Well, all of a sudden, as Curly and Flop were going along, they came
past a field where a kind old rat gentleman was picking his apples
off the trees. There were many of the apples, and they had to be put
in barrels and brought into the cellar.

"Oh, don't those apples smell good," said Flop as he leaned over the
fence and looked at them.

"Indeed they do," agreed Curly. "They remind me of apple pie and
cheese."

Then the rat gentleman looked up, saw the piggie, and said:

"Come in, boys, and you may each have one apple. Help yourselves."

"Thank you, very much," spoke Curly. "Come on!" he cried to his
brother Flop, "we'll each take a big apple, and there will be enough
for a pie when we get home."

"Oh, but we can't carry big apples, with the bags of meal," said
Flop. "I'm going to take a middle-sized apple."

"Well, I'm not. I'm going to take the largest I can find in the
field," declared Curly, and he went hunting for a specially large
one.

Of course, in a way, it was all right to do this, for the rat
gentleman had told them to help themselves, but you just wait and
see what happens.