in the way;
and so she took great hatred to him, and drove him from one corner to
another, and gave him a buffet here and a cuff there, so that the poor
child was always in disgrace; when he came back after school hours there
was no peace for him.

Once, when the wife went into the room upstairs, her little daughter
followed her, and said,

"Mother, give me an apple."

"Yes, my child," said the mother, and gave her a fine apple out of the
chest, and the chest had a great heavy lid with a strong iron lock.

"Mother," said the little girl, "shall not my brother have one too?"

That was what the mother expected, and she said,

"Yes, when he comes back from school."

And when she saw from the window that he was coming, an evil thought
crossed her mind, and she snatched the apple, and took it from her
little daughter, saying,

"You shall not have it before your brother."

Then she threw the apple into the chest, and shut to the lid. Then the
little boy came in at the door, and she said to him in a kind tone, but
with evil looks,

"My son, will you have an apple?"

"Mother," said the boy, "how terrible you look! yes, give me an apple!"

Then she spoke as kindly as before, holding up the cover of the chest,

"Come here and take out one for yourself."

And as the boy was stooping over the open chest, crash went the lid
down, so that his head flew off among the red apples. But then the woman
felt great terror, and wondered how she could escape the blame. And she
went to the chest of drawers in her bedroom and took a white
handkerchief out of the nearest drawer, and fitting the head to the
neck, she bound them with the handkerchief, so that nothing should be
seen, and set him on a chair before the door with the apple in his hand.

Then came little Marjory into the kitchen to her mother, who was
standing before the fire stirring a pot of hot water.

"Mother," said Marjory, "my brother is sitting before the door and he
has an apple in his hand, and looks very pale; I asked him to give me
the apple, but he did not answer me; it seems very strange."

"Go again to him," said the mother, "and if he will not answer you, give
him a box on the ear."

So Marjory went again and said,

"Brother, give me the apple."

But as he took no notice, she gave him a box on the ear, and his head
fell off, at which she was greatly terrified, and began to cry and
scream, and ran to her mother, and said,

"O mother! I have knoc