Little Philippe of Belgium

by Madeline Brandeis

"NO, NO! I WON'T STEAL!"

Then he said, "Oh, very well, my boy. Do not excite yourself. You need not come along, since you feel that way. Zelie and I have always done well. We can still get along without you. You shall do your work by singing, and we by stealing. That is simple."

But Philippe was angry.

"Oh, you wicked man!" he cried. "I will not stay with you any longer. I am going home!"

Then Tom caught hold of the boy's arm. Tom's eyes flashed.

"No!" he said firmly, "No. You had better not try that. You are mine, and you shall stay with me!"

That night Tom locked Philippe in the room of a little hotel while he and Zelie went to the farm.

Philippe wrote a letter to his father. He told all of what had happened. He begged forgiveness and asked his father to come and get him.

But when Tom returned, he found the letter and burned it.