Page:John Bunyan's Dream Story.djvu/168

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164
JOHN BUNYAN'S DREAM STORY

boys, fell sick. He was so sick that his mother feared he would die; and so a doctor was called in. The name of the doctor was Skill; and when he saw the boy he knew at once what ailed him.

"What kind of food has Matthew been eating?" asked Dr. Skill.

"The food that is set before us here by the sisters of the House Beautiful," answered Christiana. "He has had only that which is most wholesome."

"But he is sick of something that he ate before he came to this place," said the doctor. "He has something in his stomach that won't digest, and it has been there a long time."

Then Samuel, the second son, spoke up and said, "Mother, don't you remember the orchard we passed just this side of the Wicket Gate? The trees hung over the wall, and we picked up some of the fruit that had fallen on the highway."

"True, my child," said Christiana. "And I scolded you all for eating of those apples."

"I took only a bite," said Samuel, "but Matthew ate more than one."

"There!" said Dr. Skill. "I knew the symptoms, and it is that fruit that has made him sick. That