"Oh, thank you so much," spoke the ugly old soul to Gud.
"For what?" asked Gud.
"For the beautiful sentiments of the picture," she replied.
"But that wasn't a picture," corrected Gud, "that was reality."
"What are you saying?" queried the old soul, "I was blind, you know, and didn't hear very well either."
"Oh, nothing," said Gud. "I am glad you enjoyed it." For he saw that she had taken reality for romance, which is a far more beautiful illusion than taking romance for reality. So Gud went quietly on his way.
Chapter LVIII
And Gud overtook a thief who had stolen an ocean and loaded it into a wagon which he had hitched to a star. The thief was making a poor getaway, for the wagon was leaking badly and was dropping clues at every step.
To avoid being drowned in the drippings, Gud turned into an unexplored dimension, but before he could get his bearings he was run down by an insane comet collector, who was madly chasing a comet that was buzzing dangerously near an incandescent sun—so hot that its nearest molecules were farther apart than the hearts of a bigamist's wives.