They Knew Faith

1900

A teacher, wishing to impress upon the minds of her pupils the full nature of faith, took them one day to the riverside and, seeing a boat in the middle of the stream, said:

"Now, my little dears, if I were to tell you that there was a leg of mutton in that boat, would you believe me?"

"Yes."

"Well, then," she said, "that is faith."

Some time after the same children were going through an examination when the question was asked, "What is faith?" and all the class, as with one voice, shouted out, "A leg of mutton in a boat!"