you faced it a large blue gray car suddenly appeared and a striking looking in a hat stepped out i had the wish and the fancy that i was looking at the himself � a sound stern intellectual looking person � but i did not ask he gave me a sharp inquiring look and i withdrew beyond these sacred and into the cathedral itself where a bell was beginning to ring for afternoon service i am sure i shall never forget the interior of it was the first really old great cathedral that i had seen � for i had not very highly either st paul s or st s i had never quite realized how significant these must have been in an age when they were far and away the most important build of the time no king s palace could ever have had the importance of and the cry from the common peasant to the see must have been immense here really ruled the of all england and here was murdered of all known forms the more nearly to the finest impulse in nature itself � that is to produce the form the of the trees are no more appealing than those of a great cathedral and the overhanging branches through which the light falls have not much more charm than some of these perfect sustained by their many arms of stone much had happened apparently to the magnificent stained glass windows which must have filled the tall pointed at periods and many of them have been replaced by plain glass those that remain are of such richness of color and such delightful variety of that seen at the end of long stretches of and they are like of blood or deep throwing a strange light on the surrounding stone i presently fell in tow of a guide it is said to day that americans are more like the than like the english but from the types i encountered in england i think the variety of american spring naturally from the mother country four more typical new england village specimens i never saw than these cathedral or guides they were sitting on the steps leading up to the choir clad in cap and gown engaged in cheerful gossip your turn henry said one and the of the three came around and unlocked the great iron gates which give into the choir then began for my special benefit a magnificent we were joined after we had gone a little way by a party of ladies from a at forty who were lurking in one of the and nothing would do but my guide must go back to the iron entrance way to the choir and begin all over not a sentence was twisted not a pause good heavens i thought he does that every day in the year perhaps a dozen times a day he was like a with but one record which is repeated nevertheless the history of the the black prince the the carving of the and the disappearance of the windows was all interesting after having made the rounds of the cathedral we came out into the the of which were all black and crumbling with age and he indicated the spot and described the manner in which had been and had fallen i don t know when a bit of history has moved me so much it was the day � the gentle quality of it � its very spring like texture that made it all so wonderful the grass in this black court was as green as new the and of the arches were crumbling into black sand � and spoke seemingly of a thousand years high overhead the towers and the soaring as gracefully as winged living things looked down while i faced the black figure of my guide and thought of the ancient crossing this self same turf how long can be the life of grass when i came outside the gate into the little square or which faces it i found a beautiful statue of the muse � a semi dancing girl erected to the memory of it surprised me a little to find it here facing in what might be called the sacred of religious art but it is placed and brought back to my mind the related kingdom of poetry all the little houses about have heavy overhanging and diamond shaped lead windows the walls are thick and in color from cream to brown they seem to modern life and yet they frequently offered small shop windows full of all the things that make it picture american shoes much advertised and the latest books and magazines i sought a tea room near by and had tea looking out against the wall where some and then wandered back to the to get my and umbrella � for it was to rain for two hours more i walked up and down in the rain and dark looking into occasional windows where the blinds had not been drawn and stopping in or public where rosy waited on one with courteous smiles chapter xx en route to paris one of the things which dawned upon me in moving about england and particularly as i was leaving it was the reason for the charm of i do not know that anywhere in london or england i encountered any characters which spoke very of those he described it is probable that they were all somewhat exaggerated but of the charm of his setting there can be no doubt he appeared at a time when the old order was giving way and the new � the new as we have known it in the last sixty years � was itself very sharply were just coming in and being with the modern hotel was not yet even thought of but it was impending born and raised in london was among the first to perceive the wonder of 