“Why not?”
“I always s'posed skypilots was old and grouchy-like. You're a'most as good lookin' as our strong man.”
“I done tole him he was too good-lookin' to be an unmarried parson,” Mandy chuckled, more and more amused at the pastor's discomfort.
“Looks don't play a very important part in my work,” Douglas answered curtly. Mandy's confidential snickers made him doubly anxious to get to a less personal topic.
“Well, they count for a whole lot with us.” She nodded her head decidedly. “How long you been showin' in this town, anyhow?”
“About a year,” Douglas answered, with something of a sigh.
“A year!” she gasped. “In a burg like this? You must have an awful lot of laughs in your act to keep 'em a-comin' that long.” She was wise in the ways of professional success.
“Not many, I'm afraid.” He wondered, for the first time, if this might be the reason for his rather indifferent success.
“Do you give them the same stuff, or have you got a rep?”
“A rep?” he repeated in surprise.