"'Wait a minute,' said the minister. 'In a matter of life and death,
it is permitted to light a lamp on a Fast Day. This is a matter of
life and death; so I will light a lamp and look in my Encyclopædia of
Useful Knowledge.'

"So the minister lit his lamp, and took his Encyclopædia of Useful
Knowledge from the study shelf.

"He turned over the leaves till he came to Ogre; then he found Ogress,
and read all there was under that head.

"'H'm!' he said; 'h'm, h'm! An Ogress is an inconceivably hideous
creature, yet, like all females, she is inordinately vain, and is
extremely susceptible to any insinuations against her personal
appearance! H'm!' said the minister; 'h'm, h'm! I know what I will
do.'

"Now it was one of the laws in Pokonoket that nobody should have
a looking-glass but the minister. Once a year the ladies of his
congregation were allowed to look at themselves in it; that was all. I
do not know the reason for this law, but it existed.

"The minister took his looking-glass under his arm, and came out of
his house. 'Now, Toby,' said he, 'take me home with you.'

"'But I am afraid she will eat you, sir,' said Toby doubtfully. 'You
are not as thin as I am.'

"'I am not in the least afraid,' replied the minister cheerfully.