he
spent his time in studying and watching the lady in the garden, who
afterwards became his queen."

"Oh! But, really, the stables are best of all!" exclaimed Philip, who
loved horses like a true Briton. "I do like to go there and be shown
about by one of those men in the black suits and yellow vests, and the
bright cockades in their silk hats. Once when I was little, one of
them let me go into a stall and feed some sugar to a splendid great
horse named Black Beauty. I wished I could do it to-day, too! All the
carriages which carry the Court ladies are stupid, I think, but the
horses and ponies are jolly!" whereupon Philip and John went off into
an animated discussion about the horses of the Royal Stables, and how
much they envied the men who cared for them.

"Oh, what a sweet little village!" cried Betty, jumping up excitedly,
as the automobile slowed down and entered a little narrow lane.

Chalfont St. Giles is an extremely picturesque, old-time village. Its
thatched-roofed cottages huddle together in a beautiful green valley,
and about the edge of a pond where ducks swim, and happy, barefooted
children play. One of the old houses is a place of interest to many,
as the great poet, John Milton, lived there after he fled from London
at the time of the plague.

The poet's home is a most primitive cottage with low ceilings, and a
little dark room, lighted by one casement window, in which he may have
written part of "Paradise Lost." When standing in that chamber, one is
reminded of the well-known picture which shows the blind Milton
dictating one of his poems to a daughter. Outside is a delightful
old-fashioned garden in which the largest and reddest of poppies grow,
and where it is said that Milton loved to linger.

"I wish we needn't hurry," sighed Mrs. Pitt, "but I'm afraid we'll be
late to dinner. See, we are short of time already!"

So they quickly took their seats again for the short trip back to
town, and drew their wraps about them, as the air had grown chilly.
They all felt rather tired, and were silent as they reviewed in mind
the history and scenes of Windsor Castle, one of the most beautiful
and certainly the most famous of English royal residences.

[Illustration: JOHN MILTON LIVED THERE AFTER HE FLED FROM
LONDON.--_Page 105._]

CHAPTER NINE

MORE ABOUT LONDON

"Big Ben," the great bell on the clock-tower, was just booming ten
deep strokes as our party neared the Houses of Parliament. A