“It’s all right, old chap,” said Needham pleasantly. “He wanted to shake hands with me, but I declined with thanks.”
“Don’t do nothin’ to annoy him, please,” said the man in surly tones, preparing to depart. “God knows what might happen if he got loose. He did once, and we had a hell of a time. He nearly killed a man.”
“Ah, did he?” said Needham, with interest. “He’s pretty strong, I take it?”
“You can bet your sweet life he is!” the man called back over his shoulder. “We take no chances with him.”
“By Jove!” said Needham, gazing at the baboon. “He’s mighty like the old fellow in the fight I told you about, now that I look at him closely.”
The three walked away from the spot at Meldrum’s suggestion, but, looking back every now and then, the teacher noted, with some uneasiness, that the creature still retained its position and still followed Needham’s figure with attentive eyes. There were a few other cages in the tent containing smaller monkeys and other animals and, having strolled past these, they soon found themselves once more opposite the baboons.
The place was now clearer than before, and Needham, glancing around to see that he was not observed, made a swift cross-wise motion with his hand and emitted the peculiar noise that Meldrum had heard him make on the night of their visit. Its effect was electrical. The two younger baboons, who had seat themselves near their older companion, ran at once to the back of the cage, where they cowered, whimpering and exhibiting every indication of alarm.
But the old baboon acted differently. The tension, which had up to this point kept its figure severely rigid, now relaxed. It squatted down on the floor of the cage and commenced nodding its head briskly up and down, its features distorted by what, to Meldrum’s fancy, looked extraordinarily like a grin. Needham smiled, too, and, glancing from one to the other, Meldrum felt his flesh creep slightly.
“Let us go,” he said hastily. “We have seen enough of these brutes.”
Needham acquiesced, and they made their way to the exit.