pon whose shoulders the doves should alight, and
for whom the bell should ring as he passed under the arch was to be
the next Pope. And when Jack and his companions came near the arch
they all remembered his prophecy and wondered which of the three
should receive the signs. And his first comrade passed under the arch
and nothing happened, and then the second and nothing happened, but
when Jack went through the doves descended and alighted upon his
shoulder and the bell began to toll. So Jack was made Pope of all
Christendom, and he took the name of Pope Sylvester.

After a while the new Pope went upon his travels and came to the town
where his father dwelt. And there was a great banquet held, to which
Jack's father and mother were invited at his request. And when they
came he ordered his servants to give to his father the basin of water,
and to his mother the towel, wherewith the Pope would wash his hands
after dinner. Now this was, in those days, a great honour, and people
wondered why Jack's father and mother should be so honoured. But after
Jack's father had offered him the basin of water, and his mother the
towel, Jack said to them, "Do you not know me, mother? Do you not know
me, father?" and made himself known to them and reminded his father of
what the bird had said. So he forgave his father and took him and his
mother to live with him ever afterwards.

[Illustration]

THE THREE SOLDIERS

Once upon a time three soldiers returned from the wars; one was a
sergeant, one was a corporal, and the third was a simple private. One
night they were caught in a forest and made a fire up to sleep by; and
the sergeant had to do sentry-go. While he was walking up and down an
old woman, bent double, came up to him and said:

"Please, sir, may I warm myself by your fire?"

"Why, certainly, mother, you are welcome to all the warmth you can
get."

So the old woman sat by the fire for a time, and when she had got
thoroughly warmed she said to the sergeant:

"Thank you, soldier; here is something for your trouble." And she
handed him a purse, which seemed to have nothing in it.

"Oh, thank you, marm," said the sergeant, "but I wouldn't deprive you
of it, especially as there is nothing in it."

"That may be so now," said the old woman, "but take it in your hand
and turn it upside-down, and while you hold it like that gold
pieces will come pouring out of it."

[Illustration: _The Magic Purse_]

He took it, and,