Kinlay, "what does the lass ken
about being a mother? Go on with the reading."
"Odd, goodwife, I'm but supposin' the thing; and the plainer it is
the better, and the easier to understand. However, what verse was
it, Thora?"
"It was the fourteenth you left off at," said Thora.
"Aweel, then, the fifteenth: 'Now, when he'--Odd, but I think we
read that before."
"Nay, you didna read it before, father, for it was the fourteenth
verse you left off at."
"Nay, I'm sure it couldn't be that, for I remember readin' 'Now,
when he,' before."
"But I'm sure, father, ye're wrong," persisted Thora. "Look you if
the fourteenth doesn't end with 'people,' and 'people' was the last
word you read."
"'People, people!'" said Carver, searching for the place. "Odd,
lassie, I see no 'people.' There's one verse that ends with
'people,' but it's not the fourteenth. It had been that, ye silly
lass, instead o' the fourteenth."
"Well, well, goodman, what dos't matter what verse you left off
at," said his wife. "A good tale's none the worse of being told
twice."
"Nay, but," said Thora, "just look for fun and see what the
fourteenth verse ends with."
"Fun, lassie! fun!" exclaimed Carver, as though he was seriously
shocked. "Would you speak o' fun and the Holy Scripture lying open
before you?"
"O, but, father, I had no mind.
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