ted to begin arriving,
curious to see this strange thing Doctor Jackson had brought from
Colombia, an attendant arrived with a freshly painted sign.

"Colombian Great Ape," it read, "Presented to Bronx Zoo by Doctor
Claude Jackson."

It seemed to close entirely behind Lee Bentley the vast door which
separated the apes from civilization. Miserably he crouched in his
corner and awaited the coming of the curious.

CHAPTER X

_Grim Anticipation_

A numbing fear began to grow upon Lee Bentley as the ordeal of waiting
began.

Naturally he could not eat the food given usually to apes and of
course he could not be seen calmly eating bacon and eggs with knife
and fork. And because he couldn't eat he was assailed by a dreadful
hunger, which, however, he managed to fight down partially. He smiled
inwardly as he looked ahead and understood that despite the warnings
not to feed the animals, children of all ages, from four years to
sixty, would surreptitiously toss peanuts and walnuts into his cage.

He felt a little hopeful about it. They would at least allay his
hunger.

But no, he could not do that, either. Nobody had thought to ask Doctor
Jackson how a Colombian ape manipulated his food. Even a certain
clumsiness in that respect might start questions which would cause the
public to doubt the authenticity of Jackson's find.

Bentley decided to sulk. The ape he was supposed to be could
reasonably be expected to resent captivity and would probably go on a
hunger strike. He would do likewise and be in character if he
starved.

He crouched in a far corner as the first comers began to arrive. They
were fathers and mothers with their children, and the older people
carried, usually, newspapers under their arms. Bentley wished with all
his soul that he could see one of the papers close enough to read the
headlines.

However, when the crowd was not too thick, Bentley waddled nearer to
the wire mesh which separated him from the curious crowd and through
lids which were half closed as though he slept, he managed to glimpse
a few excerpts from the paper:

"Police department redoubling their precautions to prevent Mind Master
from capturing eighteen intended victims."

"Hideout of Mind Master still undiscovered. When will the public be
delivered from the stupidity of the police?"

"Doctor Jackson returns from Colombia, bringing a living specimen of
an ape hitherto unknown to civilized man, but more like him than any