‘Yes, I have heard that said.’

’And it’s so too.  There ain’t a book that begins with it.  It lays over ’em all, Peters.  There’s some pretty tough things in it—­there ain’t any getting around that—­but you stick to them and think them out, and when once you get on the inside everything’s plain as day.’

‘The miracles, too, captain?’

’Yes, sir! the miracles, too.  Every one of them.  Now, there’s that business with the prophets of Baal; like enough that stumped you?’

‘Well, I don’t know but—­’

’Own up, now; it stumped you.  Well, I don’t wonder.  You hadn’t any experience in ravelling such things out, and naturally it was too many for you.  Would you like to have me explain that thing to you, and show you how to get at the meat of these matters?’

‘Indeed, I would, captain, if you don’t mind.’

Then the captain proceeded as follows:  ’I’ll do it with pleasure.  First, you see, I read and read, and thought and thought, till I got to understand what sort of people they were in the old Bible times, and then after that it was clear and easy.  Now, this was the way I put it up, concerning Isaac[1] and the prophets of Baal.  There was some mighty sharp men amongst the public characters of that old ancient day, and Isaac was one of them.  Isaac had his failings—­plenty of them, too; it ain’t for me to apologise for Isaac; he played a cold deck on the prophets of Baal, and like enough he was justifiable, considering the odds that was against him.  No, all I say it, ‘t’ wa’n’t any miracle, and that I’ll show you so’s ’t you can see it yourself.

’Well, times had been getting rougher and rougher for prophets—­that is, prophets of Isaac’s denomination.  There were four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal in the community, and only one Presbyterian; that is, if Isaac was a Presbyterian, which I reckon he was, but it don’t say.  Naturally, the prophets of Baal took all the trade.  Isaac was pretty low spirited, I reckon, but he was a good deal of a man, and no doubt he went a-prophesying around, letting on to be doing a land-office business, but ‘t’ wa’n’t any use; he couldn’t run any opposition to amount to anything.  By-and-by things got desperate with him; he sets his head to work and thinks it all out, and then what does he do?  Why he begins to throw out hints that the other parties are this and that and t’other,—­nothing very definite, may be, but just kind of undermining their reputation in a quiet way.  This made talk, of course, and finally got to the King.  The King asked Isaac what he meant by his talk.  Says Isaac, “Oh, nothing particular; only, can they pray down fire from heaven on an altar?  It ain’t much, maybe, your majesty, only can they do it?  That’s the idea.”  So the King was a good deal disturbed, and he went to the prophets of Baal, and they said, pretty airy, that if he had an altar ready, they were ready; and they intimated he better get it insured, too.