great curiosity. He came back in the evening, too, and hung about
the museum for hours. The Professor observed him with growing resentment.
He suspected the intentions of the sandy man, and he was not wrong.

Next day, shortly after the show opened, McKnight came again, with the
same notebook and the same suspicious air. He brought five men with him,
all solid men in Wildbee, one of them the local constable. This party
assembled near the cage of the Missing Link, and listened carefully while
the Professor reeled off the familiar story of the taking of Mahdi. They
witnessed the stirring and entertaining dinner, and when the Professor
had finished, and Mahdi had resumed his conch in the straw, McKnight
stepped forward.

"And do you expect us to believe all that rubbish, Professor?" he said.

"I do," said Professor Thunder, with dignity, "but I don't care if you
don't."

"Well, we don't, sir, and what's more, we know you to be an impostor--a
rank impostor--and as editor of the Wildbee 'Guardian,' it is my duty to
expose you and your shameless fraud upon the public of this town and
district."

At this the Missing Link came out of his straw, growling, and springing
to the perch hung by one hand, with his legs drawn up in a very
monkey-like attitude.

"What the deuce do you mean?" thundered the Professor, manfully.

"I mean this," said McKnight, addressing the crowd "you have been
victimised. That creature is no monkey. It is a human being of some
kind."

Nickie the Kid felt his heart sink, but he made a big bid for popularity.
He capered about the cage and thrusting his face through the bars
jabbered excitedly.

"You're talking rubbish, man," cried the Professor.

"Am I?" retorted McKnight. "Then perhaps you will have the audacity to
tell us you have a monkey that can talk? Last night I crept under your
tent at the back there when there were no people in the show, and I heard
your absurd Missing Link talking, and what's more, he was teaching a
magpie to talk."

The Missing Link here made a fierce jump at Ammonia, who happened to be
clinging to the dividing bars, caught him, and clawed viciously. Ammonia
clawed back, and they fought a yowling battle that went a long way
towards modifying the impression created by McKnight's remarks.

The Professor was consternated for a moment, but the diversion Nickie had
created gave him a chance to collect his wits and presently he began to
laugh. He laughed uproariously. H