"I have eaten only six to-day," was the modest reply, "and they were little russets, too."
"Oh, Malcolm, Malcolm!" said Miss Harson, laughing; "what shall I do with you? Why, you would soon make an apple-famine in most places. Three apples a day must be your allowance for the present; and if at any time we go to live in an orchard, you may have six."
"Why, we have only one," exclaimed little Edith, "and we don't want any more.--Do we, Clara?"
"If you don't want 'em," said Malcolm, "there's no sense in eating 'em.--But I'll remember, Miss Harson. I suppose three at one time ought to be enough."
Malcolm's expression, as he said this, was so doleful that every one laughed at him; and his governess continued:
"The apple tree is said to produce a greater variety of beautiful fruit than any other tree that is known, and apples are liked by almost every one. They are a very wholesome fruit and nearly as valuable as bread and potatoes for food, because they can be used in so many different ways, and the poorer qualities make very nourishing food for nearly all animals."
"Rex fairly snatches the apple out of my hand when I go to give him one," said Malcolm.
"So does Regina," added Clara, who trembled in her shoes whenever she offered these dainties to the handsome carriage-horses.
Edith had not dared to venture on such a feat yet, and therefore she had nothing to say.