"Ah, I don't wonder!" as he hurriedly turned over a few pages. "A dime
novel! Where did you get this, Lulu?"
"It's Max's, papa, he lent it to me. O papa, what made you do that?" as
with an energetic fling the captain suddenly sent it far out into the sea.
"Max made me promise to take care of it and give it back to him, and
besides I wanted to finish the story."
"Neither you nor Max shall ever read such poisonous stuff as that with my
knowledge and consent," replied the captain in stern accents.
"Papa, I didn't think you'd be so unkind," grumbled Lulu, her face
expressing extreme vexation and disappointment, "or that you would throw
away other people's things."
"Unkind, my child?" he said, sitting down beside her and taking her hand
in his. "Suppose you had gathered a quantity of beautiful, sweet-tasted
berries that I knew to be poisonous, and were about to eat them; would it
be unkind in me to snatch them out of your hand and throw them into the
sea?"
"No, sir; because it would kill me to eat them, but that book couldn't
kill me, or even make me sick."
"No, not your body, but it would injure your soul, which is worth far
more.
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