"Nonsense!" he replied. "The conditions out there will be quite the reverse of here." "That's just what I've been saying!" "I'm afraid you miss my point, George. What I mean is that _we_ shall be in the cage and the gorillas outside. We shall simply adopt the procedure followed by 'What's-his-name?'--that explorer--when he was studying the chimpanzee and gorilla in their native haunts. _He_ lived in the cage, and the apes wandered around it. Surely that's simple enough!" "Everything is--the moment _you_ tackle it!" I exclaimed. "Now don't be sarcastic, George! If you wish to withdraw just because of this little setback. . . ." "I made no such suggestion. I'm keener than ever. But it's just as well to anticipate the difficulties we're bound to encounter." "That's what I've been doing all along. Why do you think I've taken so much trouble over these initial experiments? Wasn't it with the idea of perfecting our method of attack before we actually get there?" It seemed boorish to criticize a man so invincibly logical, and I tendered an apology for having done so. "I think you'll agree, however," I said, "that we must have something better to fall back on than mere hypnotism." "Granted! I've given much thought to the question." "Any result?" I asked, anxiously. "Y-e-s! I think I've pretty well solved it at last. Roughly, my plan is to wait in the cage with Stringer, call the gorilla to us, hold him for a moment or two with the magnetic gaze, and then let him have a whiff or two of gas!" "Do you mean poison gas?" I gasped. "Not exactly! We shall stupefy him and make him unconscious, if possible, but the stuff mustn't go beyond that. It won't have to leave any injurious effects behind. I've already ascertained that such a thing is possible." "Your ingenuity is . . . limitless!" I exclaimed. "It's necessary . . ." he answered, simply. "I should think it is! Upon my word, Gran'pa!" "_Ah!_ Here's our friend the circus proprietor!" He had just returned from issuing orders to some of his men and looked very pensive. "I'm sorry all this trouble should have occurred, Mr. Boswell," said Gran'pa. "Particularly the episode with the knife. . . . If there is any monetary compensation I can make, I hope you won't fail to . . ." "Well," interrupted the other. "I think you've knocked a good bit off his value. He's never been exactly gentle in his ways, but he's a thousand times worse now than ever he was." He paused and then said, expressively: "I've just had another look at him. . . ." "Oh, he'll quieten down again in a day or two." The Menagerie Man shook his head. "A brute like that never forgets--and never forgives. He'll brood on it. I shall have to strengthen that cage. Already he's bent a couple of the bars. . . ." "But surely he's shown signs of a temper before this!"