"Ah!" said the minister, "you're thinking about revenge, which is very different from punishment. And it is my duty, as your pastor, to urge you to give up the thought at once, for it is unchristian and brutal."
"Why," said the doctor, flushing angrily, "I don't want to punish him; I simply think it a matter of duty."
"Yes," sighed the minister, "revenge has generally been considered a duty, so great is the influence of inheritance even upon minds intentionally honest."
The doctor abruptly departed, muttering to himself:
"That's a point for the book, any how!"
Arrived at his office, the doctor found Jack still there. He picked the boy up in his arms, and as Jack mentally submitted to whatever was to be his fate, his father sat down, hugged the boy close, and said:
"My darling fellow, tell me what I can do to keep you out of further mischief and trouble. That shall be your punishment."
The exquisite sarcasm of the potter questioning his clay did not strike Jack, which is not very strange, as the doctor himself was unconscious of it. But Jack could only say:
"I don't know."
"I would sell everything I own, if money would do it," said the doctor.