In the Forest of Stone II

times when the world was all so different
from our world of to-day ; and in green and
fruitful spots among the hills and on warm
river-lawns and in olden cities of narrow
streets and overhanging roofs, there were
countless abbeys and priories and convents ;
and thousands of men and women lived the
life of prayer and praise and austerity and
miracle and vision which is described in
the legends of the Saints. We lingered in
the pillared cloisters where the black-letter
chronicles were written in Latin, and music
was scored and hymns were composed, and
many a rare manuscript was illuminated in
crimson and blue and emerald and gold; and
we looked through the fair arches into the
cloister-garth where in the green sward a
grave lay ever ready to receive the remains
of the next brother who should pass away
from this little earth to the glory of Paradise.
What struck W. V. perhaps most of all was,
that in some leafy places these holy houses
were so ancient that even the blackbirds and
throstles had learned to repeat some of the
cadences of the church music, and in those
places the birds still continue to pipe them,
though nothing now remains of church or