“ ‘Then you must go widout it,’ says I.
“ ‘We’ll see about that,’ says he.
“And what do you think?—the fellow picked out one of my biggest apples, and was walkin’ away! That made me mad.
“ ‘Come back, you thafe of the worruld!’ says I.
“ ‘Silence, you old hag!’ says he.
“Actilly he called me an old hag! I wanted to go after him, but there was two hoodlums hangin’ round, and I knew they’d carry off some of my apples, when, just as I was at my wits’ end, Dodger came round the corner.
“ ‘Dodger,’ I screamed, ‘go after that man! He’s taken one of my apples, widout lave or license!’
“Upon that, Dodger, brave as a lion, walked up to the man, and, says he:
“ ‘Give back that apple, or pay for it!’
“ ‘What’s that to you, you impudent young rascal?’ says the man, raisin’ the apple to his mouth. But he didn’t get a chance to bite it, for Dodger, with a flip of his hand, knocked it on the sidewalk, and picked it up.