of which John Snap was most fond, and this
thing was fruit tart. The fruit tarts at Broom Hill were so sweet, and
the crust was so light!

The day on which John Snap went to dine at Broom Hill the fruit tart
was put near where he sat. How nice and large it was! and how good it
smelt too! He thought the time was long till the time came for the tart
to be cut.

"It will soon be cut now," thought he. But this dish came, and that
dish went, yet still the fruit tart was not cut. He said, "No thank
you," to all, for he thought but of the tart.

At length all the things were gone _but_ the tart. "That won't go, I
hope," thought John; and great was his joy when he heard Mr. Thorpe say
in a loud clear tone, "John Snap, will _you_ please to cut that tart?"

John, in great haste to do what he was told, took up the spoon--but the
crust would not break: there was some hard thing, and the spoon would
not go through the crust. One, twice, three times did he try. "Put a
knife round the edge of the dish and clear off the crust," said Mr.
Thorpe; "we _must_ come to the fruit."

John Snap did so. He put a knife round the edge of the dish, and all
the crust came off at once. And what was there in that dish?

_A dolls head!_

Jane gave a loud scream, and John Snap made a rush to the door.

He was out of the room, but he heard Jane say, "It was _he_ who did it!
it was _he_ who did it! My poor doll!"

The tone of Jane's voice, as she said this, made John go back. He could
not bear to hear her. "Jane! Jane!" he said, "that doll's head will be
the means to make me a good boy. I feel I could be good. I feel some
thing that tells me so. I grieve for what I have done--I feel grief of
such a kind as I have not felt till now."

Jane saw his face. When she saw his face, it told her so much that she
said, "_I will think of this no more_."

PLAY NOT WITH FIRE.

Mr. and Mrs. Green had two girls, and their names were Kate and Anne.
Kate was ten and Anne was eight years old.

[Illustration: THE DANGER OF FIRE. Page 143.]

It made Mrs. Green quite sad to think that she could not cure them of
one bad fault; this fault was that they would play with fire.

All she said was of no use, for they would do it. Though she bought
them books, and dolls, and all things that were nice, to play with,
still fire was the thing they would play with. They would get a long
piece of straw and set it on fire, and say it was a torch; and they
went wit