It would have been futile to dispute such a statement.
"I'm with you heart and soul in this gland business," I said. "I always was, but . . ."
"Now, George, admit that you're keener than you were."
"Willingly!" I laughed.
"Shake on it!"
We shook! Ninety-five and Thirty-two shook hands on one of the strangest and most thrilling bargains ever made. Some people might have called me mercenary, but, as Gran'pa had said, I was only human, and he really was a nuisance at times! This new arrangement was bound to make me take a keener interest in his welfare.
"Now," he said, "we won't count the first move in the game. That monkey's gone for good. It is your turn. . . . Come along, George!"
I considered the matter for several minutes before I spoke.
"Well," I suggested, at last, "we must first find an up-to-date surgeon who's willing to undertake the job. . . . Next, we must get another monkey—a bigger and better one than that scrubby little brute you bought yesterday. I'm in favor of a gorilla, or an ourang-outang, something with active and powerful internal organs. . . . Then we want a list of the glands you're most likely to require. I don't think an entire outfit would be advisable at first. One should go carefully in such matters—starting with, perhaps, two or three new glands. If they're a success you can extend the enterprise. . . . There's no reason, for instance, why you shouldn't go one better than Nature and have some of them in duplicate—a couple of pairs of each, say. I believe they're all in pairs; but we can go into that later. It's a big thing, and it will want a good deal of studying. . . ."
I found my enthusiasm growing.