the queen's string of pearls."

Up ran the guards from every side.

The servant said: "I sat right here beside the box where the queen put
her string of pearls. I did not move from the place. But the day is
hot, and I was tired. I must have fallen asleep. The pearls were gone
when I awoke."

The guards told the king that the pearls were gone.

"Find the man who stole the pearls," said the king. Away went the
guards looking high and low for the thief.

After the king had gone, the chief guard said to himself:

"There is something strange here. These pearls," thought he, "were
lost in the garden. There was a strong guard at the gates, so that no
one from the outside could get into the garden. On the other hand,
there are hundreds of Monkeys here in the garden. Perhaps one of the
Girl Monkeys took the string of pearls."

Then the chief guard thought of a trick that would tell whether a Girl
Monkey had taken the pearls. So he bought a number of strings of
bright-colored glass beads.

After dark that night the guards hung the strings of glass beads here
and there on the low bushes in the garden. When the Monkeys saw the
strings of bright-colored beads the next morning, each Monkey ran for
a string.