One day Mother said, “I want a cherry pie and I haven’t time to make it
today.”
“Let me make it,” said Bobby.
“Let me make it,” said Betty.
“We won’t make a pie today,” said Mother. “We will buy one. You may go to
the baker’s shop and buy a cherry pie.”
“Good!” said Betty.
“Come on,” said Bobby.
“Wait,” said Mother. “You cannot buy a pie without money.”
“That’s so,” said Bobby. “I forgot the money. I was going to be like
Simple Simon.”
“Simple Simon couldn’t buy a pie,” said Betty. “He didn’t have a penny.”
“Can we buy a pie for a penny, Mother?” asked Bobby.
“Oh, no, Bobby. Pies cost more than they did when Simple Simon lived.”
“How much does a cherry pie cost, Mother?” asked Betty.
“Twenty cents,” answered Mother.
“Twenty cents!” cried Bobby.
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“Yes,” said Mother. “Here are two dimes. Bobby, you may carry the money
this time.”
“Thank you, Mother,” said Bobby. “Come, Betty, let’s go.”
_For study and play_:
Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
“Let me taste your ware.”
Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
“Show me first your penny.”
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
“Indeed, I haven’t any.”
“Can she make a cherry pie, Billy boy, Billy boy?
Can she make a cherry pie, Charming Billy?”
“She can make a cherry pie, quick as a cat can wink its eye,
She’s a young thing and cannot leave her mother.”
Up in the tree cherries I see;
Some are for you, some are for me.
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[Illustration]