"Learning by heart. I've already got as far as the d's."
"You mean you can say every last word of them a's, b's, and c's straight off?"
I nodded gravely, my hands behind my back, my eyes on the beams in the ceiling. "As far as the d's."
"And you're doing all this learning just to get an education, ain't you?"
My eyes dropped from the beams and I shook my head, "I don't believe it's there, sir."
"What? Where?"
"I don't believe an education is in them. I did once."
For a moment he stood turning over the discoloured leaves without replying. "I reckon you can tell me the meaning of 'most any word, eh, Ben?" he demanded.
"Not unless it begins with a, b, or c, sir."
"Well, any word beginning with an a, then, that's something. There're a precious lot of 'em. How about allelujah, how's that for a mouthful?"