it was not free from the dust and dirt of
the street. Then he would tell the young player what was the matter and
would stay with him until he had made the flute as clean as a flute
should be, and he was usually rewarded by some fine music from the
grateful musician. Occasionally he would come across a man toiling along
the road with a pack on his back, so heavy that he was bent nearly
double by it. Then Philip would stop him and plan with him how the load
could be divided into two packs so that he might carry one under each
arm, and thus be able to walk straight and erect and hold his head up as
a man should. Nobody ever dreamed of telling him a lie! "He knows just
how we feel" people used to say, and somehow the sight of his strong,
manly face stirred within them a desire to be brave and noble, and true,
and he was beloved by all who knew him.

This indeed was the most precious gift which the wood-fairies could
give.

_HANS AND THE FOUR BIG GIANTS._

Once upon a time there lived a little boy whose name was Hans. His home
was in a village where the tall trees shaded the green grass that grew
around the houses. Hans loved his home very much. He loved to hear the
birds sing and to watch them fly high in the air, and he often threw
crumbs upon the ground for them to eat. He loved the bright red and blue
and yellow flowers which grew in the garden behind the house. He
delighted in the sweet odors which came all unseen from their very
hearts. So he gladly watered them when they looked thirsty. His mother
soon taught him how to place strong straight sticks beside the weak
vines so that they, too, could climb up and get the sunlight. Hans loved
the dear old hens and their downy little chickens that were not afraid
to peck the grain out of his hand. In fact, Hans loved everything and
everybody about him, from the small naked worms which crawled about
among the clods of earth, up to the strange and beautiful stars which
shone so high above his head.

He was a very happy, little fellow, always busy, always finding
something to do for somebody.

By and by, when he grew to be a tall, strong lad, he used to go with his
father to the forest to chop wood and thus help earn money which went to
buy food and clothes for his mother and his three younger brothers, for
Hans' father was poor and money was scarce in his family.

After a time, when Hans had grown so tall that you and I would call him
a young man, his father sa