But if you would confine yourself to the region of lubricity, recollect that our first parents went naked till the serpent tempted them, and then they wore aprons.

Hence the apron, which is a Masonic emblem, has from time immemorial been the covering of shame.

Should it occur to you--vide _Genesis_--that God made the aprons, dismiss it as a temptation of the devil, who would, if possible, prevent you from unveiling him.

By this time it will be well to recur to the number 9; your chain of reasoning has established that it possesses a horrible significance.

Now take the number and follow it through the history of religions by means of some theological ready-reckoner, such as a cheap dictionary by Migne.