"'O, how pretty they are!' said Moses.
"His mother then set all the dishes on the sideboard, and covered them over with a clean table cloth. After tea, she said, 'I will set them out on the table, and then when the children have done playing, they can come here and eat them.'
"When Moses' father came home from the city, the lady said, 'I'm sorry you forgot to get thirteen oranges. There were only twelve in the basket.'
"'There were thirteen when I brought them home,' said papa; 'I am sure of it, because I counted them myself, and they were nice ones too; I had to give three cents apiece for them, though they are quite plenty now.'
"'I don't know where the other can have gone,' said mamma, looking very sober, as a painful suspicion flashed through her.
"'I hope Moses wouldn't take one without leave,' said the gentleman.
"'I asked him,' replied mamma, 'and he said he hadn't touched them.'
"'Where is he?' asked papa, 'I will ask him. I don't care at all about the orange, because I can easily get another; but somebody must have taken it, and I am afraid it was our little boy.' The gentleman then went to the door and called, 'Moses! Moses!'
"Presently Moses came, and his father took him in his lap, and said, 'Tell me, my dear, have you taken an orange from the basket?'
"'No, papa,' said the boy, his face growing very red. 'I told mamma I hadn't touched them.'