26 
THE STRAND MAGAZINE . 
Messrs. Hobray and Child, of LiCde Thames 
Street. E.C, wrote to say that the# agents 
had been communicated with and that they 
would let Sir Clifford know as soon as they 
received any news. 
Six months elapsed before Messrs. Hobray 
and Child communicated again, and Hall had 
almost forgotten about them when he received 
a letter to say that the gorilla had arrived at 
the Albert Docks, and would he please wire 
instructions to Hobray, Little Thames Street. 
It had seemed very good to Hall that the 
gorilla should arrive on the same day as he 
gave a dinner-party, and he wired to say it 
was to be sent down by motor-car, or motor- 
lorry, instantly. And then, looking again at 
the letter, his eye fastened on the name. 
Hobray ! 
It reminded him of an incident of his past. 
It was curious, but when the firm had 
written before and signed themselves Hobray 
and Child he had not noticed anything. But 
the single name struck him instantly. 
Hobray ! A strange coincidence ! Nothing 
more. And yet — it was a rare name. 
lie dismissed the unpleasant recollections 
that had arisen, and turned to the pleasures 
of the moment. 
But after speaking to Howard, his butler, 
and while he was dressing, his thoughts 
reverted again to the subject. 
“ Hobray he murmured, as he stared at his 
well-fed appearance in the mirror, “ of Little 
Thames Street. It. cannot be he. Why 
should he be in Little Thames Street ? ” 
lie laughed softly, and when he went down 
to greet his guests he felt in excellent spirits. 
The gorilla had not yet arrived, but soon all 
the guests knew that the animal was expected. 
Dinner began with conversation about gorillas, 
and monkeys in general, and several men told 
rather gruesome tales of the sagacity and 
ferocity of the brutes and of their strange 
passions and supernatural strength. Sir 
Clifford added some tales he had heard in 
South Africa, and very soon had the satis- 
faction of seeing that the women were getting 
worked up into a nervous state. When 
Howard announced that the gorilla was 
being carried into the billiard-room at that 
moment there was quite a sensation. 
“ Oh, Sir Clifford/’ exclaimed one woman, 
“ I feel so dreadfully nervous. Are you sure 
we are perfectly safe ? ” 
“ Quite,” said Hall, reassuringly. “ The 
beast is safely caged, and cannot possibly 
escape.” 
“ Well, they aren’t nice companions,” 
commented an elder!} soldier next her, “ I’ve 
heard of a man being carried off by one 
and kept tied up to a tree for days while the 
brute led him. He went mad after he was 
released.” 
The women shuddered. 
“ What are you going to do with him ? ” 
asked the soldier. 
“ Keep him in captivity,” replied Hall. 
“ I fancy he will prove a very interesting 
captive. If possible, I’ll try and tame 
him.” 
“ Well, mind he doesn’t escape and terrorize 
the whole neighbourhood. We sha’n’t be 
grateful to you if he docs. To meet a full- 
sized gorilla after dark would be an unpleasant 
event.” 
After dinner a move was made to the 
billiard-room. It lay at the end of a long 
corridor, and was approached by a little 
flight of steps. The guests streamed along 
the corridor, chatting and laughing, while 
, c ir Clifford led the way. 
The lights were fully on above the table, 
but the corners of the room were in the 
shadow. At the far end he could make out 
the outline of a large cage. Lie went towards 
it quickly. 
The cage, made of heavy iron bars, was 
about eight feet in height and length. It 
rested on a base of thick planks of wood, 
bound together with steel ribs, into which 
the iron bars were sunk and slotted at the 
end. Within the cage sat the gorilla. 
The guests thronged round, and for a 
moment there was a hush. The beast 
crouched in a corner nearest the wall. His 
head was bent forward on his breast, and the 
attitude was one of extreme dejection. But 
it was clear that he was a good specimen. 
From what could be judged as he crouched 
in his corner, he stood almost six feet in height, 
and his arms and shoulders seemed gigantic. 
His general colour was blackish, with a marked 
brownish tinge on the hair of his chest and 
head. The ears were small and the head 
elongated, with a deep groove along each side 
of the nostrils. The eyes were overhung 
by projecting skin and hair, and although 
several attempts were made to make him 
look up he refused to take any interest in 
the spectators. 
“ Poor thing ! ” exclaimed one of the 
women. “ He looks so sorry for himself. 
Has he had anything to eat ? ” 
Fruit, in the shape of pineapples and 
bananas and oranges, was thrust into the cage, 
but the huge ape made no effort to take any. 
His arms hung listlessly at his side, and his 
head remained sunken on his chest. By 
