grabbed it and
cut down the beanstalk! With a terrible crash it fell to the ground,
bringing the Giant with it.

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