Nickie was assured that the job would be a permanency if he proved
himself a zealous, efficient Missing Link, and as he understood that even
when on show Mahdi was expected to do little more than curl up on the
straw in his cage and growl, he gratefully accepted. The contract was
signed.

So far Nicholas had discovered the new skin he was compelled to don to be
the only serious disadvantage attached to his office. It was
tight-fitting, coated with monkey-like hair, and covered him entirely,
the face being disguised under an attached mask with a flat nose and
patches of hair. The skin laced down the spine, but the laces were
artfully hidden under the fur.

At least Nickie was leading man of the small company. Ammonia (whose cage
adjoined the more sumptuous one in which Nickie was exhibited, and whose
open jealousy of Mahdi was a source of no little inconvenience to Nickie
the Kid) was an item of considerable interest, but the Link was the
culminating point of the monkey's progress the climax, so to speak, and
he enjoyed great popularity and many nuts. Possibly the nuts were the
true source of Ammonia's dislike.

Nickie the Kid had been three days figuring as the star of Professor
Thunder's Museum of Marvels, and was growing accustomed to his suit, and
to the situation. The Professor himself was a born vagabond, and his
wife, Madame Marve, the somewhat plump prophetess, who read fortunes, and
was mistress of the educated pig, had the Gipsy instinct and took life
easily. Nickie had a good deal in common with both, and they promised to
be a happy family.

In his proudest moments Professor Thunder was not likely to overestimate