had said I always had been sick even when a little child, and then--"

"Tut, tut, child, now don't get excited," said the pastor. "We all
know that your punishment is not for anything you may have done, but
you are probably suffering for the sins of others, the same as Jesus
did; why, Walter, just think, Jesus Christ died for all our sins."

"For my sins, father?" asked the boy.

"Yes, Walter, all our sins."

"But father, I don't see how that could be. We weren't any of us living
at that time, and if we sinned, it must have been since then, and Jesus
could not die for sins that had not been committed."

The father was so surprised at what he heard, that for a moment he
just stared at his son; the idea was entirely new to him, and yet it
was only common sense. He tried to find some reply that would be
reasonable, but before he found it, the boy continued.

"I cannot believe that God punishes any one person for the sins of
another. If He would do this, He would not be a just God. Why, father,
even man is more just than that. Supposing Judge Baxter had pronounced
sentence like this: 'Yes, I find Mose Webster guilty of stealing Mr.
Johnson's chickens, and have decided to send the Rev. James Williams
to the county jail for ten months, because Mose Webster stole those
chickens,' would you think that justice? and could you feel thankful
to the judge for sending you to jail to suffer in the place of Mose
Webster, and--"