The more the inhabitants of these two countries see of one another, the better they understand and appreciate each other’s feelings, the stronger are forged the links of the chain of brotherhood. And the stronger this chain is made, the better for the whole world. America! It is impossible to mention here all the delightful people I met in America, from Mark Twain to Thompson Seton; from Kate Douglas Wiggin to Gertrude Atherton; from Agnes Lant to Julia Marlowe; from Jane Addams to Louise Chandler Moulton; from Dana Gibson to Roosevelt. Their names are legion, and in grateful remembrance they lie until I can visit their shores again, and shake them by the hand. I simply loved the American women. The following delightful Christmas note from Dr. Horace Howard Furness, the great Shakespearian writer of America, and one of her foremost sons, is an instance of the kindly remembrance and loyal friendliness the American people keep green for their English friends, bridging not only the billowy Atlantic but the swift stream of Time. “WALLINGFORD, DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, _December 12, 1910_. “MRS. ALEC TWEEDIE, London, England. “DEAR MRS. TWEEDIE, “’Tis very pleasant to know that you still hold me in remembrance, whether it be in the bright days of Christmas-tide or in the grey days of the rest of the year. “It is good to know that you have been journeying with your boys. What happy fellows they must have been, and what a proud, proud mother you! “Politics in England, at present, are intensely interesting, and it is certainly pleasanter to look on from afar than to be in the turmoil itself. Having lived through that horrible nightmare, our own Civil War, I have learned that it is far from pleasant to live in times which the Germans call ‘epoch-machende.’ “One thing seems certain, that after this fierce struggle, England will never again be in such a waveless bay as in the Victorian period. England must grow, and a growing boy’s clothes must be either made larger or they will rip. “I had a delightful, affectionate letter from your Uncle a week or two ago. He tells me that your mother is staying with him, and suffers from rheumatism, a terrible ailment, which is so widespread that it never receives half the deep sympathy to which it is entitled. Do give my kindest remembrances to her when you write. “With every friendly wish for the happiness of you and yours at Christmas time and throughout the coming year, “I remain, dear Mrs. Tweedie, “Yours cordially and affectionately, “HORACE HOWARD FURNESS.” CHAPTER XXI CANADIAN PEEPS Canada is the land of possibilities.