Produced by Al Haines THE THREAD OF GOLD BY ARTHUR CHRISTOPHER BENSON FELLOW OF MAGDALENE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE AUTHOR OF "THE HOUSE OF QUIET" _Quem locum nosti mihi destinatum?_ _Quo meos gressus regis?_ LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W 1912 FIRST EDITION, . . . . . . . . . . November 1905 Reprinted, . . . . . . . . . . . . November 1905 Reprinted, . . . . . . . . . . . . January 1906 Reprinted, . . . . . . . . . . . . October 1906 SECOND EDITION, . . . . . . . . . December 1906 Reprinted, . . . . . . . . . . . . January 1907 THIRD EDITION, . . . . . . . . . . October 1907 Reprinted, . . . . . . . . . . . . November 1907 FOURTH EDITION (1/- net) . . . . . May 1910 Reprinted, . . . . . . . . . . . . October 1910 Reprinted, . . . . . . . . . . . . January 1911 Reprinted, . . . . . . . . . . . . May 1911 Reprinted, . . . . . . . . . . . . July 1912 [Transcriber's note: The source book had no Table of Contents and its chapters were numbered only, not titled. However, its pages had running headers which changed with each chapter. Those headers have been converted to chapter titles, and collected here as the Table of Contents.] CONTENTS Preface Introduction (1906) Introduction I. The Red Spring II. The Deserted Shrine, The Manor House III. Leucocholy IV. The Flower V. The Fens VI. The Well and the Chapel VII. The Cuckoo VIII. Spring-time IX. The Hare X. The Diplodocus XI. The Beetle XII. The Farm-yard XIII. The Artist XIV. Young Love XV. A Strange Gathering XVI. The Cripple XVII. Oxford XVIII. Authorship XIX. Hamlet XX. A Sealed Spirit XXI. Leisure XXII. The Pleasures of Work XXIII. The Abbey XXIV. Wordsworth XXV. Dorsetshire XXVI. Portland XXVII. Canterbury Tower XXVIII. Prayer XXIX. The Death-bed of Jacob XXX. By the Sea of Galilee XXXI. The Apocalypse XXXII. The Statue XXXIII. The Mystery of Suffering XXXIV. Music XXXV. The Faith of Christ XXXVI. The Mystery of Evil XXXVII. Renewal XXXVIII. The Secret XXXIX. The Message XL. After Death XLI. The Eternal Will XLII. Until the Time Conclusion PREFACE I sate to-day, in a pleasant hour, at a place called _The Seven Springs_, high up in a green valley of the _Cotswold_ hills. Close beside the road, seven clear rills ripple out into a small pool, and the air is musical with the sound of running water. Above me, in a little thicket, a full-fed thrush sent out one long-drawn cadence after another, in the joy of his heart, while the lengthening shadows of bush and tree crept softly over the pale sward of the old pasture-lands, in the westering light of the calm afternoon.