154 On the Shores of Longing

At last Bresal brushed away his tears,
blaming his weakness and his enslavement
to earthly affections, but the things he had
seen in his happy day-dream did not vanish.
To his great amazement, there at his feet
were the little pool and the ice-plant, and
hard by grew the evergreen tree. He rose
with a cry of joy, “O Father Prior, ’tis thy
prayer hath done this!”

And care was lifted from him, for now he
knew that in his human love he had in no-
wise sinned against the love of God, but con-
trariwise the love of his friend had drawn
him closer to the love of his Maker. Dur-
ing all the days of the years of his exile this
little parcel of Spain was a solace and a
strength to him.

Many a hundred years have gone by
since this happened, but still if you travel
in that land you may see the ice-plant and
the evergreen tree. And the name of
the evergreen is the Strawberry tree. The
ice-plant, which is also called a saxifrage,
may now be seen in many a garden to
which it has been brought from the Kerry
mountains, and it is known as London