But Jack didn't care for what they said; he climbed the steep hillside towards where the noise came, and when he reached the place, what do you think he saw? Why, an axe that stood there hacking and hewing, all of itself, at the trunk of a fir. "Good day!" said Jack. "So you stand here all alone and hew, do you?" "Yes; here I've stood and hewed and hacked a long, long time, waiting for you," said the Axe. "Well, here I am at last," said Jack, as he took the axe, pulled it off its haft, and stuffed both head and haft into his wallet. So when he got down again to his brothers, they began to jeer and laugh at him. "And now, what funny thing was it you saw up yonder on the hillside?" they said. "Oh, it was only an axe we heard," said Jack. So when they had gone a bit farther, they came under a steep spur of rock, and up there they heard something digging and shoveling. "I wonder now," said Jack, "what it is digging and shoveling up yonder at the top of the rock!" "Ah, you're always so clever with your wonderings," said Peter and Paul again, "as if you'd never heard a woodpecker hacking and pecking at a hollow tree." "Well, well," said Jack, "I think it would be a piece of fun just to see what it really is." And so off he set to climb the rock, while the others laughed and made game of him. But he didn't care a bit for that; up he climbed, and when he got near the top, what do you think he saw? Why, a spade that stood there digging and delving. "Good day!" said Jack. "So you stand here all alone, and dig and delve!" "Yes, that's what I do," said the Spade, "and that's what I've done this many a long day, waiting for you." "Well, here I am," said Jack again, as he took the spade and knocked it off its handle, and put it into his wallet, and then down again to his brothers. "Well, what was it, so rare and strange," said Peter and Paul, "that you saw up there at the top of the rock?" "Oh," said Jack, "nothing more than a spade; that was what we heard." So they went on again a good bit, till they came to a brook. They were thirsty, all three, after their long walk, and so they lay down beside the brook to have a drink. "I wonder now," said Jack, "where all this water comes from!" "I wonder if you're right in your head," said Peter and Paul, in one breath. "If you're not mad already, you'll go mad very soon, with your wonderings. Where the brook comes from, indeed! Have you never heard how water rises from a spring in the earth?" "Yes! but still I've a great fancy to see where this brook comes from," said Jack. So up alongside the brook he went, in spite of all that his brothers bawled after him. Nothing could stop him. On he went. So, as he went up and up, the brook got smaller and smaller, and at last, a little way farther on, what do you think he saw? Why, a great walnut, and out of that the water trickled. "Good day!" said Jack again. "So you lie here, and trickle and run down all alone?"