ere, Bravo! Not too rotten That's
first rate monkey business, take it from Ivo Hobbs. Let me interdoose
myself. Mr. Mahdi. Ivo Hobbs, late o' Kitts and Killjammer's Whole World
Show."

Nickie walked along the back wall of his cage two or three times with
simian ungainliness, turning with a peculiar spring that Mr. Crips had
learned from the Orang.

"Good enough!" said. Ivo Hobbs. "Good enough. There's no ticks on you,
you're a stoodent, I can see. How's the game mate?"

It was necessary to convince this beery intruder of his grievous error in
taking Professor Thunder' celebrated Missing Link, Mahdi, from the
tangled jungles of Darkest Africa, for a cheap fake. Nickie sprang to the
perch with great agility, caught it with one hand, slowly drew up a leg,
hooked a hind claw to the bar and hung so, blinking unconcernedly.

"What oh!" said the audience, with enthusiasm.

"That's a bit of all right. You're a husker. But there ain't no reason
for this reticence with a brother professional. I was the bearded woman
with Kitts and Kiljammer's show for over two years, I was Shake, mate."
The visitor thrust a hand through the bars.

Nickie dropped from his swing, landing lightly on four paws, ambled
daintily across the cage, ran up the bars, and seated himself on a limb
propped in a corner.

The audience applauded generously.

"Bli' me," he cried, "you're a fool t' waste them talents on a side show
like this. You orter hitch on at one o' the great circuses."

Nickie slid down the rope and resumed his leisurely scratching,
prospected his ribs for a few seconds, and then made a sudden dash at
Ammona, the orang, grappled with him through the bars, snatched away a
little fur, and maintained a fierce scratching and snapping squabble for
half a minute or so.

This was one of Nickie's most effective bits of business. Whenever he
heard an audience casting doubts on his authenticity as a genuine member
of the monkey family, he work up a spluttering dispute with Ammonia and
the battle was so realistic that it dispelled all doubts.

"Well I'm jiggered." murmured Mr. Ivo Hobbs. "I could have sworn he was a
fake." He pressed more closely to the bars, and peered at Nickie with a
critical, if somewhat beery eye, and the Missing Link posed languidly in
a monkey attitude. Suddenly Ivo jabbed at him with a stick. The stick was
pointed, and it took Nickie in the ear.

"Hell!" cried the Missing Link, bounding across his cage.

Ivo burs