“Oh, that boy hit me! That peddler boy hit me on the head with a stone! Look out for the peddler boy!”
“What’s that?” cried Farmer Joel. “Is that rascal here?”
Mun Bun sat down on the ground, and this time he cried real tears.
“That boy hit me on the head with a stone!” he sobbed.
For a time there was some excitement, the men coming down out of the trees to look for the peddler boy. But a moment later along came Ralph Watson from the next farm, and with him was his dog Jimsie.
“Did you see anything of a peddler boy?” Ralph was asked.
“No,” he answered.
“I don’t believe Mun Bun was hit by a stone at all!” suddenly exclaimed Mrs. Bunker, looking at Mun Bun’s head. “I don’t believe that peddler boy has been here, either.”
“But something hit me, Mother!” insisted Mun Bun.
“Yes, but it was an apple falling from one of the trees,” his mother said. “Look, here is an apple leaf in your hair, Mun Bun. It was an apple that hit you.”