says Daddy Captain, 'but I'm a-going to be. I want a book, or maybe
a couple of books, that'll edicate me in a manner all round!' he says.
'I couldn't do with a lot of 'em,' he says, ''cause I ain't used to
it, and it makes things go round inside my head. But I think I could
tackle two if they was fustrate,' he says. The minister laughed, and
told Daddy he wanted a good deal. Then he asked him if he had the
Good Book. That's the Bible, you know, Imogen. Daddy Captain won't
let me read that to you, because you are a beast that perish. Poor
dear!" she leaned forward and kissed Imogen's pink nose. "And Daddy
said _of course_ he had that, only the letters weren't so clear as
they used to be, somehow, perhaps along of getting wet in his weskit
pocket, being he carried it along always. So the minister gave him
a _new big_ BEAUTIFUL Bible, Imogen! It isn't so new _now_, but it's
just as big and beautiful, and I love it. And then he thought for
a long time, the minister did, walking about the room and looking
at all the books. The whole room was full of books, Daddy says, all
on shelves, 'cept some on the floor and the table and the chairs.
It made his head go round dreadful to see them all, Daddy says (I
mean Daddy's head), and think of anybody reading them. He says he
doesn't see how in creation the minister manages to keep his bearings,
and look out for a change in the wind, and things that _have_ to be
done, and read all those books too. _Well_!" she kissed Imogen's nose
again, from sheer enjoyment, and threw her head back with a laugh
of delight. "I'm coming to it now, Imogen!" she cried. "At last the
minister took down a big book--OH! you precious old thing, how I love
you!" (this apostrophe was addressed to the quarto volume which she
was now hugging rapturously), "and said, 'Well, Captain January,
here's the best book in the world, _next_ to the Good Book!' he says.
'You'll take this,' he says, 'as my gift to you and the child; and
with these two books to guide you, the child's edication won't go