the bag?"

"You must find it for yourselves--I had to," was George's selfish
reply, as he gathered the last of his popped corn into his pocket,
badly burning his fingers, in his anxiety lest his brother or sister
should get hold of a kernel or two.

Ella and Ralph commenced searching for the bag of corn, but they could
not find it. They looked in every place where they supposed it might
be, but in vain. Their mother had gone to bed with a sick headache, or
they would have ascertained where it was from her. At length they gave
up the search, and returned to the sitting-room, in no very pleasant
frame of mind.

"I do declare, George," said Ella, "you are the meanest boy I ever
heard of."

"Why, what is the matter with George?" inquired his grandmother.

"He 's been popping some of the corn you gave us," replied Ella; "and
he won't give us a kernel of it, nor tell us where the bag is, so that
we can pop some for ourselves."

"Why, George," said Mrs. Lee, "that is too bad; I would tell them where
the corn is, for I intended it as much for them as for you."

"I don't care," said George; "they've called me mean and stingy, and
now they may find it for themselves."

"We did n't call you mean and stingy till you refused to tell us where
it was," added Ella.

"If I could find it, I guess you would n't get another kernel of it,"
said Ralph, addressing George; "I'd burn it all up first."

"No, no, Ralph, that is wrong," replied his grandmother. "The corn is
n't worth quarrelling about. If George wants to be selfish, and keep
it all to himself, I 'll send down some more for the rest of you, when
I go home. But I guess Georgie does n't mean to be selfish," she
added, coaxingly; "he only wants to plague you a little, that's all.
He 'll tell you where he found the corn, pretty soon."

George, who was growing uneasy under this combined attack, now
retreated to bed, leaving his grandmother more astonished than ever at
his obstinacy.

"There," said Alice, "it's of no use to try to drive or coax him out of
his selfishness. Mother says he 'll outgrow it by-and-bye, but I don't
see as there is any prospect of it. You know what made him so selfish,
don't you, grandmother?"

"I am afraid he has been humored too much," replied Mrs. Lee.

"Well, he has been," added Alice; "but you know when he was little, he
was very sick for a whole year, and the doctor said he must n't be
crossed any more than we could help, for cry