it was not water through which they sailed, but the blue blossoms
of the flax, which she gathered in her outstretched hands.

And the flowers bent down and rose up again, whispering, lapping
against the sides of the boat like little waves. The flax-field
before them appeared to be infinite, but presently a white mist
enveloped them, and they heard the plashing of real waves, but
above the mist they heard a lark singing.

"How does the lark come to sing on the sea?" asked the child.

"The sea is so green that the lark takes it for a meadow," answered
the mother.

The mist had dispersed again. The sky was blue and the lark was
still singing.

Then they saw, straight before them, in the middle of the sea, a
green island with a white, sandy beach, and people, dressed all in
pure white, walking hand in hand. The setting sun shone on the golden
roof of a colonnade, where white fires burnt in sacred sacrificial
vessels; and the green island was spanned by a rainbow, the colour
of which was rose-red and sedge-green.

"What is it, mammy?"

The mother could make no reply.

"Is it the Kingdom of Heaven of which the dove sang? What is the
Kingdom of Heaven, mammy?"