"Anyway, _I_ can never repay the debt I owe him . . ." mused Gran'pa. "It's strange to think that millions of years ago we severed our connection with the apes and strode upwards into manhood; and now . . . we're returning to them again to save the aged of our race." "It's like making brothers of our first cousins," I observed. Our conversation trickled on for some time in this speculative vein until, at last, Gran'pa said that he would follow Stringer's example. "It's been a very busy day," he said, with a yawn. "And I'm not as young as I used to be, George. . . ." If ever a truth sounded like an untruth, that phrase certainly did. He made himself comfortable in the corner of the seat and was soon asleep. On the other hand, I was more wide awake than I had been for years. The whole world seemed topsy-turvy. Who would have thought, twelve months ago, that I should ever travel in the same railway carriage as a mental magnetist and a middle-aged man of ninety-five? Who could have guessed that I, George Barnett, of His Majesty's Civil Service, would ever have the opportunity of seeking fame and monkey-glands in the jungles of Africa? For a long time I thus ruminated on the past. And then I suddenly turned to the future. The train had stopped. I looked out of the window. "Bristol!" I cried. "Wake up!" CHAPTER IX GRAN'PA DIGS UP AN OLD ROMANCE As it was eleven o'clock when we reached Bristol, we immediately made for the nearest hotel, partook of a light supper, and went to bed. "We're being called at six-thirty sharp in the morning," said Gran'pa, as we parted on the landing. "Breakfast's at a quarter-past seven, and we reach the menagerie at eight. They leave for Gloucester at ten. Night-night!" In five minutes I was in bed, in another ten sound asleep. I dreamt a little, but not as hideously and consistently as during the previous night; and at the appointed hour next morning I arose with a feeling of exuberant expectation. To-day, I should witness the Great Prelude to Adventure. After ten years of lingering death in a Government office the resurrection had come. I was alive! Although each of us tried to conceal the fact, we were very excited and ate far less breakfast than usual. Stringer, on whom the brunt of the situation would naturally fall, was quite abstemious. He consumed only one piece of bacon and a little toast. But he drank three cups of strong coffee--and looked much better for it. . . . Breakfast over, we took a taxi to the huge canvas town on the outskirts of the city.