Jasmine Stone Van Dresser

“ One day there were voices in the orchard,—men and boys carrying baskets and ladders were coming; and to the astonishment of the little tree, they stopped under her boughs, placed the ladders in the branches and climbed up.
"Good old apples!" cried one of the boys, dropping them into his basket with a plump.
"A fine yield!" said one of the men. "Did you ever see anything more beautiful than this rich golden brown?"
"The sweetest apple that ever grew!" said another. "I don't feel that I've had an apple till November brings these." ”

“ But life in an apple orchard is not altogether uneventful, and the little tree became interested in finding she could take part in what was going on about her.
One day there was a curious squawk [18] in among her branches, and soon two robins, each with a worm in his mouth, came flying in through the thick-leaved boughs, to their nest in a crotch of the tree.
"Our birdies are hatched!" they cried, filling the gaping mouths. "The little tree sheltered our eggs from storm and sun, and hid them so carefully that no one could find them. We are safer in this tree than in any tree in the orchard." ”

“ Suddenly the rain began to come down with a brisk patter; the children scampered quickly under the nearest tree; the dark cloud overspread the whole sky, rain pelted down, a great wind roared through the orchard, bending the trees, and causing their branches to wave wildly and a shower of apples to fall.
"Oh, where shall we go?" cried the children. "The apples are pelting us, and the rain drives in upon us."
"Yonder under the little tree with green apples," cried one. "See how thickly leaved it is, and how low the [25] boughs bend; we shall be well sheltered there." ”