only French. How would you like that?"

Adjoining the cloisters are numerous little passageways, with low
arches, which lead into tiny courts dotted with flowers and little
fountains. In the houses about, live the canons of the Abbey and
others connected with the church. Lovely glimpses of sunlight and the
bright colors of flowers are seen at the ends of these dark, ancient
passages.

Westminster School may also be reached from the cloisters. Our party
stood a moment in the doorway of the schoolroom to see the splendid
old hall, with its fine oaken roof. This was once the dormitory of the
monks, but is now taken up with the boys' "forms," or desks, piled
with books. The walls above the wainscoting, and the window-recesses,
are covered with signatures of the scholars,--some of them famous, for
the school was begun as long ago as the time of Henry VIII, who was
the founder. The visitor may see the name of the poet, Dryden, on one
of the desks; he was a pupil there, as were also Sir Christopher Wren,
the architect; Ben Jonson; Southey, the poet; and John and Charles
Wesley.

"What is that iron bar for?" questioned the curious John, pointing to
a long bar which stretches from wall to wall, across the middle of the
room.

"That divides the Upper and Lower Classes," was the prompt reply of
Mrs. Pitt, whose stock of knowledge seemed endless. "At one time, a
curtain was hung over that bar. Don't you know the story which is told
in the 'Spectator Papers,' about the boy who accidentally tore a hole
in this curtain? He was a timid little fellow, and was terrified at
the thought of the punishment which he felt sure would be his. One of
his classmates came to the rescue, saying that he would take the blame
upon himself, which he did. It was years later, when the timid boy had
become a great judge, that the Civil War broke out, and he and his
friend took opposite sides. The kind man who had saved his friend from
punishment was a Royalist, and was captured and imprisoned at Exeter,
where the other man happened to come at the same time, with the
Circuit Court. At the moment when nothing remained but to sentence the
'rebels,' the judge recognized his friend, and by making a very
hurried trip to London, he was able to secure a pardon from Cromwell,
and thus succeeded in saving the man's life."

"That was fine!" said John. "He did pay him back after all, didn't
he? I thought he wasn't going to."

"Now, we will just look into the