"Were Solomon's wives real live women like Mrs. Strong and Mrs. Clapp, over there?"
"Of course they were!"
Cyrus closed his eyes. But through his ears came the thin, far reaching, nasal voice of Mrs. Clapp. "Did seven hundred women like that sit around the breakfast table with Solomon every morning?"
"I s'pose they did."
For an instant Cyrus faltered. He lowered his eyes and studied his shoes with the copper toes. There might be a darker side to matrimony, a noisier, less peaceful side, than Ruth had pictured. But, as he turned and looked at his companion, it came upon him, like a ray of sunshine that a hundred Ruths would be, oh, so very different from a hundred Mrs. Clapps!
"Did all those wives," he asked, "sit with Solomon in one pew on Sunday?"
Ruth made no answer.
"Doesn't the Bible say anything about that?"
"I don't remember."