THE TOWN.


stone chimney-piece that encloses the wide,
black fireplace. But beyond, through the sag-
ging doorway, is the green light of the garden,
and the palm-tree swinging against the low blue
of the dazzling sky. Deserted and given up to
Nature's careless triumph, the house has still
the mystery which makes a dead body sacred:
it has sheltered Love and Hope, although the
tiny shell in the wall has had more immortality
than they.
 Some of these deserted houses in the old
town, set back in neglected gardens, behind
smart new buildings, are still homes in some
sort, in that they can offer a slight shelter from
the kindly sky to any forlorn and homeless wan-
derers who, like themselves, have lost the mean-
ing of living, but who still exist. Almost all
hold a bed, and a bit of looking-glass stuck
edgewise into a chink in the wall, thus provid-
ing for the two parts of life, consciousness of
self, and a safe forgetting.
 The "King's Forge," near the sea-wall, has
these two things, and a chair or two beside,
and a tin cup and platter on a shelf. The'walls