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Horace Elisha Scudder

[Illustration]

The Farmer and the Stork

A Farmer set a net in his field to catch the Cranes that were eating his grain. He caught the Cranes, and with them a Stork also. The Stork was lame, and begged the Farmer to let him go.

"I am not a Crane," he said. "I am a Stork. I am a very good bird, and take care of my father and mother. Look at the color of my skin; it is not the same as the Crane's."

But the Farmer said: "I do not know how that is. I caught you with the Cranes, and with the Cranes you must die."

It is well to keep out of the way of wicked people, lest we fall into the trap with them.