boys, that I found no market for my apples this
morning," he said.

"That's so!" said the boys. Then they thanked him heartily.

Charlie Read said, "You are the funniest man I ever saw to stop and
give us the apples."

"You would like to see another just like me to-morrow, wouldn't you?"
said Farmer Gray.

"Yes, I would," said Charley, "and I should like to live with you
too."

Just then the school bell rang. The boys all shouted, "Good-by!
good-by!" as Farmer Gray drove off.

"I'm glad enough I didn't sell those apples this morning," thought
Farmer Gray.

AH KEE.

Ah Kee is the funniest little fellow alive.

He can stand as straight as any boy I ever saw.

But the straighter he stands, the more you laugh.

He thinks he is very tall. He is about three feet tall.

He thinks he is a little gentleman, because he can drink out of a
coffee-cup and not spill a drop.

But Ah Kee oftener behaves like a rogue than like a gentleman.

There is always a look of mischief in his bright black eyes.

His mistress never allows him to go into the parlor by himself.

She knows he would sit on the brackets with the little statues.

She knows he would like to swing to and fro on the curtain tassels.

She knows he would like to jerk the bell-pull, and bring Rose up from
the kitchen.

She knows he would like to take the Sevres vases and walk up and down
the room with them in his arms.

No, Ah Kee, with his roguish tastes, is not to be trusted in the
parlor by himself.

But he sometimes comes in when she is there. Sometimes when she is
reading she hears a soft sound like this, "_lsp-s-s-s!_"

She jumps up, looks all around. Under the table, or in a corner she
sees a soft, round, feathery ball of fur--and one little paw raised,
all claws and motion.

[Illustration: AH KEE'S GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT.]

Ah, that is Ah Kee, and Ah Kee means mischief. Perhaps he will spring
into his mistress' lap. Perhaps he will leap up on the piano. You
cannot be sure what he will decide to do.

Yes, Ah Kee is a monkey, a gay little spider monkey, with a long tail
that he likes to carry over his head in the shape of the letter S.

Ah Kee's mistress has made up her mind to do one thing. She will buy
Ah Kee a silver collar with a ring. She will buy Ah Kee a broad blue
ribbon.

Then, when she wants a quiet hour, she will slip the blue ribbon
through the collar ring, and tie Ah Kee to the door knob.

[Illustration: {DIC