A CHI L I) OF NslT 
occupied house; with a t 
servant and a few hooks he 
the fire on the old hearthstone and 
set himself to search his heart to 
the bottom, to understand his own 
spirit and to learn what tool lite 
meant to put into his hand and 
what work he was to do. 
The silence and loneliness of the 
country oppressed him at first, for 
he had never been alone before ; 
but the splendour of the autumn 
touched his imagination as if some 
great presence, itself unseen, were 
putting on coronation robes. There 
were days of such ripeness and har- 
mony of sky and earth and air that 
it seemed as if Nature were making 
her vast spaces splendid for the en- 
[ io 9 ] 
tt 
n 
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