His pale face, with its venerable beard, was closely set about with his white nightcap.

He lay staring straight before him with a solemnly reflective air.
"I wish you hadn't brought up 'lection that time, father," ventured Sarah, with a piteous sniff.
"If the Democratic party had only lived different, an' hadn't eat so much meat, there wouldn't have been any trouble," returned Cephas, magisterially.

"If you go far enough, you'll always get back to that.
A man is what he puts into his mouth.

Meat victuals is at the bottom of democracy.

If there wa'n't any meat eat there wouldn't be any Democratic party, an' there wouldn't be any wranglin' in the state.
There'd be one party, jest as there'd ought to be." "I wish you hadn't brought it up, father," Sarah lamented again; "it's most killin' me." "If we hadn't both of us been eatin' so much animal food there wouldn't have been any trouble," repeated Cephas.
"Well, I dunno much about animal food, but I know I'm about discouraged," said Sarah.