“No, sir; I didn’t see any thing at all of it.”
“There would have been no harm in seeing it, you know.”
“No, sir; but I didn’t see it. I hope to die if I did.”
“I would not use such expressions, Mary. A simple ‘Yes,’ or a ‘No,’ is a great deal better. It means more. It sounds more like the truth, than, ‘As true as I live and breathe,’ and, ‘I hope to die if I did,’ or ‘did not.’”
“I won’t say so any more, sir. I did not think it was any harm.”
“Perhaps you did not; but I am always afraid, when a person uses these strong expressions to me, that he is telling me a falsehood.”
“O, I am sure Mary hasn’t got my thimble, father,” said Flora, who could not see why Mr. Lee should be so sad and stern, and almost accuse poor Mary of taking the thimble.
“I’m sure I haven’t, Flora. As true as I—”
“Do not say that again, Mary,” interrupted Mr. Lee.
“But Mary hasn’t got my thimble, father,” added Flora.