"
"Oh!"
"So George came up, and he said, 'Father, I cannot tell a lie, I--"
"Who couldn't tell a lie?"
"George couldn't."
"Oh, George; oh, yes."
"It was I who cut down your apple tree; I did--"
"His father did?"
"No, no; it was George said this."
"Said he cut his father?"
"No, no, no; said he cut down his apple tree."
"George's apple tree?"
"No, no; his father's."
"Oh!"
"He said--"
"His father said?"
"No, no, no; George said, 'Father, I cannot tell a lie, I did it with
my little hatchet.' And his father said, 'Noble boy, I would rather
lose a thousand apple trees than have you tell a lie.'"
"George did?"
"No, his father said that."
"Said he'd rather have a thousand apple trees?"
"No, no, no; said he'd rather lose a thousand apple trees than--"
"Said he'd rather George would?"
"No, said he'd rather he would than have him lie."
"Oh, George would rather have his father lie?"
We are patient and we love children, but if Mrs. Caruthers hadn't
come and got her prodigy at that critical juncture, we don't believe
all Burlington could have pulled us out of the snarl.
And as Clarence Alencon de Marchemont Caruthers pattered down the
stairs, we heard him telling his ma about a boy who had a father
named George, and he told him to cut down an apple tree, and he said
he'd rather tell a thousand lies than cut down one apple tree.
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