“He’ll not see us,” whispered Freddie.  “Besides, we’re coming right back as soon as we see the monkey.”

“And we’ll give him some peanuts,” added Flossie.  “You can buy some with your five cents, Freddie.  And we won’t give them all to the monkey.  I want some.”

“So do I. Come on, we’ll go down.”

The agent seemed to have forgotten them.  At any rate his door was closed and he could not see them.  None of the passengers, hurrying in to buy tickets, paid any attention to the Bobbsey twins.  So, hand in hand, Flossie and Freddie went out of the station, and down the long stairs to where they could hear the music of the hand piano.

It was being played by an Italian man in the street, almost under the elevated station, and, as Flossie leaned over the stair railing to look down, she cried out: 

“Oh, there is a monkey, Freddie!  The man has it on a string!”

“That’s good.  Do you see peanuts anywhere?”

“Yes, there are some at that stand near the bottom of the stairs.  Don’t lose your five cents!”

“I won’t!”

Freddie hurried down with Flossie.  He bought a bag of peanuts, and the children hastened across the street to where a little crowd of boys and girls stood in front of the hurdy-gurdy, or hand piano, listening to the music and watching the monkey.  This will draw a crowd, even in New York, where there are many more and stranger sights to be seen.

“Oh, isn’t he cute!” cried Flossie, tapping her feet on the sidewalk in time to the music.

“He’s coming over this way,” said Freddie.  “I’m going to give him a peanut.”

“But don’t let him get the whole bag.”

“I won’t.  Here, Jacko!  Have a peanut!” and Freddie held out one to the hurdy-gurdy monkey.

The long-tailed animal lost no time in making a grab for it, and soon he was chewing it hungrily.  The man grinding out the music shook the cord which was fast to a collar around the monkey’s neck.  What the street piano man wanted was pennies and five-cent pieces put in the monkey’s red cap.  Peanuts were good for Jacko, but money was better for his master.

The monkey well knew what the jerks meant on the cord around his neck.  They meant that he must scramble around in the crowd and hold out his cap for pennies.  The monkey would much rather have eaten peanuts, but even monkeys can not do as they like in this world.

So, with a chattering sound, and with another look at Freddie, who tossed him a peanut, the monkey, catching the dainty in one paw, started to try to collect some money.

But he must have been a hungry little monkey, for, when he looked at Flossie, and saw on her hat what he thought were red cherries, that monkey made up his mind to get some of them if he could.  Though the cherries were made of celluloid, they looked very real, and they might have fooled even a boy or a girl, to say nothing of a monkey.