"Well, why not fix up a month's holiday, say in five weeks' time, and stick to it?"
"And who is going to do my work?"
"I wish I could," said Pip, impulsively for him. "Dad, I must be a devil of a disappointment to you. Fancy you—and me!"
By the latter rather condensed expression Pip meant to express his surprise that such a clever father should have produced such a stupid son.
"We don't all get ten talents, old man," said his father. "But soon, I dare say, when you are qualified, there will be lots—"
Pip put down his glass of port.
"Dad, I shall never be qualified," he said.
"Why?"
"Because I haven't got it in me. You are so clever that you can't conceive what a fool's brain can be like. I tell you honestly that this thing is beyond me, Governor. I have worked pretty hard—"
"I know that," said his father heartily.