around--except, maybe, when there's a
war; then they go to the war. But other times they just lazy around;
or go hawking--just hawking and sp--Sh!--d'you hear a noise?"

We skipped out and looked; but it warn't nothing but the flutter of a
steamboat's wheel away down, coming around the point; so we come back.

"Yes," says I, "and other times, when things is dull, they fuss with
the parlyment; and if everybody don't go just so he whacks their heads
off. But mostly they hang round the harem."

"Roun' de which?"

"Harem."

"What's de harem?"

"The place where he keeps his wives. Don't you know about the harem?
Solomon had one; he had about a million wives."

"Why, yes, dat's so; I--I'd done forgot it. A harem's a bo'd'n-house,
I reck'n. Mos' likely dey has rackety times in de nussery. En I reck'n
de wives quarrels considable; en dat 'crease de racket. Yit dey say
Sollermun de wises' man dat ever live'. I doan' take no stock in dat.
Bekase why: would a wise man want to live in de mids' er sich a
blim-blammin' all de time? No--'deed he wouldn't. A wise man 'ud take
en buil' a biler-factry; en den he could shet _down_ de biler-factry
when he want to res'."

"Well, but he _was_ the wisest man, anyway; because the widow she told
me so, her own self."

"I doan' k'yer what de widder say, he _warn't_ no wise man nuther. He
had some er de dad-fetchedes' ways I ever see. Does you know 'bout dat
chile dat he 'uz gwyne to chop in two?"

"Yes, the widow told me all about it."

"_Well_, den! Warn' dat de beatenes' notion in de worl'? You jes'
take en look at it a minute. Dah's de stump, dah--dat's one er de
women; heah's you--dat's de yuther one; I's Sollermun; en dish yer
dollar bill's de chile. Bofe un you claims it. What does I do? Does I
shin aroun' mongs' de neighbors en fine out which un you de bill _do_
b'long to, en han' it over to de right one, all safe en soun', de way
dat anybody dat had any gumption would? No; I take en whack de bill in
_two_, en give half un it to you, en de yuther half to de yuther
woman. Dat's de way Sollermun was gwyne to do wid de chile. Now I want
to ast you: what's de use er dat half a bill?--can't buy noth'n wid
it. En what use is a half a chile? I wouldn' give a dern for a million
un um."

"But hang it, Jim, you've clean missed the point--blame it, you've
missed it a thousand mile."

"Who? Me? Go 'long. Doan' talk to me 'bout yo' pints. I reck'n I knows
sense when I sees it; en de