Produced by David Wilson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net A CATHEDRAL COURTSHIP _By the same Author._ =Penelope's Irish Experiences.= 6s. =Penelope's English Experiences.= Illustrated by Charles E. Brock. 6s. =Penelope's Experiences in Scotland.= Illustrated by Charles E. Brock. 6s. =Timothy's Quest.= Illustrated by Oliver Herford. 2s. 6d. =Marm Liza.= 6s. =Village Watch-Tower.= 3s. 6d. =Polly Oliver's Problem.= Illustrated. 3s. 6d. =Summer in a Canyon.= Illustrated. 3s. 6d. =Birds' Christmas Carol.= Illustrated. 1s. 6d. =Story of Patsy.= Illustrated. 1s. 6d. _By Mrs. Wiggin & Miss Nora A. Smith._ =The Story Hour.= Illustrated. 2s. 6d. =Children's Rights.= 5s. =Republic of Childhood.= 3 vols. 5s. each. _LONDON: GAY AND BIRD._ [Illustration: 'Jack! Jack! save me!'] A Cathedral Courtship BY Kate Douglas Wiggin _ILLUSTRATED_ BY CHARLES E. BROCK GAY AND BIRD 22 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND LONDON 1901 _All rights reserved_ _Originally published in 1893 with 'Penelope's English Experiences,' and reprinted 1893 (twice), 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897._ _PREFACE_ _'A Cathedral Courtship' was first published in 1893, appearing in a volume with 'Penelope's English Experiences.' In course of time, the latter story, finding unexpected favour in the public eyes, left its modest companion, and was promoted to a separate existence, with pictures and covers of its own. Then something rather curious occurred, one of those trifles which serve to make a publisher's life an exciting, if not a happy, one. When the 'gentle reader' (bless his or her warm and irrational heart!) could no longer buy 'A Cathedral Courtship,' a new desire for it sprang into being, and when the demands became sufficiently ardent and numerous, it was decided to republish the story, with illustrations by Mr. Charles E. Brock, an artist who can be relied upon to put new energy into a live tale or resuscitate a dead one. At this point the author, having presumably grown in knowledge of grammar, spelling, and punctuation, was asked to revise the text, and being confronted with the printed page, was overcome by the temptation to add now and then a sentence, line, or paragraph, while the charming shade of Miss Kitty Schuyler perched on every exclamation point, begging permission to say a trifle, just a trifle, more. 'You might allow me to explain myself just there,' she coaxed; 'and if you have told them all I was supposed to be thinking in Winchester or Salisbury or Oxford, why not tell them what I thought in Bath or Peterborough or Ely? It was awfully interesting!' Jack Copley, too, clamoured to be heard still further on the subject of his true-love's charms, so the author yielded to this twofold pressure, and added a few corroborative details.