Alice Hale Burnett

“ When Saturday morning arrived, Mother Brown sent Toad off to the barn to
get some large red apples.
"Be sure they have strong stems," she warned him, "or I shall not be
able to use them."
The apples had been packed in barrels with plenty of straw to keep them
from freezing, and when Toad reached the barn he pulled out one after
another until he thought he had plenty. Just as he was wondering how
many trips he would have to make to get all the apples to the house, a
face peeped around the doorway.
"Hello, Reddy," laughed Toad, "come on in and help me with these apples. ”

“ I've got to carry them up to the house," he explained, "they're for the
party tonight."
"Couldn't we eat just one now?" asked Reddy, picking up from the floor
a shining red apple.
"Hey, not that one," cried Toad, "take one without a stem."
"Huh," protested Reddy, "what difference does that make? I wasn't going
to eat the stem." ”

“ Toad laughed.
"Mother wants strong stems on them. I don't know why," he explained.
"What's a Hallowe'en party like?" inquired Reddy, seating himself on the
top of a potato barrel.
"Fat says," he continued, "that there's always ghosts."
"Aw, who's afraid of baby things like ghosts," jeered Toad.
"Well, I'm not either," protested Reddy. "I knew he was only trying to
scare me."
After the boys had carried the apples up to the house Mother Brown
looked them over and exclaimed:
"They're just what I want, such fine strong stems." ”