“Yes,” said Jack, “of course you are.”
“And as I am pleased with you for being honest,” continued the little woman, “I shall give you some breakfast out of my basket.” So she took out a saucer full of honey, a roll of bread, and a cup of milk.
“Thank you,” said Jack, “but I am not a beggar-boy; I have got a half-crown, a shilling, a sixpence, and two pence; so I can buy this breakfast of you, if you like. You look very poor.”
“Do I?” said the little woman, softly; and she went on knitting, and Jack began to eat the breakfast.
“I wonder what has become of my stockings,” said Jack.
“You will never see them any more,” said the old woman. “I threw them into the river, and they floated away.”
“Why did you?” asked Jack.
The little woman took no notice; but presently she had finished a beautiful pair of stockings, and she handed them to Jack, and said:
“Is that like the pair you lost?”
“Oh no,” said Jack, “these are much more beautiful stockings than mine.”