"Are you trying to be funny at my expense?"
"Of course I'm not, Gran'pa. I'm merely pointing out the ordinary, everyday view which people will take. You're so carried away by your enthusiasm that I think you don't realize some of the dangers incurred."
"Danger? What danger?"
"Over-excitement is one of them. Public ridicule another."
He snapped his fingers.
"That—to both of 'em."
"Suppose the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals steps in?" I suggested.
"Society of Fiddlesticks. My life is worth more than a wretched little monkey's."
"I quite agree. But will everyone hold the same opinion if you go through with this—butchery of defenceless apes?"
I thought that I had found a weak spot in his armor at last; but I was mistaken. These last few days had wrought a miraculous change in him. Physically, he was much the same; but, mentally, he seemed to be an entirely different man. To put the matter crudely but vividly, his mind now had "ginger" in it. It was alive, active, rebellious, uncannily penetrating.