A False Alarm
Some years ago, a soldier doing duty at the castle of Cape Town, kept a
tame baboon for his amusement. One evening it broke its chains unknown to
him. In the night, climbing up into the belfry, it began to play with, and
ring the bell. Immediately the whole place was in an uproar; some great
danger was apprehended. Many thought that the castle was on fire; others,
that an enemy had entered the bay, and the soldiers began actually to turn
out, when it was discovered that the baboon had occasioned the
disturbance. On the following morning a court-martial was held, when Cape
justice dictated, that whereas the baboon had unnecessarily put the castle
into alarm, the master should receive fifty lashes; the soldier, however,
found means to evade the punishment.