"I think I should like to die young," said the child. "If you go to heaven," said Audrey, "it won't be a good thing if you don't." "Shall I go to heaven, Granny Robin?" asked the little boy. "If you have come to Jesus you will, Stephen," she said. "I would like to come to Jesus, Granny Robin," said Audrey; "but how can I come to Him? If He was in the city, and I knew which house He was in, I would go to Him—wouldn't you, Stephie?" "Yes," said the child; "we would take hold of hands and go together." "You have not far to go," said Granny Robin, as she laid down her knitting and put her arms round the two children. "Tell us just what we must do," said Audrey, "and we'll do it, Stephen and me, both of us, Granny Robin." "You have a river here, haven't you, somewhere in the city?" asked the old woman. "Yes," said Audrey; "and it's beautiful in summer-time, it's covered with boats." "And barges," said Stephen. "Yes, but the barges are ugly," said Audrey. "But the boats are lovely, and sometimes they have a sail up, and then I like them best of all. One day me and Stephen went down on the new walk by the river, and we sat on one of the seats and watched them." "Have you ever been over the river?" said Granny Robin. "Yes, heaps of times," said Audrey. "Did you swim across?" asked the old woman. "Oh no, Granny, I should be drowned if I fell in! There's bridges, you know—great big bridges. There's the pay bridge, where you pay a halfpenny to go across, and there's two more; but Aunt Cordelia always goes over the pay bridge." "Are you afraid of falling in when you're on the bridge, Audrey?" "Oh no; it's so strong, Granny Robin. Hundreds of folks go over it every day." "Audrey," said the old woman, "do you know, I once lived in a country which had a very dismal name? It was called the Kingdom of Darkness." "I shouldn't like to go there," said Stephen. "I don't like to be in the dark." "I was born there," said Granny Robin, "and I did not notice how dark and gloomy it was. I was used to it, and it did not strike me as being very dismal, not for a long, long time." "How did you find out it was dark, Granny Robin?" "I looked across the river to the other side." "And what did you see there? asked Stephen. "I saw another kingdom, Stephie, which was full of light; glorious sunshine was streaming on it; there was not a dark corner to be seen in it." "Had that country a name?" said Audrey. "Yes, it was named the Kingdom of Light." "Didn't you want to go there, Granny Robin?" "Yes, I was not happy in the Kingdom of Darkness any longer," she said. "It looked black as night to me, and I wanted—oh, so much!—to get to the other side." "Why didn't you go, Granny Robin?" "I couldn't find the way, Stephie. I tried to get across, but the water was too deep, and I had to turn back." "Did you ever get over?" asked Audrey.