"Indeed," said I.
"And why, pray?"
"Because," said I, knocking the ashes from my pipe, "because the more I think about her the more incomprehensible she becomes."
"Have you known many women?"
"Very few," I confessed, "but—"
"But?"
"I am not altogether unfamiliar with the sex—for I have known a great number—in books."
"Our blacksmith," said Charmian, addressing the moon again, "has known many women—in books! His knowledge is, therefore, profound!" and she laughed.
"May I ask why you laugh at me?"
"Oh!" said she, "don't you know that women in books and women out of books are no more the same than day and night, or summer and winter?"