“What about them yourself?” I asked.

He did not reply for a moment but looked all around him, and up and down, as though he expected to find some inspiration for an answer.

“I don't want any souls!” He said in a feeble, apologetic way. The matter seemed preying on his mind, and so I determined to use it, to “be cruel only to be kind.” So I said, “You like life, and you want life?”

“Oh yes! But that is all right. You needn't worry about that!”

“But,” I asked,”how are we to get the life without getting the soul also?”

This seemed to puzzle him, so I followed it up, “A nice time you'll have some time