After Jack had visited the fairy city, he went back to the river. The
water was so delightfully clear that he thought he would have a swim, so
he took off his clothes and folded them very carefully so as not to hurt
the Fairies, and laid them beside a hay-cock. When he came out he saw a
little old woman with spectacles on, knitting beside his clothes. She
smiled upon him pleasantly.
"I will give you some breakfast out of my basket," said she. So she took
out a saucerful of honey, a roll of bread, and a cup of milk.
"Thank you," said Jack, "but I am not a beggar boy, so I can buy this
breakfast. You look very poor."
It seems that the old woman was very poor; in fact, she was a slave, and
on that very day they were about to sell her in the slave market in the
city square. So Jack went along into the city again with her, and when
she was put up for sale, he bought her from her cruel master, although
it took a half-crown, the biggest piece of money that he had. His next
largest piece he gave to the little woman, and told her to buy some
clothes with it. She came back to the boat where Jack was, with her
hands empty, but her face full of satisfaction.