82 THE APPLE. 



and you bag it at once. When you were a school 

 boy you stowed these away in your pockets and ate 

 them along the road and at recess, and again at noon- 

 time ; and they, in a measure, corrected the effects 

 of the cake and pie with which your indulgent mother 

 filled your lunch-basket. 



The boy is indeed the true apple-eater, and is no' 

 to be questioned how he came by the fruit with which 

 his pockets are filled. It belongs to him . . • His 

 own juicy flesh craves the juicy flesh of the apple 

 Sap draws sap. His fruit-eating has little reference 

 to the state of his appetite. Whether he be full of 

 meat or empty of meat he wants the apple just the 

 same. Before meal or after meal it never comes 

 amiss. The farm-boy munches apples all day longc 

 He has nests of them in the ha}' - mow, mellowing, 

 to which he makes frequent visits. Sometimes old 

 Brindle, having access through the open door, smells 

 them out and makes short work of them. 



In some countries the custom remains of placing a 

 rosy apple in the hand of the dead that they may find 

 it when they enter paradise. In northern mythology 

 the giants eat apples to keep off old age. 



The apple is indeed the fruit of youth. As we 

 grow old we crave apples less. It is an ominous sign< 

 When you are ashamed to be seen eating them on the 

 street ; when you can carry them in your pocket and 

 your hand not constantly find its way to them ; when 

 your neighbor has apples and you have none, and yots 

 make no nocturnal visits to his orchard ; when youi 

 lunch-basket is without them, and you can pass a 

 winter's night by the fireside with no thought of the 

 fruit at your elbow, then be assured you are no longei 

 a boy, either in heart or year*. 



