oo humanly, but as a trained
animal might do it, throwing in a good deal of coarse humour, at which
the audience roared.

The turn was a success, the spectators applauded vociferously.

"Ladies and gents. I thank you," said the Professor, bowing. "You have
witnessed a triumph of teaching and training over brute animal nature,
and I hope that when you go out you'll speak well of a show that has been
in some measure the victim of a hireling press here in Wildbee."

"A marvellous performance, indeed," said a thin, shabby, sandy man,
coming forward with a notebook. "Almost miraculous."

"True for you, sir." said the Professor eyeing the man suspiciously.

"Perhaps you can tell me. Professor Thunder, what branch of the Simian
family this--this creature of yours belongs?"

"Well," said the Professor, "he is said to be most closely connected with
the gorillas."

"Nonsense, man! Gorilla, rubbish! Look at that pelvis, sir, look at those
arms. That's no more a gorilla than I am."

"May I ask to whom I have the honour of speaking?" asked the Professor,
in his coldly polite manner--his most superior professional attitude.

"My name is Andrew McKnight, if that's any good to you. If that is a
gorilla, sir, where are his vertebral processes, tell me that? And how
comes it that his legs are almost as long as those of man?"

The Missing Link, who had doffed his airs of civilisation, and was now
crouched in the straw, began snarling at this. It seemed almost as if Mr.
McKnight's criticism were making the poor beast angry.

"You must remember, sir, that this animal is not of any known species,"
said Professor Thunder, who had a large collection of stock phrases for
such discussions. "He is in a manner a creature apart."

"I should say so. Would you permit me to take cerebral measurements of
your so-called Missing Link? I am interested in this matter, having
opposed the Darwinian hypothesis for many years."

Here Mahdi's snarling became diabolical, and he leaped about in a
terrifying way.

"Certainly," said the Professor, "Certainly, Mahdi is always at the
service of science. But I warn you he is apt to be treacherous with
strangers. He almost tore the arm off Professor Fitzpoof, of Dresden, and
he nearly disembowelled a doctor in Dublin in 1895."

"Oh," said the gentleman with the notebook, doubtingly, "in that case I
had better not, perhaps."

Mr. McKnight did not go away for some time. He lingered, watching Mahdi
with