But as he got older he grew to be full of tricks.
He used to play cherry-stones with the boys. When he had lost all his own
stones, he would creep slyly into his playmates’ bags, quickly fill his
pockets with their stones, creep out unseen, and join again in the game.
One day as he did this the boy who owned the bag caught him at it. “Ah,
ha! my little Tommy,” he cried, “at last I have caught you stealing my
cherry-stones. I’ll teach you to stop that.” And he quickly drew the
string, shutting Tom into the bag, and gave the bag such a shake that the
poor little fellow’s legs and thighs and body were sadly bruised. Tom
roared with pain and promised never to do that again.
So he was cured of that trick.