"Well, you didn't, but perhaps you meant to," went on the youth, and he repeated his remarks.
"'Scuse me, I guess I'd better not go on dish yeah trip after all," came from Washington.
"Why not?" demanded Professor Henderson.
"'Cause I ain't goin' t' no place whar ef yo' wants t' take a little jump yo' has t' go six times as far as yo' does when yo' is on dis yeah earth. An' s'posin' some ob dem moon men takes a notion t' throw a stone at me? Whar'll I be, when a stone goes six times as far as it does on heah? No, sah, I ain't goin'!"
"But perhaps there are no men on the moon," said Mark quickly. "It is only a theory of astronomers that I'm talking about."
"Oh, only a theory; eh?" asked Washington quickly.
"That's all."
"Oh, if it's only a theory, den I reckons it's all right," came from the colored man. "I didn't know it were a theory. Dat makes it all right. It's jest in theory, am it, Massa Mark, dat a stone goes six times as far?"
"That's all."
"Oh, well, den, why didn't yo' say so fust, dat it was only a theory? I don't mind theories. I—I used t' eat 'em boiled an' roasted befo' de wah." And, with a contented smile on his face, Washington went into the projectile, to finish stowing things away in his kitchen lockers.