Monkey hated the painful jolts of electricity he received while in the maze, but he quickly learned to avoid the danger areas. The injections continued, bad as ever, but now he grimly submitted to them. For some unknown reason, he was no longer willing to show fear in front of the humans.

As Monkey's intelligence increased, so did his desire to be free. He became more sympathetic to the sufferings of the other apes. Earlier, a young chimp had been placed in the adjoining cage. When the doctors came to give him his injections, he would whimper and try to hide in the corner. Before, Monkey had ignored him. Now he tried to comfort his neighbor by rubbing his small head through the bars.

Monkey realized that he was sleeping less and less. When he awoke, it was totally dark outside the high windows of the ever illuminated lab. During these times, he thought more and more about escaping from the laboratory of Dr. Spengele. Early one morning, a poem abruptly exploded into his mind. He suddenly found himself saying these words aloud:

"That you talkin'? You in the cage?"

It was Charley Morlock, the night watchman staring blankly at Monkey. An alarm went off in Monkey's brain. Letting any human know he could talk would be a serious mistake.

"Come on, you mon-key," Charley's slow, thick voice interrupted Monkey's thoughts. "You can talk to ole Charley. Ole Charley's not too bright, but I'm sure smart enough to talk to a mon-key." Charley scratched his head slowly. "Well, if that don't beat all. Maybe ole Charley's hearing things again. That's what they used to say." His eyes grew vacant as he tried to remember who "they" were.