il, the inmates could still look out upon the busy
life they had quitted. As you passed the entrance you caught glimpses
of bright green turf, of trim borders of flowers, of neat gravel paths
and quaint old figures standing about, or sitting on stone benches
against the walls. Over it all rested the air of peace and stillness.
It was a place where neither hope nor fear, labour nor struggle could
come. These were left outside in the troublesome world, and all who
entered here had nothing more to do with them. They might sit in the
sun with folded hands, talk over their past hardships, grumble a little
at their present aches and pains, gossip a great deal, and so get gently
nearer and nearer to the deepest rest of all.

The bishop, who had founded the College long ago, still stood carved in
stone over the doorway, crozier in hand, watching the many generations
of weary old souls who crept in at his gate for refuge. Pennie thought
he had an expression of calm severity, as if he knew how ungrateful many
of them were for his bounty, how they grumbled at the smallness of the
rooms, the darkness of the windows, and the few conveniences for
cooking. It must be hard for him to hear all those murmurs after he had
done so much for them; but he had at any rate no want of gratitude to
complain of in old Nurse, who was as proud of her two tiny rooms as
though they had been a palace.

Mrs Margetts was in all matters disposed to think herself one of the
most fortunate people upon earth. For instance, to be settled so near
her dear "Miss Mary," as she still called Mrs Hawthorne, and to have
the pleasure of visits from the little "ladies and gentlemen," was
enough to fill anyone's heart with thankfulness. What could she want
more? She was indeed highly favoured beyond all desert. Other people
may have thought that a life of faithful service and unselfish devotion
to the interests of her employers had well earned the reward of a few
quiet years at its end. But old Nurse did not look upon her good
fortune as due to any merits of her own, but to the extraordinary
kindness and generosity of others, so that she was in a constant state
of surprise at their thoughtfulness and affection.

Not less did she cherish and respect the memory of the days which came
before Mrs Hawthorne's marriage, and this was what the children liked
best to hear. Stories of Miss Mary, Master Charles, Miss Prissy, and
the rest, who were now all grown-up p