him. As he came nearer, Charles saw that it was Edward Mason.

Edward stopped as he passed, and said, "Good morning, Charles. What are you doing there? Whose horse is that? and what have you in the baskets?"

66

"There are oranges in the baskets," said Charles;

He said

a man who is just gone into the house to eat his breakfast asked me to take care of them. he would give me an orange when he came out."

"An orange!" said Edward; "are you to have a whole orange? I wish I was to have one. Let me see how large they are." Saying this, he went towards the pannier, and lifted up the cloth that covered it.

"O, what fine oranges!" he exclaimed, the mo ment he saw them. Let me take one of them in my hand, and see if it is ripe."

66

"No," said Charles; "you had better not meddle with them. They are not yours, and you must not touch them."

"Not touch them!" said Edward; "there is no harm in touching them. You do not think I mean to steal one, I suppose." So Edward put his hand into the basket, and took out an orange.

"It smells very sweet," said he, "and-it feels very ripe. How I long to taste it! I will only just suck one drop of juice at the top." Saying these words, he put the orange to his mouth.

Boys who wish to be honest should beware of temptation. People are always led on by little and little to do wrong. The sight of the oranges tempted Edward to touch one of them; the touch

1 Pron. er'lę. `2 Ŏs/ler.

8 pǎn'yer or pǎn'ne-er. 6 min'uts or min'its.

4 diz-ŏn'est.

5 jūs.

tempted him to smell it; and the smell tempted him

to taste it.

“What are you about, Edward?" asked Charles, taking hold of his arm. "You said that you only wanted to see if the oranges were ripe. Do put it down. For shame!"

"Do not say 'for shame' to me," said Edward, in a surly tone; "the oranges are not yours, Charles." "No, they are not mine," said Charles; "but I promised to take care of them, and I will; so put down the orange."

"O, if it comes to that, I will not," said Edward; "and let us see who can make me, if I do not choose it; I am stronger than you."

“I am not afraid of you, for all that," replied Charles," for I am in the right.". Then he snatched the orange out of Edward's hand, and pushed him with great force from the basket.

Edward immediately returned, and struck Charles a violent blow, which almost stunned him.

Charles, however, without minding the pain, persevered in defending what was left in his care. He still held the bridle with one hand, and covered the basket with his other arm, as well as he could.

Edward struggled in vain to get his hand into the panniers again, but he could not; and finding that he could not succeed by strength, he had recourse to cunning.

He therefore pretended to be out of breath, and to desist; but he meant, as soon as Charles looked away, to creep softly round to the basket on the other side.

Cunning people, though they think themselves very wise, are almost always very silly. Edward, intent upon stealing oranges, forgot that if he went too close to the horse's heels, he should startle him.

The horse, disturbed by the bustle near him, had already left off eating his hay; and when he felt something touching his hind legs, he gave a sudden kick, and Edward fell backwards just as he had seized an orange.

Edward screamed with pain, and at the noise all the people came out of the public house to see what was the matter; and amongst them came the orange man. Edward was now so much ashamed that he almost forgot the pain, and wished to run away; but he was so much hurt that he was obliged to sit down again.

fōrce vi'o-lent për-se-vered' struggled

re-course' de-sist'

sil'ly

stär'tle

XXVII.-THE ORANGE MAN, CONCLUDED.

THE truth of the matter was soon told by Charles, and no one pitied Edward for the pain which he felt.

1 Pron. strong'ger.

"He deserves it," said the landlord, "for meddling with what was not his own."

Charles was the only one who said nothing. He helped Edward away; for boys that are brave are always generous and good-natured.

"Come here," said the orange man, calling to Charles; "come here, my honest boy;" and he led Charles into the midst of the men, women, and children who had gathered round the place.

The orange man now took off Charles's hat, and filled it with fine large oranges. "There, my little friend," said he, "take them, and God bless you with them! If I could afford it, you should have all that I have in my baskets."

Then the people, and especially the children, shouted for joy; but as soon as there was silence, Charles said to the orange man, "I thank you with all my heart, but I cannot take your oranges. I will take only the one which I earned. I will not be paid for being honest. You may take the rest back again; but I thank you as much as if I had them."

Charles then offered to pour the oranges back into the basket; but the man would not let him. "Then," said he, "if they are honestly mine, I will give them away." So he gave them to the children, his companions, and without waiting for their thanks, pressed through the crowd, and ran towards home.

Edward went limping away, feeling very unhappy. He had no oranges to eat, nor had he any to give away. People must be honest before they can be generous. Edward sighed as he went towards home.