And as he again cast his eye on the tree, He said to himself, "Oh, how nice they would be, So cool and refreshing to-day! The tree is so full, and one only I'll take, And John cannot see if I give it a shake, And nobody is in the way." But stop, little boy, take your hand from the bough, Remember, though John cannot see you just now, And no one to chide you is nigh, There is One, who by night, just as well as by day, Can see all you do, and can hear all you say, From his glorious throne in the sky. O then little boy, come away from the tree, Lest tempted to this wicked act you should be: 'Twere better to starve than to steal; For the great GOD, who even through darkness can look, Writes down every crime we commit, in His book; Nor forgets what we try to conceal. [Illustration] * * * * * Transcriber's Notes: Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Page 10, blank line placed before the stanza beginning (Come, walk in our garden) End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Ann and Other Poems, by Jane Taylor and Ann Taylor