the tiger's head.

But Yung Pak's tiger was ferocious only in looks. It was made of paper
pulp and painted with bright stripes. This harmless image of a fierce
beast Yung Pak would pull about the floor with a string by the hour.

All his pets were not of wood and paper. Real live animals he had.
Puppies and kittens, of course. His greatest pet, though, was a monkey.
What little boy ever saw a monkey that he didn't want for his own? So
when Yung Pak's father made him a present of a monkey--a real
monkey--alive--he just danced with glee.

This monkey was not a very large one,--not over a foot high,--but he
could cut capers and play tricks equal to any monkey you ever saw
travelling with an organ-grinder. He was dressed in a scarlet jacket,
and he was always with Yung Pak, except sometimes when he would try to
plague him by breaking away and running--perhaps to the house-top or to
the neighbour's garden.

After a little while Yung Pak got used to these "monkey shines," and he
knew that his pet would not stay away long after mealtime.

As Yung Pak grew older he was allowed to play with other boys of his own
age. A favourite sport was Hunting the Ring. In this game the boys would
get together quite a large heap of sand. In this sand one of them would
hide a ring, and then the urchins would all get slender sticks and poke
around in the pile trying to find the ring. Whoever succeeded in getting
the ring on his stick won the game, and carried the prize home as a sign
of victory.