“Years after when settlers came looking for a place to live they chose these spots where, to their great surprise, they found all sorts of trees loaded with fruit.
“This man’s name was John Chapman, but he was nicknamed Johnny Appleseed.
“The settlers were glad indeed when he appeared and told them the orchards were the fruit of his labours, and they were all eager to entertain him.
“And so he ended his life in this land of fruit and plenty.
“I must tell you a story of one certain little tree.
“In one of the houses of the settlement where Johnny Appleseed loved to stay there lived a dear little boy, just a wee toddler, named Jack.
“Dearly did the child love to follow the old man about as he worked, for Johnny Appleseed’s work was by no means finished when the trees were bearing fruit.
“Those trees had to be pruned; that meant all the dead branches had to be cut off. In the spring the blossoms had to be sprayed to keep the bugs out of the cores of the fruit; the trunk had to be watched to see that it was not marred in any way, as a small gash might mean the loss of the tree in time.
“One day Johnny, with little Jack, went to the village post office, and there found a letter and a package.