As soon as he had read the last word, Jack seized the trumpet and blew a shrill blast. The gates flew open, and the very castle itself seemed to tremble. Now the giant and the magician, knowing they had reached the end of their wicked course, stood biting their thumbs and tearing their hair while everything around them was in horrid confusion. Jack rushed in, and with his sword of sharpness killed the giant, but at that very instant the magician was carried away in a mighty whirlwind. At the same time every knight and beautiful lady who had been transformed into bird or beast returned to his natural shape, and the castle vanished.

The head of Gallagantis, too, was sent to King Arthur, while that night the lords and ladies rested with Jack at the old man's hermitage. The next day all set out for court, and when they arrived Jack went to the king and gave his majesty a full account of all his battles. You may be sure, too, that the lords and ladies were not backward in telling what they knew of Jack's prowess. Indeed, they praised him so, that had he not been a very modest youth he would have been hopelessly spoiled.

The fame of the Giant-Killer spread throughout the whole country, and at the king's desire the duke gave his daughter's hand in marriage to Jack, to the great delight of the whole country. Moreover, the king granted him a noble castle in the midst of a beautiful estate, and there they lived the rest of their long days in joy and contentment. Although Jack had been but a farmer's boy, he was so bright that he quickly learned court customs, and before long he was as fine a lord as the finest among them.

BLOCK CITY

By Robert Louis Stevenson

WHAT are you able to build with your blocks?
Castles and palaces, temples and docks.
Rain may keep raining and others go roam,
But I can be happy and building at home.

Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet be sea;

There I'll establish a city for me:

A kirk and a mill and a palace beside,

And a harbor as well where my vessels may ride.

Great is the palace with pillar and wall,
A sort of a tower on the top of it all,
And steps coming down in an orderly way
To where my toy vessels lie safe in the bay.

This one is sailing and that one is moored:
Hark to the song of the sailors on board!
And see, on the steps of my palace, the kings
Coming and going with presents and things!

Now I have done with it, down let it go!
All in a moment the town is laid low.
Block upon block lying scattered and free,
What is there left of my town by the sea?

Yet as I saw it, I see it again,
The kirk and the palace, the ships and the men,
And as long as I live, and where'er I may be,
I'll always remember mv town by the sea.

THE MICE AND THE CAT

A GENTLEMAN once owned a Cat that was a .very fine mouser. She hunted so much that after a time she had caught and killed nearly all the Mice in the gentleman's house. The remaining Mice were very much frightened and called a council to see what could be done. They met secretly in their hall behind the coal-bin and locked the doors carefully before they began to talk. Many plans were proposed and discussed, but the Mice could agree on nothing.

Finally a dapper young Mouse arose and said:

"Mr. President, I wish to propose a plan. It is so novel and so excellent that I am certain every one of you will approve it. A little silver bell must be hung about the Cat's neck. Then every step she takes will make the bell tinkle, and we shall have warning in time to run to our holes before she comes too close! Isn't that a perfect plan? We can then live in safetv and happiness in spite of this wonderful Cat." ''

The young Mouse took his seat, smiling with an air of complacent pride, and from the other Mice came the sound of lively applause.

"Mr. President and Fellow Mice," interrupted an old gray-whiskered Mouse who rose from the back of the hall and looked his companions over with a merry twinkle in his eye, "the plan proposed by the last speaker is indeed an admirable one, but I fear there is one slight drawback to it. The honorable gentleman has not told us who is to hang the bell around the Cat's neck."

FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE

By Robert Louis Stevenson

ASTER than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle,
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And there is the green for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart run away in the road,
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill and there is a river:
Each a glimpse, and gone forever!

FAIRY BREAD

By Robert Louis Stevenson

COME up here, O dusty feet!
Here is fairy bread to eat.
Here in my retiring room,
Children, you may dine
On the golden smell of broom
And the shade of pine;
And when you have eaten well,
Fairy stories hear and tell.

THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE
COUNTRY MOUSE

they grew up. One of them moved into a fine house in the city, while the other remained near her old home in the country.

They never quite forgot each other, and one day the Town Mouse rambled out into the country and called on her old friend. Naturally, the Country Mouse was delighted at the visit, and she gathered together the best of everything she could find for a luncheon.

There were some fine peas, choice bacon and a little piece of rare old Stilton cheese, all of which seemed very sweet and toothsome to the affectionate hostess when she called the other heartily to come and take part in the good cheer.

From living so long among the rich delicacies of the city, the traveled Mouse had lost her early appetite, and though she nibbled daintily here and there, hoping to please her old friend, yet she never ceased to wonder in her heart how the Country Mouse could take any pleasure in such coarse and ordinary fare.

After dinner, when they sat down to chat over old times, the Town Mouse could hold her tongue no longer.

"Really, my dear old friend, I don't see how you possibly can keep so cheerful in such a dismal, dead