The door of his cage snapped shut after Mappo got out, keeping the other monkeys in.

“I’m going to run away,” said Mappo.  “I’m not going to stay, and let that bad tiger catch me.”  And so Mappo ran away.

CHAPTER X

MAPPO AND SQUINTY

Mappo, as soon as he got outside the traveling circus cage on wheels, looked all about him to see if any one were watching him.  But no one seemed to be doing so.

His man friend, who had trained him to do many tricks, was riding on the seat with the driver of the big monkey-cage wagon, and this man never looked around, as Mappo slipped out.  All the other circus men were too busy to look after one monkey.

Mappo slipped down to the dusty country road, along which the circus procession was then going, and quickly running across it, the merry little monkey hid in the bushes on the other side.

Slowly the big circus wagons rumbled past the place where Mappo was hiding in the bushes.  When the cage, in which Sharp-Tooth, the tiger, was pacing up and down, came along, the big striped beast growled and roared, and to Mappo it sounded just as if he were saying: 

“Where’s that monkey?  Oh, wait until I get hold of him!  He wouldn’t let me out of my cage, and I’ll fix him!”

When the last wagon in, the procession had gone past—­and it was the steam piano which brought up at the end—­Mappo breathed a long breath.

“Now I’m all right!” he thought.  “They can’t find me now.  I’m going over into those woods.  Maybe there is a jungle where I can find cocoanuts.”

Scrambling over rocks, stones and fences, Mappo made his way to the big woods.  It looked cool and green there, much better than the hot, dusty road, down which the circus procession was rumbling, with the big red, green and gold wagons.

Mappo was much disappointed when he reached the woods.  He could not see any cocoanuts or bananas, and those were the things he liked best of all.

“I wonder what I shall eat,” said Mappo, for he was quite hungry.

He ran about, climbing trees, going away up to the top, and hanging down by his tail.  He had not had a chance to do this since he had been with the circus, and, really, it was lots of fun for him.

Soon he felt hungry again, and he looked around for something to chew.  He saw nothing.

“Oh dear!” he cried out loud.  “I wonder what I can eat.”

“Ha!” cried a grunting little voice near him, “why don’t you eat acorns, as I do?”

“What’s that?  Who are you?  Where are you?” asked Mappo, looking up and down.

“Here I am, under this bush,” the voice went on, and out walked a little pig.

“What’s your name?” asked Mappo.

“My name is Squinty,” answered the little pig.  I suppose you had guessed that before I told you—­at least those of you who have read my other book, called “Squinty, the Comical Pig.”