Lying

The juryman petitioned the court to be excused, declaring:



"I owe a man twenty-five dollars that I borrowed, and as he is leaving

town to-day for some years I want to catch him before he gets to the

train and pay him the money."



"You are excused," the judge announced in a very cold voice. "I don't

want anybody on the jury who can lie like you."



* * *



The tender young mother detected her baby boy in a deliberate lie. With

tears in her eyes, and a catch in her voice, she sought to impress upon

him the enormity of his offense.



"Do you know," she questioned severely, "what happens to little boys who

tell falsehoods?"



The culprit shook his head in great distress, and the mother explained

carefully:



"Why, a great big black man, with horns on his head and one eye in the

center of his forehead, comes along and grabs the little boy who has

told a falsehood, and flies with him up to the moon, and keeps him there

sifting ashes all the rest of his life. You won't ever tell another

falsehood, will you, darling? It's wicked!"



Mother's baby boy regarded the speaker with round-eyed admiration.



"Oh, ma," he gurgled, "what a whopper!"