PART TWO

_Self-sacrifice is a noble trait of character and sometimes brings an unexpected reward._

You can imagine how the older sisters acted when they heard their father’s sad story. When the time came for the merchant to go, Beauty declared that she would go with him and die in his stead. So Beauty and her father set out for the palace of the Beast.

They entered the palace gate, and the horse found his way to the stable and began to eat as before. In the house they found the fire burning and the table spread for two persons. After supper there was a great roaring, and the Beast entered and said to Beauty: “Did you come of your own accord?” Beauty replied, “I did.”

Then the beast made the merchant leave the palace and go back to his own home, but Beauty had to stay in the palace until the beast had made up his mind what to do.

Beauty bade her father good-by, and then began to walk through the palace. She came to a room marked “Beauty’s Room.” It was full of books, fine furniture, and many beautiful things. Among the rest was a looking-glass in which she could see her father on his way home--and all that he was doing. That very night she saw him reach home. He looked very sad, but Beauty thought her sisters looked glad that he was alone.

The next day Beauty found everything ready for her everywhere. Her meals were ready and sweet music sounded when she ate. At night the Beast came and took supper with her. He said nothing and Beauty was frightened for fear he would be angry. At last he said:

“Beauty, do you think I am ugly?” Beauty could not deceive him, so she said: “Yes, but you are very good.” Then the Beast smiled and left her.

Every night he came and took supper with Beauty and asked her the same question. Every time he smiled at her answer, and somehow, every time he smiled he looked less and less terrible than before.

Time passed and Beauty saw the Beast every day. One day she looked in her mirror and saw her father lying ill at home. She begged the Beast to let her go to him.

“Be back in ten days, or I shall have to die,” said the Beast, and at once she was at home and her father was holding her hand. But in ten days he was well, and Beauty thought of the Beast. “I wish I were with him,” said Beauty, and so it was, for at once she was in the palace again. Beauty wished for the Beast and when he came in to supper she went up and kissed him on the cheek and said: “You are not ugly and I love you!”

And then what do you think? He was the Beast no longer for the charm was broken and he became a prince and turned to Beauty and said: “You have freed me from the charm of a wicked fairy. You said I was not ugly and that you loved me. That has set me free,” and he took her by the hand and kissed her. Thus it was that Beauty became the wife of a prince and lived happy ever after.

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN

(Adapted from Browning’s poem)

_One should stick to his bargain or abide the consequences._

Over in Germany is the town of Hamelin. A long time ago that town was troubled with rats until it was unendurable. The rats were in the houses, in the stores, in the churches; they ran over the streets, and the people were eaten out of house and home. The rats fought the dogs and killed the cats. They ate all the cheese, they made nests inside men’s Sunday hats. Oh, it was an awful time the people had with the rats of the town of Hamelin.

At last the people said: “We will not stand it any longer. What is our Mayor for if he can’t rid us of rats?” So they went to the Mayor and said they would send him packing if he did not find some way to run the rats out of town. The poor Mayor was in a quandary. He did not know what to do.

Just then came a knock on the door. “Come in,” said the Mayor. In walked a strange man, tall and thin, with a funny hat on his head, and with clothes half red and half yellow. His eyes were sharp and bright. He had a little pipe in his hands upon which he could play music.

“I am the Pied Piper, Mr. Mayor,” said the strange man, “and I can rid your town of rats for a thousand coins.”

“Good!” said the Mayor. “Go on! it’s a bargain. Be in a hurry about it, for the people are already angry with me.”

The Piper went to the door and began to play on his pipe. It was a strange high tune. All at once the rats began to run out from everywhere. All kinds of rats, big and little, old and young, they came running and tumbling and falling over each other. Then the Piper led them down to the river where every last one of them jumped in and was drowned. Not a rat was left in all the town of Hamelin.

“Now for my thousand coins,” said the Piper to the Mayor.

“Oh, come!” said the Mayor. “I did not really mean to pay you all that money. Here--take ten and be satisfied.”

But the Piper said he wanted his thousand coins and would take no less. So the Mayor puffed up, and grew red in the face and told the Piper to be gone.

The Piper then went into the streets and began to play another very strange tune. All the children pricked up their ears to listen. The Piper played on. The children began to run out of the houses and the stores and down the street, shouting and laughing and dancing after the Piper.

“Stop him! Stop him!” cried the people. But the Piper did not stop but marched on towards the mountains where a great door opened and all the children marched in after the Piper. The door then closed and the people never saw the Piper nor their children any more.

That is what happened because the Mayor would not do as he promised.

THE LAME PRINCE

_In which we see how a wicked uncle is punished and the little lame prince comes into his own._

Many years ago the king and queen of a certain country were very sad because they had no little son who would become king after they were dead. But at last one day a little prince was born which rejoiced the hearts of his parents greatly.

During a great feast the people wanted to see the little prince, and they crowded around him so close that the nurse dropped him and hurt his leg. They thought nothing of this for a while, but as he grew up to be a large boy and wanted to play like other boys it was found that he was lame and had to go around on crutches. The people loved him very much, and called him “Our lame prince.”

After a while the king and queen died, and the prince’s uncle, who was a bad man, came in with his followers, and in spite of the tears of the people, sent the little prince away and confined him in a tall tower in a desert region.

One night as he was sleeping with his windows open he was awakened by a tap on his shoulder. He sat up in bed and saw standing by him a queer little old woman in a gray cloak. She said to him,

“Little prince, I am your fairy godmother, and I want you to come with me and ride over your kingdom on my cloak.”

She spread the gray cloak out on the floor and she and the prince sat down on it. The fairy waved her wand and the cloak flew out of the window, taking them both along. Over the desert and forest and into the town they went. She and the prince were invisible so long as they stood on the cloak. They flew into the palace yard and into the great room where a ball was going on and everybody was dancing and feasting. Nobody could see them of course.

The old uncle had told the people that the lame prince was dead, and had ordered them to come to this feast and dance whether they liked it or not. As the cloak carried the prince and the old fairy godmother into the room the prince heard his uncle say: “I tell you he is dead! He fell off the tower and broke his neck.”

The prince stepped off the cloak and said loudly: “No, I am not dead! I am here, alive and well.”

The people saw him standing in their midst and set up so great a shout that the old uncle was seized with fear and trembling.

“Our prince is alive! long live our lame prince!” shouted all the people.

The old uncle heard them cry and ran out of the palace and into the yard, and into the street, and on into the forest, and so far as we know he may be running yet.

The prince became king, but he never heard anything more of his fairy godmother and her gray cloak.

BENNY IN BEASTLAND

_How a visit to Beastland cured a little boy of cruelty to animals._

This is a story of a little boy who made a visit to Beastland where all the animals go when they die. The boy’s name was Benjamin, but everybody called him Benny. He was a cruel little boy, and threw stones at all the dogs, and cats and birds that he saw. Sometimes he hurt the poor animals, and often he killed the little birds.

After a while the animals all ran, and the birds flew away when he came in sight. The dogs would not play with him, but ran under the house when they saw him coming; the cats climbed up the trees or over the fence, and the birds flew over into the next yard. “We will not stay near such a cruel little boy,” they all said.

One day a poor dog passed in front of Benny’s house. The dog was very tired and hungry, and not knowing Benny he stopped as if he would ask for a bone or a piece of bread. But Benny picked up a big rock and threw it at him and broke the poor dog’s leg. Then he ran away and hid to keep from hearing the poor dog howl with pain.

That night Benny could not sleep. He covered his head up in the bed clothes, and shut his eyes tight, and put his fingers in his ears, but he still saw the poor dog and heard his pitiful cries. After a while, as he lay very still trying to go to sleep, he heard a scratching at the window sill, and looking up he saw a big dog climbing in the window.

“What do you want?” he asked.

The dog stood up on his hind legs and said: “I have come to take you to Beastland.”

Then he took a rope out of a bag he carried, and tied poor Benny hand and foot. Throwing him across his back he went out of the window, out of the yard and way off up the side of a mountain. At last they came to a land where there was nothing but animals and they were all talking about boys and girls.

The big dog who carried Benny took him to the Court House and brought him before Judge Lion and a jury of cats and dogs. He was to be tried for cruelty. There were ever so many witnesses against poor Benny. All the dogs he had stoned; all the cats he had chased; all the birds he had killed rose up against him. Finally Judge Lion said: “Tie a tin can to him and chase him through town.” Then the big dog tied an old tin can to Benny’s foot, and all the dogs and animals ran him and ran him, and barked and snapped until he was chased out of Beastland and right into his little bed. He woke up with a start and exclaimed:

“My! But that was an awful feeling!” But he was kind to all animals ever afterwards.

A SUNSHINE FAIRY

_He who takes sunshine into the lives of others also lets it into his own life._

Alice was in the garden gathering roses for her mother. The day was warm and the sun very bright, so she sat down under a tree to rest, exclaiming: “Oh, if there were only such things as fairies! I wish I were one, for I would like to do nothing but play. I’m so tired of working and going to school!”

Just then something touched her on the shoulder, and turning round she saw a tiny fairy with a smiling face and shining wings, standing in the heart of a sleeping poppy.

“Little girl,” said the fairy, “we don’t play--we have to work, and very hard sometimes.”

Alice laughed at the idea of a fairy working, but the wee voice continued: “I am a sunshine fairy, and I have to make people smile and be happy. Would you like trying to be a fairy?”

“Oh, yes, indeed I would,” replied Alice. So they started off together. As they walked along the road the fairy stopped and kissed all the flowers to wake them up. Then she smiled and waved her hand to the birds and butterflies as they flew by; and on every one she passed she threw a ray of sunshine from her magic wand.

She stopped at a little hut in the woods and helped an old lady cook dinner for her son. From there she went to a big hospital where many sick people were, and she cheered them up and soothed their pain. Then she went to a poor man’s house, and finding his little children eating dry bread for supper, she touched it with her wand and turned it into cake.

As the big round sun began to go down, the fairy turned homewards, and after walking a long way they came to a large forest. In it was a mossy throne where the fairy queen sat, surrounded by hundreds of Sunshine fairies. As Alice and the fairy came in they went and knelt before the queen, who smiled and asked them if they had had a pleasant day.

“Oh, yes,” said Alice, “but I am so tired; I’ll never say again that the fairies don’t work!”

The queen stooped and kissed her, and just then Alice woke up and found her mother bending over her. Her mother asked how she had enjoyed her nap--and would she like to go and see a sick friend.

“Mother dear, I’ve been to sure-enough fairy land where the Sunshine fairies live, and I’m going to try to make people happy just as they do!” exclaimed Alice.

“I am so glad, dearie; as soon as you are ready, we will go, and you may carry these beautiful roses that you have picked, for I know that flowers always cheer the sick and make them feel brighter and happier.”

“Yes, I will, and then I’ll be a sure-enough Sunshine fairy, and not a dream one!” laughed Alice.

WHAT THE STUPID SON LEARNED

_The stupid are not always really so, but only appear so. There is always something they can learn._

In Bavaria there lived an Earl who had one son who seemed never to learn anything. He could not remember even the simplest thing he was told by his teacher. Everybody said:

“He is too stupid to bother with. The Earl should send him away,” and that is exactly what the Earl did. He sent him to Switzerland to a great school.

At the end of a year he came back home. “What have you learned in Switzerland, my son?” asked the Earl.

“I have learned why the dogs bark,” the son replied.

“Did you learn anything else?” asked the Earl.

“Oh, yes! I have learned what the frogs say when they croak.”

The Earl was in a great rage and declared that he had wasted his money on a teacher who taught such foolish things.

The stupid son was left all to himself now, and so he wandered into the forest and came to a great castle and asked for a night’s lodging. The lord said: “You may sleep in the tower, but the wild dogs howl all night so that no one can sleep.”

Then the stupid son said: “I will find out what they are howling about.” Accordingly he went into the tower to sleep, but soon the dogs began to howl.

“What are you howling about?” he asked the leading dog. They were much surprised to hear a man talking dog language; but they said: “We are guarding a treasure of gold under the tower for the lord of this castle.”

The next morning the stupid son told the lord what the dogs said. The lord dug up the treasure, gave part of it to the stupid son, and heard no more of the dogs.

The stupid son then went along and came to a place where the frogs were croaking. He stopped and listened to what they said. They were talking about some robbers who had planned to carry off the king’s daughter.

The stupid son hurried to the King’s house and said: “The frogs have told me that robbers will seize the princess to-night. Be on your guard!”

The king thought this was a strange message, but he called his guard and put them behind a big tree in the yard. Late that night the robbers came creeping up to the window of the princess, but the guards seized them and bore them before the king, who promptly put them in jail. The king then loaded the stupid son with jewels and sent him on his way. Soon he came home and showed the Earl all the gold and jewels he had won.

“How did you get all this wealth, my son?” cried the Earl.

“By listening to what the dogs said when they barked, and to what the frogs said when they croaked,” replied the stupid son.

SAMSON

_Even the strongest can yield to temptation and be betrayed._

We read in the Bible of the strong man named Samson. One day he met a lion in his path. Samson had no weapon, but he caught the lion with his hands and tore it to pieces as if it were a kid. At another time he caught three hundred foxes and tied fire brands to the tail of each one of them. He then drove the foxes into the corn fields of the Philistines who were his enemies, and destroyed all their crops.

The Israelites were not pleased with Samson, and resolved to betray him to the Philistines. Three thousand of them bound Samson and took him to the camp of the Philistines. But as soon as the Israelites had left, Samson snapped the great cords as if they were flax burnt with fire, and finding the jaw bone of an ass he seized it and slew a thousand Philistines.

Samson once went to a city named Gaza where he spent the night. The people there laid in wait to catch him next morning, and closed the gates in the big walls of the city. But next morning Samson rose and came to the gates of the city and lifted them up--posts and all--and walked off with them.

After a while Samson met a woman named Delilah. He loved her and often went to visit her. The Philistines knew this and said to Delilah:

“Entice him and see wherein his great strength lieth that we may overcome him.” They agreed to give Delilah a great quantity of silver for betraying Samson into their hands. Delilah agreed to do this and asked Samson what made him so strong, and how could he be bound so that he could not be taken.

Samson did not know her purpose and at first would not tell her what made him so strong. His strength lay in his long hair which fell down over his shoulders, but nobody knew it but Samson. Finally Delilah teased him so much that he told her he had not cut his hair nor shaved his beard all his life, and that all his strength lay in his hair. One day she caught Samson asleep and cut off all his beautiful hair, and when he awoke he was as weak as any other man. Then the Philistines came and took him away and Delilah was paid her money for betraying poor Samson.

The Philistines then put out his eyes, and took him over to Gaza and made him grind in the mill. There he worked for a long time and the Philistines made sport of him. One day they were having a great offering in the temple. So they took the blind Samson up to the temple and set him between its pillars. But by this time his hair had grown out again and his strength had returned to him.

So while the temple was full of people Samson wrapped his mighty arms around the pillars and pulled them down and the temple fell in, and he and all his enemies were buried together.

THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF

_No one believes a story teller even when he tells the truth._

There was once a shepherd boy named Peter. He was a good shepherd boy. Early every morning he carried his sheep to the cool green pastures and watched over them all day. His faithful shepherd dog, Watch, was always along with him and helped him in every way. If any of the little lambs got lost or hurt, Watch would find them and bring them to Peter. Peter was very fond of his sheep and was very kind to them. He enjoyed going to the fields every day and caring for them, to see that none of them were lost or eaten by the wild beasts. But sometimes Peter was lonesome, and being a boy wanted to play as well as work.

One day when Peter was feeling rather cross he said to himself: “I am tired of doing nothing but care for these sheep. I wonder what I can do to have some fun?”

He thought a few minutes and then he said: “I know the very thing. I’ll play a joke on the village people. I’ll go down to the village and cry ‘Wolf! wolf!’ Then all the people will come running to help me. When they get there they will find out I was just fooling and it will make them ever so angry.”

So Peter did just as he had planned. He left Watch to look after his flock and ran into the village crying “Wolf! wolf!” Of course all the people ran to help him drive away the wolf.

What was their surprise when the men reached the field to find that Peter was only playing a joke on them. They did not like it at all, but went back to the village without scolding him that time.

Peter thought it was a great joke, and in a few days decided to play the same joke again. So he ran to the village and cried “Wolf! wolf!” just as he had done before. The men decided to trust him once more and went to help him. When they came to the field they saw that Peter had fooled them again. This made them very angry and they said: “We’ll never come to help Peter again if he calls.”

Not long after that two wolves did come after the sheep and frightened Peter very much. He ran as fast as he could to the village and cried: “Wolf! wolf!” but the men said: “No, we are not going to see about wolves any more.”

Peter begged them to come but they would not. So he had to go back to the pasture by himself, and found nearly all of his sheep killed by the wolves. Even Watch had not been able to protect them. You see Peter had fooled the people when he did not need help, and now when he did need them they would not come; therefore he lost his sheep.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

(February 12th)

_In which it appears that the character of the boy foreshadows the character of the man._

Many years ago in the State of Kentucky there stood a little log house, and in it was born a little boy whose name was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln had a kind father and mother. His mother was his first teacher. He afterwards went to school but only for one year. He had no pencils or paper. Sometimes he did his number work on a shovel with a piece of burnt wood for a pencil.

Once Lincoln rowed two men across a river. The two silver dollars that they paid him was the first money he had ever earned. He felt as rich as a king. In the evenings when his work was done, Lincoln would study. They had no lamps so he had to study by the light of the fire. There were only three books in the house, and these he read over and over.

Once a man loaned Lincoln a book about Washington. He read it in every spare moment during the day and took it to bed with him at night. One night, during a hard snow storm, the snow came in between the logs and spoiled the book. Poor little Abraham almost cried. He showed the owner his book and told him what had happened. He asked what he could do to pay for it. “Will you work to pay for it?” asked the man.

“Yes, I will do anything,” answered Abraham.

“Well, you may hoe corn for me for three days,” the man said, “then you may have the book.” This was the first book Abraham Lincoln ever bought.

When Lincoln was twenty-one years of age he moved with his family to Illinois. There he set out to earn his own living. Sometimes he worked on a farm; sometimes he visited large cities carrying produce to sell. Sometimes he went surveying in the great forests. He was so poor that his first surveyor’s chain was said to be a wild grape-vine. For a short time Lincoln kept a little country store. Once a poor woman came in to buy something. He made a mistake and asked her six cents too much. That evening Lincoln walked three miles in the rain to tell the woman of his mistake and return the six cents.

Lincoln was for many years a lawyer. He was very just and fair and when people got into trouble they would go to him for help. “Honest Abe” they called him. Poor as he was and hard as he worked he spent every spare moment in reading. Finally the time came when our country needed a wise and brave man for president--a man with a clear head and a fearless heart. The people looked about for such a leader. There in Illinois they found him, and from all sides was heard the cry: “Abraham Lincoln is the man!” As Lincoln had always been a good and honest man so he was a good and wise president.

THE GOOSE BOY AND THE KING

_In which we see that there are some things that kings cannot do._

King Maximilian of Bavaria was one day walking in the open fields. As the weather was warm he sat down under a tree to rest. The king took a book out of his pocket and began to read. Soon he began to nod, and before long he was fast asleep.

When he woke up it was past noon, so he arose hastily and started for town. After he had gone about a mile he felt for his book and found that he had left it under the tree where he had been asleep.

As he started back to get the book he saw a little barefooted boy in a field nearby watching a flock of geese. The king went to the boy and holding out a piece of money, said, “My boy, if you will run back to the big tree a mile down the road and get my book, I will give you this gold piece.”

The boy wanted the gold piece very much, but he shook his head. “I should like to go for the book, but the geese will run away and then I shall be punished by my master,” said he.

“Oh, I will look after the geese while you are gone,” said the king. At this the boy laughed, for the man was fat and looked as if he could not manage even one goose, to say nothing of a flock of geese.

“Give me the whip, and let me try,” said the king, “while you run along and get my book. Here, take the gold piece first, and be quick.” Then the king took the whip and tossed the boy the money, who ran off down the road, while the king settled down to watch the geese.

All went well for a while until one old gander looked up and saw a strange face near. At this he gave a loud cackle and flew over the ditch. The others looked up and began to cackle and complain as if they missed the little boy. Then some flew one way and some flew another. Across the meadow they ran, the king after them. He cracked his whip and tried to head them off, but it was of no use. Then he sat down to wipe his face.

Soon the boy came back and seeing the scattered geese, he cried out, “Just as I thought. You know nothing about geese, and now we have got to get them together.”

So the king went around the field helping the boy, and with a great deal of shouting and scolding the geese were all gathered together again. Then Maximilian said, “You see, my boy, I am a king and I am not used to such work as this. The geese got away from me before I knew it.”

“King indeed!” said the boy. “It’s a pretty sort of king you are that cannot manage a flock of geese for a half hour.” And then the king went on home thinking that perhaps the boy was right after all.

FAITHFUL BRUNO

_Wherein we learn a lesson of a dog’s faithfulness and a man’s carelessness._

Bruno was a dog who belonged to a kind man. He was a large handsome dog who had been devoted to his master for many years, and always went with him to town.

Bruno had been raised with his master’s children and had played with them when he was a puppy. Now that he was a big dog he took especial care to see that nothing happened to them.

One day his master sold some land and received for it a large bag of gold money. He knew he must take it to the city immediately in order to put it in the bank. The journey to the city was long and tiresome, and had to be made on horseback. The master put the gold in his saddle-bags and slung them across his horse. Calling Bruno to go with him he set out on his long journey. On the way he told Bruno that he wished him to take care of the bags, so as they started along the dog kept his eyes on the saddle-bags to see that they did not fall off or get lost.

The day was hot and the way was dusty; so when they came to a cool spot in the woods the master got down to take a nap, using his saddle-bags for a pillow. He soon fell asleep with Bruno keeping watch by his side.

Presently the master was awakened by the dog’s bark. He saw that the sun was low and the shadows long. He knew that he had been asleep a long time, and that if he did not hurry the bank would be closed before he got there. He jumped to his horse and set off at a gallop. Then he saw that Bruno was acting very strangely. He jumped and barked at the horse’s feet, and once he jumped up so high it seemed as if he was trying to bite his master on the leg. The master was puzzled and thought perhaps his dog had gone mad. Presently he saw a little brook in the distance. He said to himself that if Bruno refused to go into the brook he must have gone mad, because a mad dog will never go in or near water.

The horse splashed through the water but Bruno remained on the other side and barked and barked. The master called, and for the first time, Bruno did not obey. The man was convinced that he was mad, and so he took out his pistol and shot his faithful dog.

Poor Bruno’s leg was broken, but he turned and crawled back the way he had come. The master rode on for awhile and then he missed his saddle-bags that held his money. He turned his horse’s head and galloped back as fast as he could to the place he had laid down to rest. And what do you think he found there? Bruno had crawled back to die with his head on the bag of forgotten gold. He was faithful to the last.

PLANTING AN ORCHARD

(Arbor Day)

_The life of a tree depends largely on the way it starts._

Once there was a man who wanted to plant an orchard of apple trees. He sent to a nursery for some young plants, and when they came all wrapped up in a good bundle, he thought of what fine trees he was going to have, and the beautiful apples they would bear.

The bundle came just about the time the man was starting to town on some business. So he sent off at once for a man who knew how to plant trees, and said to him, “Here are my young apple trees, and I want you to plant them for me. I shall be gone all day,” and he showed the man where to plant them.

When he came back later in the afternoon the man had planted only six trees. The owner was surprised, and said, “You have planted but six trees. It seems to me you work very slowly.”

The man replied, “Yes, but I do my work thoroughly. You see I dug great holes so that the roots of the young trees might not be broken or cramped; then I hauled rich earth from the woods, and mixed it well with the top soil; then I packed the earth carefully around the roots so that it would be firm; and then I watered each plant until it was thoroughly soaked. All that takes time, and one must not be in a hurry about planting a tree if he expects it to live and flourish.”

“That sounds very fine,” said the owner, “but it is too slow a way for me. I could have planted five times as many in a day. You take too much trouble.” So he dismissed the man and the next day he planted his orchard in his own way.

He dug the holes just large enough to hold the roots by twisting them together, and many of the rootlets were broken or injured as they were forced into place; he did not get the soft, rich earth from the woods, nor was he careful in packing the dirt around the roots, and then he did not fill the holes with water.

“Now, see there,” he said to himself, “I have planted a whole orchard in one day.”

But see what happened! The trees the owner planted so carelessly lived for awhile, and put out a few leaves. They bore some little apples, and then the owner cut them down. But the six trees the other man planted grew up strong and healthy. In a few years they were well shaped and tall and began to bear quantities of the most beautiful apples. When the owner was an old man they still were standing, and everybody would say, “What wonderful apple trees! What splendid fruit!”

But the old man knew he could have had a whole orchard like that if he had planted them all as the six were planted.

JACK AND THE GIANT

_One should always be willing to help the aged and infirm whether he is paid for it or not._

Once there was a little boy named Jack who lived near a great wood. One day while he was picking up sticks in the wood he saw an old woman bending under a huge bundle of fagots.

“My poor woman,” said Jack, “I will take your bundle for you.”

“Thank you, kind little boy,” answered the old woman, and gave her bundle to Jack. When they reached the road the old woman gave Jack her walking stick of thick wood, saying he must use it carefully for it had the strength of a giant. Then the old woman disappeared.

Jack took the stick and looked at it in wonder. He struck it on the ground, and lo! it dug a big hole; he struck it on an old stump, and see! there was nothing there but kindling wood.

“I must be careful what I hit,” said Jack, and went on home with his bundle of twigs, and the magic stick under his arm.

Now, there was a giant who lived in a cave deep in the woods, of whom everybody was afraid. He would capture travelers, and it was said that he would eat them, though nobody had ever seen him. Still everybody was afraid to go far into the woods for fear of the giant.

Jack was also afraid of the giant, and was ready to run if he should hear a loud voice. After the old woman gave him the magic stick he always took it with him, for he could break off twigs and even branches with a single blow.

One day his little sister went into the woods with him to help gather wood. They had wandered farther than usual. Suddenly he heard her scream, and then a great tramping in the bushes. “The giant has caught my little sister!” said Jack in great alarm, and seizing his magic stick he ran in the direction of the cry.

He followed the big footsteps through the woods, across streams and up the mountain side until he came to the door of a cave. The giant had rolled a big rock in front to close it, but Jack crushed it with a blow and ran in.

The giant had braced the inside with beams of wood, but Jack broke them to pieces with one stroke. Far inside the cave he saw the dreadful giant about to devour his little sister. As the giant raised his arm Jack’s stick broke it in two. The giant leaped to his feet and raised his sword with his other arm, but Jack’s stick broke arm and sword into pieces. The giant roared and rushed at Jack. Jack hurled the stick at the giant and struck him full in the face.

So great was the blow that the giant’s head rolled off his shoulders--rolled out of the cave and down the mountain side, and may be rolling yet for all we know. At any rate Jack did not wait to see, for he grabbed his stick, seized his little sister and ran home as fast as he could.

“I am glad I helped that old woman,” said Jack, “for her stick made the last of that giant!”

TOM THUMB