his head and pushed his plate away; and seeing him so morose they left
him to his sulks and fell to talking of dreams that had come true.
Joseph had never heard them speak of anything so interesting before, and
though he suspected that they were making fun of him he could not do
else than listen, till becoming convinced suddenly that they were
talking in good earnest without intention of fooling him he began to
regret that he had said he had forgotten his dream, and rapped out: he
was the prophet Samuel. Now what are you saying, Joseph? his father
asked. Joseph would not say any more, but it pleased him to observe that
neither his father nor his granny laughed at his admission, and seeing
how interested they were in his dream he said: if you want to know all,
Samuel said he had heard me say that I'd like to be a prophet. That was
why he came back from the dead. But, Father, is it true that we are his
descendants? He said that I was.

A most extraordinary dream, his father answered, for it has always been
held in the family that we are descended from him. Do you really mean,
Joseph, that the old man you saw in your dream told you he was Samuel
and that you were his descendant? How should I have known if he hadn't
told me? Joseph looked from one to the other and wondered why they had
kept the secret of his ancestor from him. You laughed at me yesterday,
Granny, when I said I'd like to be a prophet. Now what do you say?
Answer me that. And he continued to look from one to the other for an
answer. But neither had the wit to find an answer, so amazed were they
at the news that the prophet Samuel had visited Joseph in a dream; and
satisfied at the impression he had made and a little frightened by their
silence Joseph stole out of the room, leaving his parents to place
whatever interpretation they pleased on his dream. Nor did he care
whether they believed he had spoken the truth. He was more concerned
with himself than with them, and conscious that something of great