HOMEWARD BOUND 59 



tremendous organ pealing through the vast dark halls 

 of silence. 



The Danish girls are pretty : not beautiful in the 

 loftier type of the Swedes, but refreshing and sweet to 

 look on after the German unmitigated plainness and 

 the Dutch heaviness. In England were the most and 

 greatest beauties, remembered Linnaeus, and then he 

 thought of the blithe and tripping grace of the French 

 women ; but his own Elizabeth to him was loveliest of 

 all. 



From Aarhus it is easy to reach Helsingborg and 

 tread on glad Swedish land again. June snowed the 

 white apple-petals on Linnaeus as he went. It was his 

 own land of snow ; but this June storm was of white 

 blossoms an avalanche of white petals ; no bed of roses 

 softer, sweeter. 



It was lovely to walk through the forests of his own 

 land, and after the stone spires of the Low Countries to 

 look upwards to the world of fretted fir spires above 

 and tread his own soft carpet of flowers. 



happy living things ! no tongue 



Their beauty might declare : 

 A spring of love gushed from my heart 



And I blessed them unaware. 



Nature looked purer, lovelier than ever, and boun- 

 tiful in blisses ; but ' ah, the slim castle ! dwindled of 

 late years.' The towns seemed mere villages, the vil- 

 lages groups of huts. It was not until he entered in- 

 side those which opened hospitable doors to him that he 

 recognised the superior comfort and wholesomeness of 



