“Yes,” said Madam Rachel; “the case was this. They were farmers' boys, and they wanted to go into the barn, and play upon the hay. Their father told them they might go, but charged them to be careful to shut the door after them in going in, so as not to let the colt get out. So the boys ran off to the barn in high glee, and were so eager to get upon the hay, that they forgot altogether to shut the door. When they came down they found the door open, and to their great alarm, the colt was nowhere to be seen. Josy, one of the boys, said, 'Let us shut the door now, and not tell father that we let the colt out, and he will think somebody else did it.'
“'No,' said James, the other, 'let us tell the truth.'
“So about an hour afterwards, Josy went into the house, and his father said, 'Josy, did you let the colt out?'
“'No, sir,' said Josy.
“Not long after he met James.
“'James,' said he, 'you had a fine time upon the hay, I suppose. I hope you did not let the colt out.'
“James hung his head, and said, 'Why, yes, sir, we did. We forgot to shut the door, and so he got away.'
“Now, which of these boys, do you suppose, was guilty of telling a lie?”
“Why, Josy, certainly,” said David, Dwight, and Caleb, all together.
“Yes, and yet the colt had not got away.”