a far higher hill; still he could not see it. At last, after a
toilsome ascent to the very top of the green mountain, he saw the
castle lying so far, so very far off, that its peaks and its
battlements were on the edge of the horizon, and the evening mist rose
while he was gazing, so that all its outlines were lost, and very soon
they seemed to mingle with the shapes of the hill and the forest, till
they had utterly vanished away.

Then he threw himself down on the short grass. The words of the white
fairy sounded in his ears, "Her name was Jenny"; and he burst into
tears again, and decided to go home.

He looked up into the rosy sky, and held out his arms, and called,
"Jenny! O Jenny! come."

In a minute or two he saw a little black mark overhead, a small speck,
and it grew larger, and larger, and larger still, as it fell headlong
down like a stone. In another instant he saw a red light and a green
light, then he heard the winnowing noise of the bird's great wings,
and she alighted at his feet, and said, "Here I am."

"I wish to go home," said Jack, hanging down his head and speaking in
a low voice, for his heart was heavy because of his failure.

"That is well," answered the bird. She took Jack on her back, and in
three minutes they were floating among the clouds.

As Jack's feet were lifted up from Fairyland he felt a little
consoled. He began to have a curious feeling, as if this had all
happened a good while ago, and then half the sorrow he had felt faded
into wonder, and the feeling still grew upon him that these things had
passed some great while since, so that he repeated to himself, "It was
a long time ago."

Then he fell asleep, and did not dream at all, nor know anything more
till the bird woke him.

"Wake up now, Jack," she said; "we are at home."

"So soon!" said Jack, rubbing his eyes. "But it is evening; I thought
it would be morning."

"Fairy time is always six hours in advance of your time," said the
bird. "I see glowworms down in the hedge, and the moon is just
rising."

They were falling so fast that Jack dared not look; but he saw the
church, and the wood, and his father's house, which seemed to be
starting up to meet him. In two seconds more the bird alighted, and he
stepped down from her back into the deep grass of his father's
meadow.

"Good-by!" she said; "make haste and run in, for the dews are
falling"; and before he could ask her one question, or even thank her,
she made a wid