ely that of Chicago, and he was sitting in his room there in
his normal condition of homelessness and friendlessness? Had he not that
day been out with an elder from the Chicago Church office to Lincoln
Park and the lakeside? Surely Lucy and the minister, and Kildare Villa
and Blarney were figments of a pleasant dream! Chester walked back and
forth in the small room. He stopped before a dingy map of Great Britain
on the wall. His finger touched Ireland, moved southward, and stopped
at Cork. Yes; there _was_ such a place, any way, so there must be
Shandon Bells and the Blarney Stone, and a rustic seat under the trees
at Blarney Castle. Well, if all else under the sun were imaginary, that
hour of bliss at Blarney when Chester told Lucy he loved her, and Lucy
told Chester the same sweet words--that was real. He would live in that
reality, for it far surpassed his dreams.

Chester looked again at the post-card he had addressed to Kildare Villa,
placed it aside, and wrote in its place a long letter.

CHAPTER X.

Twenty miles out of London. The sun is shining, and the train glides
along by green fields, hedges of hawthorn, and blossoming trees. England
looks to be the huge, well-cared-for farm of a very rich man. This may
be explained by the fact that England is an old country, having been
plowed and planted and harrowed for close on to a thousand years before
America was discovered. This long period of cultivation gives the
country-side a mellowness and well-groomed look. The vaporous sunlight
softens all the outlines, hides the harsh features, and gives the
landscape its dreamy, far-away, misty loveliness. There seems to be no
angles in the scene; field melts into field, and hedge into hedge, with
here and there a ribbon of a road which seems to join them rather than
to separate them. The houses are of brick or of stone, many partly
hidden under the climbing ivy or roses.

Chester Lawrence is accompanying Elder Malby eastward from London
through Kent to Margate and Ramsgate on the coast. Elder Malby is to
attend to some Church duties, and Chester, by invitation, was glad to
accompany him. It was the young man's policy to keep in touch as much as
possible with the elders and their work, and he was getting somewhat of
the missionary spirit himself. He was greatly enjoying this ride
through the beautiful country.

"It's really wonderful," said Chester, looking out of the car window,
"this coming from London into t