“But it would be wrong for you to tell me any thing that was not true, would it not?” said Rollo.
“Do you think it would be certainly wrong?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Suppose you were coming along the yard, and were riding on my cane, and should come up to me and say, ‘Papa, this is my horse. See what a noble horse I have got.’ Would that be wrong?”
“No, sir.”
“Would it be true?”
“No, sir,—It would not be a real horse.”
“Now do you know why it would be right in this case for you to say it was a horse, when it was not?”
Rollo could not tell.
“I will tell you,” said his father. “Because you would not be trying to deceive me. I could see your horse, as you call him, and could see that it was nothing but a cane. You would not be trying to deceive me, to make me think it was a real horse when it was not.”