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. The general effect, however, was one of intense disappointment, followed by bitter resentment. They began to realize the unkindness of Fate in permitting the failure of an expedition which had started so promisingly. Also, they wanted a scapegoat--and Gran'pa was obviously the only one available. Some hard words were flung at Gran'pa. He was accused of negligence, of bad stewardship, and even of breach of contract--especially by those who had contributed to the expenses of the club. It was really a most disgraceful exhibition of narrow-mindedness and gross unfairness. To hear these people, one would have thought that Gran'pa had acted selfishly from beginning to end, that he had never considered their interests, and that none of us had even endangered our lives. No labor leader, about to be deposed by a yelling horde of fellow-workers, was treated more scurvily than Gran'pa. It made my blood boil; and Stringer's moustache and eyebrows were bristling with suppressed indignation. I was almost hoping that there would be a free fight. And I am sure that there was not a finger on our platform that wasn't itching to do mischief to some of those venerable necks and heads.