"Yes, sir," the boy answered.
"I don't think," said the counsel for the prosecution, "it would be safe to swear him, my lord; he does not seem to know anything about religion at all.—You can stand down."
"Stop a minute, my boy," says Maule; "let me ask you a question or two. You have been asked about a future state—at least I presume that was at the bottom of the gentleman's question. I should like to know what you have been taught to believe. What will become of you, my little boy, when you die, if you are so wicked as to tell a lie?"
"Hell fire," answered the boy with great promptitude and boldness.
"Right," said Maule. "Now let us go a little further. Do you mean to say, boy, that you would go to hell fire for telling any lie?"
"Hell fire, sir," said the boy emphatically, as though it were something to look forward to rather than shun.
"Take time, my boy," said Maule; "don't answer hurriedly; think it over. Suppose, now, you were accused of stealing an apple; how would that be in the next world, think you?"
"Hell fire, my lord!"
"Very good indeed. Now let us suppose that you were disobedient to your parents, or to one of them; what would happen in that case?"
"Hell fire, my lord!"