hat his darling child would tell a lie;
so he put him down to the floor, and inquired, 'Have you asked cook?'

"'No,' said mamma; 'I am quite sure she wouldn't meddle with my things.'

"'Just then, cook came in with the cloth for supper, and mamma said to
Moses, 'I shall have time, I think, to dress you before tea. Run up
quick to my room, and I will get a clean ruffle, and baste it in your
new sack."

"While she was doing this, he pulled off his sack and pantaloons that
he had worn every day, and threw them on the floor. Then his mother
washed his face, and neck, and arms, and hands, very clean, and brushed
his hair smoothly off his forehead, so that he looked very nicely
indeed. And all the time Moses was talking about his party, and telling
what a pleasant time he should have.

"'It's your birthday,' said his mother, kissing him, 'and you must
remember to be a very good boy. Be kind to your dear little cousins and
playmates, and let them play with any of your toys. Here, let me hang up
your clothes, and we will go down to tea.'

"She took the pantaloons from the floor, and said, 'Why, Moses, what
have you stuffed into your pocket? Here is your handkerchief wet
through.' She pulled out first an India rubber ball, and then--O, what
do you think?--why, the lost orange, all sucked and gone except the
peel.

"'O Moses!' was all the poor mother could say. She sank into a chair,
and covered her face with her hands; but the tears trickled down through
her fingers.

"The little boy began to cry; he wished his mother had not found him
out, because it made her feel so badly. Presently the tea bell rang;
but the lady never stirred from her seat. She was mourning over her son,
and thinking what she ought to do to punish him for his great sin.

"'Supper is ready,' called out papa from the stairs.

"'Don't wait for me,' answered the lady; 'I can't go down.'

"'What is the matter?' asked the gentleman, springing up the stairs and
coming into the room.

"Mamma began to weep again. She could not speak, but she held up the
skin of the orange, and glanced toward Moses, who was sitting in a chair
by himself crying bitterly.

"'So he did take it, after all,' said papa, in a stern voice.

"'I'm sorry, papa,' sobbed the boy.

"'What a wicked boy you must be, to steal and lie, and on your birthday
too,' said his father, 'when we were trying to make you so happy!'

"'I never will do so again,' said Moses.

"'You must be pu