what becomes of The Ladies.)

"Bed-time, children!"

In they go.

You see the treatment is a trifle fanciful. But romance gathers
round an old story like lichen on an old branch. And the story of
Martin Pippin in the Apple-Orchard is so old now--some say a year
old, some say even two. How can the children be expected to
remember?

But here's the truth of it.




MARTIN PIPPIN IN THE APPLE-ORCHARD


PROLOGUE
PART I

One morning in April Martin Pippin walked in the meadows near
Adversane, and there he saw a young fellow sowing a field with oats
broadcast. So pleasant a sight was enough to arrest Martin for an
hour, though less important things, such as making his living, could
not occupy him for a minute. So he leaned upon the gate, and
presently noticed that for every handful he scattered the young man
shed as many tears as seeds, and now and then he stopped his sowing