Jack and his friends rushed up to where he fell. "Oh, he is dead! He is dead!" they shouted. When Jack's mother heard this she came running out of the house and flung her arms around her son. "Oh, mother, I am so sorry that I have been all this trouble to you. But I promise I shall never be any more." And just at this moment the Fairy appeared. "Yes," she said. "Your Jack is a good boy. He did all this only because I told him to." To Jack she said: "Now, my dear, I hope you will always be good and kind to your mother. And I hope you will always be kind to the poor and unhappy people, just as your father was. If you are, I am sure that you will both be very happy as long as you live. Good-by, good-by, my dears!" And before they could thank her the Fairy disappeared. Jack remembered all she had told him, and he and his mother lived together very happily all the rest of their lives. TOM THUMB RETOLD BY LAURA CLARKE Have you ever heard about Little Thumb, or Tom Thumb as he was sometimes called? Such a queer little fellow, and such adventures, you surely must become acquainted with. 'Way back in the days of the good King Arthur, there lived a poor man and his wife who had no children. They wanted a child more than anything else in the world; and one day the woman said to her husband: "Husband, if I had a son, even if he were no bigger than my thumb, I should be the happiest woman alive." Now, Merlin, the King's magician, overheard this wish; and I suspect he was fond of playing tricks, for it was not many days before the woman had a child given her. He was so tiny that his father burst out laughing when he saw him, and called him Tom Thumb. But the parents were as happy as if he had been a large boy. Tom Thumb had many exciting adventures and narrow escapes, because he was so small. He used to drive his father's horse by standing in the horse's ear and calling out "Gee up!" and "Gee, whoa!" just like his father. When people saw horse and cart going along at a brisk pace, and heard the voice but saw no driver, you may be sure they were surprised. [Illustration] One day two men saw him, and thought they might get rich if they could get Tom Thumb, take him to country fairs, and make him do funny things to amuse the crowds. They offered Little Thumb's father a sum of gold for the tiny fellow, but the good man said: "I would not take any sum of money for my dear son." Then Tom whispered in his father's ear: "Dear father, take the money and let them have me. I can easily get away and return home." Now, if Tom's father had known what dangers were before the little fellow he never would have consented; but it sounded so easy that he took the gold, and the men took Tom. Tom rode on the brim of his new master's hat for a long time, thinking how he might escape. Finally he saw a field-mouse's nest over a hedge, and he said: "Master, I am cold and stiff; put me down that I may run about and get warm."