re's
mysteries, known as 'The Descent of Man,' described by the nobility, the
scientists, and the faculty as the most complete representation of man's
descent from the apes ever presented to an intelligent audience. There
you will behold Bonypart, the miraculous, the bone man who has mystified
all the doctors and amazed millions. There you will behold Ephraim, the
enlightened pig; Madame Marve, the unrivalled seer, and last, but not
least, Mahdi, the Missing Link, pronounced by travellers, medical men,
and Darwinian students to be the one and only authentic and reliable
Missing Link discovered by mortal man. And the price is only sixpence.
Step up! Step up!"

The people stepped up, and saw the living skeleton, a thin, long,
melancholy man sitting on a chair, in limp tights, showing his bony
knees; the educated pig, that did astonishing things at the bidding of
Madame Marve; and the Descent of Man, represented by several monkeys of
varying sizes, a gorilla, and the awe-inspiring Missing Link.

The cage of Mahdi, the Missing Link, was some what dark, and the terrible
form of the mystery loomed in the dusk, heavy and formidable. He was as
big as a man, somewhat lank, and covered with coarse hair the colour of
cocoanut matting. This afternoon, when the early patrons entered, they
found him hanging limply by one arm, like a great ungainly bat.

"The Missing Link always reposes in this manner in his native wilds,"
said Madame Marve, in the chaste tones she assumed when imparting
valuable instruction "but he is otherwise very human in his tastes and
habits."

"Has 'e a vote, ma'am?" asked a facetious labourer.

A stout lady prodded Mahdi with her umbrella, and he flopped on all fours
on the floor of his cage, and sprang forward with a hoarse growl,
reaching a great, hairy paw out of the cage.

"Lor blime, missus, yer ortenter do that to another woman's 'ushand,"
said the facetious labourer.

The people pressed about Mahdi's cage. They threw nuts at him, and
offered him lollies and cakes, and the Missing Link went through many
surprising contortions, and rolled about, and capered, and growled in a
most realistic way, while Madame Marve gave a full and exciting account
of his capture in the jungles of Central Africa by a party of hunters, of
whom Professor Thunder was the leader and the conspicuous hero.

"Mahdi was then very young," said Madame. "He has been reared with great
tenderness, and is now probably the most va