"Laugh, you idiot!" he hissed, under his breath.

The Living Skeleton laughed, and Madame Marve joined in the seeming merriment.

She did not know why, but it seemed advisable.
"Well sir," snorted McKnight, "you've finished that idiotic cackle, perhaps you will explain how a monkey comes to be acquainted with the English language." "Certainly," said the Professor, cordially, "I might prefer to kick you off the premises, but I will explain.

Mahdi!" he called imperiously.
"Forward, Sir." The Missing Link turned from his argument with Ammonia, and lurched to the bars.
"I have not been able to teach my Missing Link to talk, though I've tried hard.

He can do almost anything else, but not that.