"Ah, well!" said Jack-John, "what it takes all of you three months to accomplish my good reap-hook will do in one hour's time. A thousand of you working together could not make as much headway. Under its magic touch the grain falls and you have only to bind it." "What!" they exclaimed, "that little instrument does all the work?" "Yes, indeed," said Jack-John, "and if you desire it, I will prove it to you instantly." Thereupon Jack-John made his way to the fields of ripe golden grain, and in a few minutes had cut quantities of it. The spectators were full of admiration. Never had they seen anything so extraordinary; and to these people it was indeed a most marvellous thing for them to see accomplished in a minute the work that would require the efforts of a hundred men from sunrise to sunset. On all sides there were shouts of joy and enthusiasm. "Oh, the beautiful machine you have there!" the people cried—"the fairy that runs and cuts the grain. What a treasure to him who possesses it!" "I see that my beautiful reap-hook pleases you," said Jack-John. "How much are you willing to pay for it?" "All the gold in the world would not be sufficient to pay you," said the spokesman of the people. "Name your price." "I want each one of you to give me as many gold-pieces as my reap-hook has cut stalks of wheat." "Your demand is modest," they answered, "and to-day each one of us will bring the required sum." After this Jack-John was lifted on the shoulders of the multitude and carried to the neighboring village, where he was treated with great honor, and for a little more he could have become king. Soon, on all sides, the people brought sacks of gold, and such was its weight that ten mules were required to carry it. Jack-John, however, did not stay very long in this empire. He rightly thought that no country is so beautiful as one's birthplace, and, at the end of a few weeks, he arrived at his native village, where he found his two brothers, who had been as successful. "Our good fortune," exclaimed the eldest, "has made us rich, and now it ought to make us happy." VII THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND A rich lord, who was at the same time the best of men, wishing to contribute to the happiness of one of his slaves, set him free. He equipped a vessel with a white prow and a golden stern, and said to his old servant: "Go out into the world, navigate the seas, and choose a country that will please you, and always remember to do what good you can on the way, and remember also to avoid evil."