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STEALING PEACHES
13
this time nearly everyone was snuffling or actually weeping outright, and as the father went round, most of us emptied our pockets into his hands. When he had got the money, the father went back to the box, which was lying on the ground, and rapped on it hard. "Sonny, sonny!" he called out, "why don't you come and thank these gentlemen for the money?"
From the inside of the box I heard, quite clearly, a thump. The lid opened by itself, and out jumped the boy, alive and well. The next moment both he and his father had disappeared in the crowd.
