!  I must run away!”

But, just as he turned to run, he saw a little animal jump out of one of the big wagons, and come toward him.  This animal was something like a little boy, only, instead of clothes, he was covered with hairy fur.  And the animal had a long tail, which Squinty knew no boy ever had.

Squinty was so surprised at seeing the strange animal that the little pig stood still.  The hairy animal, with the long tail, came straight for the bush behind which Squinty was hiding, and crawled through.  Then the two stood looking at one another, while the big wagons rumbled past on the road.

“Hello!” Squinty finally exclaimed.  “Who are you?”

“Why, I am Mappo, the merry monkey,” was the answer, as he curled his long tail around a stick of wood.  “But I don’t need to ask who you are.  You are a pig, I can see that, for we have one in our circus, and the clown rides him around the ring, and it is too funny for anything.”

[Illustration:  “Why, I am Mappo, the merry monkey,” was the answer.]

“Ha, so you are a monkey?” asked Squinty.  “But what do you mean by a circus?”

“That’s a circus,” answered Mappo, pointing with one paw through a hole in the bush, at the queer animals, and the red, gold and green wagons.  “That is, it will be a circus when they put up the big tent, and all the people come.  Didn’t you ever see a circus?”

“Never,” answered Squinty.  “Did you ever ride in a balloon?”

“Never,” answered Mappo.

“Well, then we are even,” said Squinty.  “Now you tell me about a circus, and I’ll tell you about the balloon.”

“Well,” said the monkey, “a circus is a big show in a tent, to make people laugh.  There are clowns, and animals to look at.  I am one of the animals, but I ran out of my cage when the door flew open.”

“Why did you run away?” asked Squinty.

“Oh, I got tired of staying in a cage.  And I was afraid the big tiger might bite me.  I’ll run back again pretty soon, before they miss me.  Now you tell me about your balloon ride.”

So Squinty told the merry monkey all about running away, and learning tricks, and having a ride in the queer basket.

“I can do tricks, too,” said Mappo.  “But just now I am hungry.  I wonder if any cocoanut trees are in these woods?”

“I don’t know what a cocoanut is,” answered Squinty, “but I’ll give you some of my acorns.”