This woman came forward, and jabbed at Mahdi the Missing Link with her umbrella.  “Gerrout, yeh brute!” she said.  Mahdi backed into shades carefully provided at the back of the cage, and the old woman reached her umbrella through the bars, and made a hit at him.  Mahdi seemed to cower.

“A prize of one pound and a silver medal to any person daring enough to enter the cage of Mahdi, the man-monkey!” repeated Professor Thunder, with great hardihood.

“Wha’s that?” gasped the woman.

Professor Thunder repeated his intrepid words; aside he hissed “Bellow, damn you—­bellow!”

Nickie bellowed; he jumped with desperate energy, he clawed up the straw, but he remained in the shadow.

“A pound!” cried the woman.  “A pound jist fer goin’ in with that ape?  Done!  I’m yer man.”

The Professor was thunderstruck, so also was Mahdi the Missing Link.  Never since Thunder invested in his famous fake of the man-monkey had man or woman been found courageous enough to beard the monster in his den for a pound.  Never had any been expected to.  Professor Thunder stood non-plussed.

Madame went to the back of the cage.  “Howl!” she whispered.  “Howl!  Do you want to ruin us?”

Mahdi howled, he growled ferociously, he made an attempt to savage Ammonia.  His paroxysms were fearful to look upon, but the woman did not seem to mind in the least.

“Open the door,” she said.

“Madame, are you quite resolved to take this terrible risk?” said Thunder, gravely, feeling keenly the approaching loss of a hard-earned pound.

“Terrible pickles!” said the woman.  “I’ve bin managin’ men fer twenty years, an’ I ain’t goin’ t be stopped be no monkey.”

“Very well, madam, the consequences be upon your own head.” (Aside to Nickie) “Roar, curse you, roar!”

The Missing Link crept to the back bars in an imploring attitude.  “No, no; for the love of heaven! don’t let her in!” he whispered to Madame Marve.

Professor Thunder burst into one of his frenzied street orations to drown the voice of the Missing Link, and threw open the cage door.  The crowd huddled hack, horrified.  One girl screamed, but the heroine from the old-established lodging-house boldly entered the cage, swinging her gamp.

It was expected that the strange monster from the dim, damp jungles of Darkest Africa would spring upon her, but he did nothing of the kind; he rushed to the back of his cage, and cowered down, burying his face in the straw.

The heroine butted Mahdi the Missing Link with her gamp.  He gave no sign.  She kicked him.  He bore it meekly, crouching lower.  There was some tittering in the crowd.

“Get up, you nasty brute!” said the woman, and prodded the horrid monster.

Nickie didn’t even growl.  The woman kicked, she kicked with force.  She booted the terrible brute round the cage.  She seemed to glory in her triumph, and when Mahdi butted into a corner and refused to stir, she took him by one leg, and towed him twice round the cage, and the tittering the crowd swelled to yells of derisions and ribald laughter, while Professor Thunder pranced about and cursed furiously.  To save his show from being ruined with ridicule, he rushed in, seized the woman, and bundled her from the cage.