"Do you like apples?" she asked.

The boy giggled and put his finger in his mouth; but the girl answered boldly, "Guess we do! Me and Bang, we hoped you'd give us an apple; did n't we, Bang?"

The youngster nodded assent. Tue ran into the house, and soon returned with the promised fruit. "What are your names?" she asked.

"I'm Goe," said the girl, "and he's Bang. Ain't you, Bang?" The answer was another nod, emphasized by a large bite of apple. "But when we grow up," continued Goe, "we're both going to be Yung. Ain't we, Bang?"

"Why?" asked Tue, amused.

"Oh, he's so nice! And Loe thinks so, too; don't she, Bang? She says to Ching, 'Tue' - that's you, ain't it? - 'Tue ain't agoing to have Yung;' and Ching says, 'Yung ain't agoing to have Tue, either, so now!' 'Why not?' says she. ''Cause I want her myself,' says he; 'what's your reason?' 'Same reason,' says she. And then they laughed. And says Ching, 'Here's Goe, let's send her to Tue with a story; she's good at stories.' So here I am."

"And what is the story?" asked Tue, smiling.

"Oh, I got it by heart; but I must have a stump or something to stand on. Oh, here's one; that's all right." Mounting the stump, she began her story in the unnatural, high-pitched voice well known to frequenters of school-exhibitions and Sunday-school concerts.

"As I was passing Yung's hut, he cried, 'Come here, little girl.' I went, and he asked me to go and get Ching. So I brought Ching, and Yung asked, 'Ching, is the philosopher rich?' 'Yes,' said Ching, 'and his daughter will have all his wealth.' Then Yung said, 'If I take her now, and in a month leave her and take Loe, whom I like better, can I keep the property?' 'Yes,' said Ching. And Yung said, 'Well, I will.' That's my story," she added, in her natural voice; 'ain't it, Bang? And if you had n't given me an apple, I would n't have told you all about Ching and Loe, but I'd just have said my story."

Tue shivered a little at Ching's treachery. "So you did n't really go by Yung's?" she asked.

"Oh, yes, we did," said Goe, breaking into a merry laugh. "Me and Bang, we went right by his hut; did n't we, Bang? And we heard somebody talking, and what do you think it was? We peeped through a crack, me and Bang did, and we saw Yung walking up and down, and saying something; and did n't he look funny! Did n't he, Bang? And when he got through he looked scared, and said, 'It's a pome, and I'm a pote!' and I'm sure I don't know what that means."

"What was it he said?" asked Tue.

"I must get on my stump again," said Goe; and standing on the stump, she declaimed these verses, emphasizing them with the most ridiculous of gestures: -

"'Oh wondrous passion! Feeling unaccountable!

My soul is swelling in a sweet surrender: