Story, first published: Star Science Fiction Stories (1953)
In a poignant story bordering on sentimentality, two stranded aliens bring love and compassion into a little boy's cruel world ... .
Mistreated by harsh foster parents, a lonely orphan boy finds a "contraption" in a blackberry patch that "feels" friendly. The aliens, trapped and dying in their spaceship, give Johnny a jewel in exchange for his knife. When the boy returns home that night expecting a beating for being late, the jewel falls out of his pocket, and Uncle Eb and Aunt Em become downright friendly and lovable.
Ewald, Robert J.: When the Fires Burn High and the Wind is from the North, p.53-54