200 Zom Seven Years Old.

They followed her upstairs, and she bathed
his face and hands gently with hartshorn, until
the stinging pain felt much better.

‘“T am afraid,” said she, “you were teasing
them—were you ?”

‘No, indeed, I wasn’t,” answered Tom.
“Archie, was I? I did nothing but bend
down and look to see how their house was
made—didn’t I ?”

“Yes,” answered Archie; “that was all.
But they did not understand, and were angry,
_ and rushed at him.”

“T believe,” said Tom, “they had a spite
against me, and were watching till I passed
to fly out on me.”

“ Nonsense,” said his mamma. “It was a
mistake. They thought you were going to
tease them, and so they determined to prevent
it by teasing you.”

“Well,” said Tom, dolefully, “I’d rather be
teased by creatures who can’t sting.”

“T think you must forgive them,” said
Archie, “if it was a mistake, which I’m sure
it was. They fancied you were some nasty,