The Little Apple Tree Bears a Golden Harvest |
IN A thriving apple orchard full of trees richly laden with fruit, stood one hardy little tree whose apples remained small and green and hard.
The little tree wondered why her fruit was so small, when that on the other trees grew so large and fine.
"But perhaps as these are my first apples they are slow in ripening," she thought. "I must be patient and before long the beautiful color will begin to appear."
So day after day she watched for some signs of color on the cheeks of the hard little apples, and time seemed to drag more and more slowly.
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 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."