Then the two travelers resumed their journey, telling each other how fortunate they had been thus far. They went on and on, until Bumps thought they must be approaching the city. They were pushing their way through a little thicket--Bunny hurrying on ahead, as usual--when Bumps heard the hiss of a snake. He looked around quickly to see where it came from, and right in front of him on the ground he saw a poor little bird held spellbound by the glittering eye of an ugly snake, so frightened that it could neither move nor fly. Without stopping to think that the snake might injure him, Bumps seized a big stick and killed it. Instantly the poor little bird was transformed into a beautiful Fairy, not much bigger than a robin. She told Bumps that a cruel Witch had put an enchantment upon her, forcing her to live in the body of a helpless little bird, at the mercy of all the beasts of the forest, until she should be rescued by some kind person. The Fairy was so grateful to Bumps for her release that she made him a present of a beautiful purse, in which was just one shining gold coin. This was the first money Bumps had ever had for his very own and he felt that his good fortune was coming true at last. Thanking the Fairy politely, he skipped merrily on, overtaking Bunny, and soon the two friends were within sight of the big city. * * * * * The first person Bumps and Bunny met on their arrival in the city was a man selling ice cream, and although he hated to part with the gold-piece, Bumps could not resist buying two fat cones. As they walked along eating them and gazing at all the wonderful things about them, Bumps’ toes suddenly began to feel very cold. Glancing down he saw that some of the ice cream had dropped through a hole in his shoe, which was badly worn from the long journey. Right across the street there was a fine big shoe store, and as Bumps stood wishing he had a pair of handsome new shoes, imagine his delight and surprise at suddenly feeling the smooth, hard surface of another coin in the purse the Fairy had given him! At first he thought there might have been two gold-pieces in the purse when the Fairy gave it to him and he had been so stupid as to have only discovered one of them. But when, after paying for the shoes, he felt still another coin, he knew that he had been given a wonderful gift indeed, and that the purse was truly a magic one, which would never become empty.