Uncle Rob positively grinned. "Chet," he said, "suppose some fellow you know, should come to you and say:—'Gee, but I had a bad night last night! There were purple dragons with pink wings chasing me until daylight!' and you should say:—'Well, you stop eating mince pie the last thing before you go to bed, and you won't see any more purple dragons. Just try it.'"
"Now suppose some one else should come to you in a few days and say:—'I understand that you believe that there are really such things as purple dragons with pink wings'; and when you denied it, he'd say:—'Well, didn't you tell that other fellow how to get rid of them?' and you'd have to admit that you did; and then he would say:—'Well, then you are contradicting yourself; for how could you, consistently, tell him how to get rid of them, if you didn't believe that there were any to get rid of?? Now, what would you say to him in a case like that?"
"There wouldn't be any use in saying anything to a fellow who used his mind in that sort of a way,—and," I added, "I'm that fellow."
Uncle Rob laughed. "It's different when you get hold of the right end, isn't it?" he said.
