e study,
until the small room was full to overflowing. It was like seeing a
company of fat bumble-bees, their portly bodies resplendent in black
and gold, buzz heavily out of a room, and a gay flight of pale-blue
and lemon butterflies flit back in their places. All the daughters
fell upon their father, Margaret, Bridget, Isabel, Sarah, Mary, and
Susanna; there they all were! tugging off his heavy riding-boots and
gaiters, putting away the whip on the whip-rack, while little Mary
perched herself proudly on his knee and put up her face for a kiss;
and, all the time, such a talk went on as never was about Friend
George Fox and the sufferings he had undergone, each girl telling the
story over and over again.

'Now, now, maids!' said the kind father at last, 'I have heard enough
of your chatter. It is time for you to depart and send Mr. Fox hither
to me himself. 'Tis a stirring tale, even told by maidens' lips; I
would fain hear it at greater length from the man himself. He shall
tell me, in his own words, all that he hath suffered, and the vile
usage he hath met with at the hands of his enemies.'

A few minutes later, a steady step was heard crossing the hall and
ascending the two shallow stairs that led to the Justice's private
sanctum. As George Fox entered the room Judge Fell rose from his seat
at the writing-table to receive his guest, and clasped his hand with a
hearty greeting.

The study at Swarthmoor is only a small room; but when those two
strong men were both in it together, facing each other with level
brows and glances of unclouded trust, the small room seemed suddenly
to grow larger and more spacious. It was swept through by the wide
free airs of heaven, where full-grown spirits can meet and recognise
one another unhindered. They disagreed often, these two determined,
powerful men. They owned different loyalties and held different
opinions; but from the day they first met to the day they parted they
respected and trusted one another wholly, and for this each man in his
heart gave thanks to God.

George Fox began by asking his host how his affairs had prospered; but
when, these enquiries answered, the Judge in his turn questioned his
guest of the rough usage he had met with both at Ulverston and in the
Island of Walney, to his surprise no details were forthcoming. Had the
Judge not had full particulars from his daughters as well as from the
constables, he would have thought that nothing of much moment had