BRAVE HALIFAX; CHARMING CHESTER
sensible to spend nodding afternoons on one's
veranda undisturbed by the thunder of commerce
  And yet-a little time is enough for me in any
drowsy village street. I love their peace, but I
suppose, having always lived in a big, noisy city,
I am inoculated with a virus that will not let me
rest for long. All through this east-coast ramble,
I was subconsciously thinking of Halifax; and
Halifax made me think of Boston; and Boston
of New York. I can't get away from the spell
of cities, much as I love the country. And the
tragedy of brave little Halifax kept haunting
me. I liked it so that I did n't want to think of
its sufferings, even those sufferings which were
things of the past.
  However, I did n't intend to dwell so on the
horrors of what Halifax has been through. I
shall always remember Nova Scotia as a place of
lilacs and apple-orchards-such opulent blooms
as only this northern province could contain in
the warm-cool days and nights of late May and
early June. Enchantment lingers here. Evan-
geline walks here. The slow hours are filled
                     249