"Is that axiomatic, also?" said Alice.
"Naturally," said the Red Knight.
"Then it means you once more?"
"Exactly," said the Red Knight. "And in the last place he should be a descendant of the old Dutch patroons, a native of New York, and his name should begin with an R and end with a T, and have at least two O's and a V between. Now what does all that prove?"
"Axiomatically, you mean?" said Alice.
"Of course," said the Red Knight.
"It means you again," said Alice.
"You are a very bright child to see the point so quickly," said the Red Knight. "Thus I am the logical candidate of the moment. But please observe that I am much more than that. I am also the physiological candidate, because I can speak faster and louder than any man in the country, and can slug a man harder through the ropes. Then, I am the zoological candidate, because of my record in Africa. And I am the entomological candidate, because I am the broadest-minded man in the world, and my views are absolutely insectarian."
"I don't think that is a very good pun, do you?" said Alice.
"I think it's one of the best puns I ever heard," said the Red Knight, hastily, and went on. "The successful candidate must be one who knows how to make hay when the sun shines and how to get in out of the rain; therefore, I am the meteorological candidate. He should be the man brought forward by a vast national upheaval; that makes me the geological candidate. And, above all, he must not be too thin-skinned when accused of bad faith and personal motives; which makes me the dermatological candidate. So what does all this show?"