“The St. Martin birds came to the church-tower tall, And the purple-winged swallows that lived in the wall; The mavis sang sweet, and the green hedgerows burned, And the wayside brooks into violets turned; The lilies tossed in the scented air, The peach-boughs reddened, and whitened the pear. Again on a Sunday came wonderful news, And the little old woman who opened the pews Again heard the shoutings of joy on the quay, The cannon and answering gun on the sea. But half-mast hung the flag on that battleship old. Half-mast! Who had died ’mid the cabins of gold? The grand ship rode into the harbor, and still Grew the wharves and the towers and the oak-shaded hill, And the news came at last, ’twas _Sir Francis_ had died ’Mid his cabins of gold at the last Christmas-tide. ‘Sir Francis?’ they said. ‘Let the old bell be tolled.’ And the old bell began to toll—toll—toll, Toll—toll—toll—toll. We hope there was gold in Sir Francis’s soul. And the people all turned from the long, windy quay,— With tears turned away from the May-pleasant sea, And talked of the brave old sea-lord who had died ’Neath the Southern Cross at Christmas-tide, And whose form had been sunk in the deep, moving sea In the festival days of Nativity. IX. “When the folks sought the church to talk of the news, Came the wise little woman who opened the pews, And she said to the parson, ‘I’m sorry indeed; ’Tis not _that_ kind of gold that our spirits most need, But the gold of the Word, the heart and the deed. The Sea Knight has only that true gold to-day That his honor refused, or his heart gave away. Let us look no more to the stores of the seas, To the isles of the sun or the bright Caribbees— Let us envy no more the rich galleons of Spain, ’Tis only the gold that does good that is gain. The wealth that avarice seeks to find Is like the gold of the “Golden Hinde;” Chink, chink, chink, chink; who it commands Will stand at last with empty hands— ’Tis fool’s gold all!’” [6] Permission of “St. Nicholas.” [7] _Dean_, as here used, means “a small valley.” CHAPTER XIII. NIGHT IN THE COURT OF HONOR.