“Well, I guess I’m suspectin’ that you’re tryin’ to make a fool of me, all right.”
“Oh no! Fools come ready-made, and there’s a glut in the market just now; seven—eight—nine—ten; no use makin’ more until the supply’s exhausted. But what made you think you wanted to marry? This is so powerful sudden.”
Now that the point was reached, Jonathan got a little nervous: “To—to tell you the truth, Hepsey,” he stuttered, “I was in doubt about it myself for some time; but bein’ as I am a Christian man I turned to the Bible for light on my path.” 165
“Hm! And how did the light shine?”
“Well, I just shut my eyes and opened my Bible at random, and put my finger on a text. Then I opened my eyes and read what was written.”
“Yes! What did you find?”
“I read somethin’ about ‘not a man of them escaped save six hundred that rode away on camels.’”
“Did that clear up all your difficulties?”
“No, can’t say as it did. But those words about ‘no man escapin’’ seemed to point towards matrimony as far as they went. Then I tried a second time.”
“Oh did you? I should think that six hundred camels would be enough for one round-up. What luck did you have the second time?”