you come from?"

"I came up the ladder," answered Jack.

[Illustration]

The old woman looked at him very sharply. "Do you remember your father?"
she asked.

Jack thought this a queer question, but he replied: "No, I do not.
Whenever I ask my mother about him she cries, and will not tell me."

At this, the old woman leaned her face very close to Jack's and snapped
her bright eyes. "_I will tell you_," she said, "for _I am a Fairy_!"

The Fairy smiled. "Do not be afraid, my dear, for I am a good, good
Fairy. But before I tell you anything, you must promise to do exactly as
I say."

Jack promised, and the Fairy began her story.

"A long while ago, when you were only a tiny baby, your father and
mother lived in a beautiful house, with plenty of money and servants
and everything nice. They were very happy, because everyone loved your
father for the kind things he did. He always helped people who were poor
and in trouble.

"Now, miles and miles away there was a wicked Giant. He was just as bad
as your father was good. When he heard about your father he decided to
do something very terrible. He went to your house and _killed him_. He
would have killed you and your mother, too, but she fell down on her
knees and begged: 'Oh, please do not hurt me and my little baby. Take
all our treasures, but do not kill us.'

"Now of course the money was what the Giant really wanted, so he said:
'If you promise that you will never tell your little boy who his father
was, or anything about me, I will let you go. If you do tell him, I
shall find out and kill you both.'

"Your mother quickly promised, and ran out of the house as fast as she
could. All day long she hurried over the rough roads with you in her
arms. At last, when she could hardly walk a step further, she came to
the little house where you live now.

"Now, my dear Jack. I am your father's good fairy. The reason I could
not help him against the wicked Giant was because I had done something
wrong. When a fairy does something wrong she loses her power. My power
did not come back to me until the day when you went to sell your cow.
Then _I_ put it into your head to sell the cow for the pretty beans. _I_
made the beanstalk grow. _I_ made you climb up the beanstalk.

"Now, Jack, this is the country where the wicked Giant lives. I had you
come here so you could get back your mother's treasure."

When Jack heard this he was very excited.

"Follow the road," said the Fai