In this way he skilfully led the old people into the dark shadows of despair. Then he suddenly flung at them the magnificent announcement that we had caught not six, but twenty-two gorillas!
"Twenty-two!" he repeated, in a voice which simulated deep emotion. "It is an achievement of which I am justifiably proud!"
Even to me, it appeared a much larger number than it actually was. The effect on the audience was electrical. For more than a minute they cheered quite as vociferously as if we had already accomplished the miracle of rejuvenation in every one of them.
Gran'pa, too surprised at his success to continue his speech, sat down for a while. He glanced sideways at me, as much as to say: "Well! What do you think of that, George?" Stringer, with the maximum expression of Old-Billishness on his face, beamed paternally on everyone: Dr. Croft looked bright and cheerful; and Dr. Martin appeared to be slightly relieved—but by no means hopeful.
He must have understood the old people better than any of us, for presently the uproar died down into an ominous and expectant silence.
Once again, Gran'pa was on his feet, talking quickly and persuasively.
He pointed out that even this magnificent total of twenty-two pairs of glands was unfortunately not enough for our purpose. The fact had worried him more than he could say. It had been the subject of numerous discussions. Amongst the many suggestions made, was the rather obvious one of supplementing the supply with glands obtained from the smaller monkeys. But he considered that this would have been a very unsatisfactory solution of the difficulty, and, in any case, it would be comparatively simple to obtain these at any time. Little monkeys were plentiful, widely distributed, and easy to catch. Incidentally, they were far more suitable for organ grinders than rejuvenation.
At this point Gran'pa picked up a handful of the red beans reposing on his right, ran them through his fingers, and said quietly:—
"The only fair way out of the difficulty, gentlemen, is for you to draw lots."
I saw one of the old men lose his bright red color and turn a muddy white. Possibly, he was always unlucky in functions of this nature. Another rubbed his hands together and chuckled gleefully—evidently convinced that good luck was one of his assets.