Desmond Coke

“ Gertrude was Eva’s senior by seven years, a cold, stately creature, and the two sisters lived in a truceless state of feud.
“You don’t mean to say,” began the elder, “that you took those ridiculous monkeys to school?”
“Of course I did.”
“I thought you’d given them away or something. What a kid you are, Eva! Fancy taking—of course, you can’t do it again. Why, you're thirteen now!” ”

“ Eva put it in the cupboard, and told Tommy, fondly but fully, exactly what she thought of dolls; she valued them no more than babies. ... Mrs. Percy tried a compromise upon her girl’s ninth birthday, and bought a hairy monkey that had a waxen face inserted half-way up its furry body—somewhat like the legendary Esquimaux. This Eva regarded as an insult to the tribe of monkeys. Expectant of a second Tommy, she burst, so soon as her mother had gone, into a storm of grief and anger. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1931, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 92 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”