"Yea, and verily his hopes shall be fulfilled," said Sir William fervently. "We will have a free colony where no man shall dare to say, 'Ye cannot serve God after this fashion,' but where we may lift up our voices in prayer and praise, none daring to make us afraid." Audrey thought that such a place might be a little heaven below to some people, but she was not so sure that Bessie's father would be happy there, for if there were only Quakers to live in the colony, there would be no scope for his preaching-power, and he would have to do as Bessie had done, turn the energy to a more practical account; and the fervour once displayed in preaching to sinners who would not hear, might be used in some way for the help and development of the Friends dependent upon each other for all the comfort and joy of life. But seeing what Bessie had done in the way of practical work that lay nearest to her hand, there was little doubt but that her father would do the same; for some such thoughts as these had arisen in the mind of Sir William Penn when the plan was first proposed to him, and that was why he felt so much pleasure in hearing about Bessie and the homely work she had undertaken. Out there in his new colony there would be plenty of homely work for everyone who would do it, and those who could not stoop to that would be of little use to themselves or others, and therefore had better stay in England until they were wiser, or the king grew tired of fining and imprisoning Quakers. This was not likely to happen very soon, seeing that these people were a convenient scapegoat for the gradual curtailment of civil and religious liberty, which was slowly but surely being effected now in the new laws that were made and put into force so rigorously. [Illustration] CHAPTER VIII. CONCLUSION. THE six months' imprisonment to which Master Drayton the hatter had been condemned came to an end at last, but not before his health had become so greatly impaired by the close confinement and impure air of the prison that the doctor greatly feared he would never be strong again, more especially as he would now be known as a Quaker, and consequently watched and harassed by the authorities upon the smallest provocation. The thought of this and the sight of her husband's pale worn face soon overcame Dame Drayton's reluctance to give up her home and friends in England, and join the band of Quakers who were soon to sail for New Jersey in His Majesty's plantations of America. This year 1677 was likely to be one of blessed memory in the history of the Society of Friends, for Sir William Penn had carried into practical effect the dream of Master Drayton, and had spent a portion of his wealth in the purchase of land upon which his poor persecuted friends could settle, and worship God according to the dictates of their conscience, none daring to make them afraid.