Page:John Bunyan's Dream Story.djvu/79

Rh So he came up and walked between the two pilgrims; and as he walked he talked.

"How pleasant it is to talk!" he said. "How delightful to talk of the history and mystery of things! A man may learn many things by talking and listening to talk. Let us talk of things heavenly or things earthly; of things past or of things to come; of things foreign or of things at home. We shall find all such discourse profitable."

And so he went on, chattering about this thing and that, but saying nothing that could improve the mind or touch the heart. He talked and talked and talked; and his words rippled from his mouth so pleasantly that even Faithful was inclined to think that there was some meaning to his speech.

But Christian kept silent, and gradually fell a little way behind the others. He was busy with his own thoughts, and the empty words of the stranger were unpleasant to him.

By and by, as the stranger was delivering a long speech and listening to himself with great delight, Faithful loitered a little until Christian had overtaken him.

"What a fine companion we have!" he whispered. "He will make a good pilgrim."