NAUGHTY boy! What are you doing? Run away from that little girl and leave her black berries alone. Poor child! she has been to the woods to gather the berries, and stayed there a long while in order to fill her basket, not minding the many scratches from the sharp thorns in the hedge, because she wanted to take home a good deal of ripe fruit.
And now this naughty boy is helping himself to her store in the basket instead of seeking for some in the woods where she has been. Lizzie is a gentle girl, and not inclined to offer resistance, but she cannot help the tears coming into her eyes. This mute appeal ought to be enough if the boy had any true feeling about him, but, alas! many boys regard nothing but a power stronger than their own.
I hope none of the boys who read these lines will follow the example of this bad boy, but seek to help and protect any girls who may cross their path, for this would be quite in accordance with the spirit of the word of God, and well-pleasing to Him who has said, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you."