spoiled by some crooked , careless stitches , and he would patiently sit down beside her and would point out to her just where the wrong stitches had been put into the picture , and would help her take them out . Then he would show her how to put in the right kind of stitches and she would go away happy and contented , ready to work day by day on the lovely screen with which she was someday going to make her future home beautiful .
Now and then a young musician would find that his silver flute played only harsh discords instead of sweet melodies and he would grow discouraged and be ready to throw it away , when Philip would come along and pick up the flute quietly and examine it and discover that the jarring sounds came because 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
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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 ( 86 )
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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 said to him : " Hans , my boy, it is time now that you started out to hunt some work for yourself. Your next younger brother can help me with the wood chopping and the smaller ones can help the mother in the work about the house . You must go out into the world and learn how to take care of yourself , and perhaps some day you may have to take care of your mother and me when we grow too old to work . "
So Hans ' mother packed his clothes in a little bundle , and , as she kissed him good - bye , she said : " Hans , my precious son , always be brave and true , and the good God will take