London to John O' Groat's. 41 



bible and psalm-book of her youth, and an English lark 

 to sing to her solitude the songs that had cheered her 

 on the other side of the globe. And the little thing 

 did it with all the fervor of its first notes in the Eng- 

 lish sky. In her cottage window it sang to her hour 

 by hour at her labor, with a voice never heard before 

 on that wild continent. The strange birds of the land 

 came circling around in their gorgeous plumage to 

 hear it. Even four-footed animals, of grim countenance, 

 paused to hear it. Then, one by one, came other lis- 

 teners. They came reverently, and their voices softened 

 into silence as they listened. Hard-visaged men, bare- 

 breasted and unshaven, came and stood gently as girls ; 

 and tears came out upon many a tanned and sun- 

 blistered cheek as the little bird warbled forth the 

 silvery treble of its song about the green hedges, the 

 meadow streams, the cottage homes, and all the sunny 

 memories of the fatherland. And they came near unto 

 the lone widow with pebbles of gold in their hard and 

 horny hands, and asked her to sell them the bird, that 

 it might sing to them while they were bending to the 

 pick and the spade. She was poor, and the gold was 

 heavy ; yet she could not sell the warbling joy of her 

 life. But she told them that they might come when- 

 ever they would to hear it sing. So, on sabbath days, 

 having no other preacher nor teacher, nor sanctuary 



