, at the risk of his life, he would
break the enchantment; and after a sound sleep, he arose early, put on
his invisible coat, and got ready for the attempt. When he had climbed
to the top of the mountain, he saw the two fiery griffins; but he
passed between them without the least fear of danger for they could
not see him because of his invisible coat. On the castle-gate he found
a golden trumpet, under which were written these lines:--

"Whoever can this trumpet blow,
Shall cause the giant's overthrow."

As soon as Jack had read this, he seized the trumpet, and blew a
shrill blast, which made the gates fly open, and the very castle
itself tremble. The giant and the conjuror now knew that their wicked
course was at an end, and they stood biting their thumbs and shaking
with fear. Jack with his sword of sharpness, soon killed the giant,
and the magician was then carried away by a whirlwind. All the
knights and beautiful ladies, who had been changed into birds and
beasts, returned to their proper shapes. The castle vanished away like
smoke, and the head of the giant Galligantus was sent to King Arthur.
The knights and ladies rested that night at the old man's hermitage,
and the next day they set out for the court. Jack then went up to the
king, and gave his majesty an account of all his fierce battles.
Jack's fame had spread through the whole country; and at the king's
desire, the duke gave him his daughter in marriage, to the joy of all
the kingdom. After this, the king gave him a large estate, on which he
and his lady lived the rest of their days in joy and content.

TOM THUMB.

In the days of King Arthur, Merlin, the most learned enchanter of his
time, was on a journey; and being very weary, stopped one day at the
cottage of an honest ploughman to ask for refreshment. The ploughman's
wife, with great civility, immediately brought him some milk in a
wooden bowl, and some brown bread on a wooden platter. Merlin could
not help observing, that although everything within the cottage was
particularly neat and clean, and in good order, the ploughman and his
wife had the most sorrowful air imaginable: so he questioned them on
the cause of their melancholy, and learned that they were very
miserable because they had no children. The poor woman declared, with
tears in her eyes, that she should be the happiest creature in the
world, if she had a son, although he were no bigger than his father's
thumb. Merlin w