Suddenly Ivo jabbed at him with a stick.

The stick was pointed, and it took Nickie in the ear.
"Hell!" cried the Missing Link, bounding across his cage.
Ivo burst into a roar of laughter.

"That's all right, old bloke," he said.

"You're a bonzer, but we all have our weak moments." Nickie was furious.

This assault, combined with the heat and burden of the day, had dispelled his natural apathy.