CHAPTER XIII.
WHICH INTRODUCES SEVERAL RESIDENTS OF SEVENOAKS TO THE METROPOLIS AND A NEW CHARACTER TO THE READER.
Harry Benedict was in the great city.

When his story was known by Mrs.
Balfour--a quiet, motherly woman--and she was fully informed of her husband's plans concerning him, she received him with a cordiality and tenderness which won his heart and made him entirely at home.

The wonders of the shops, the wonders of the streets, the wonders of the places of public amusement, the music of the churches, the inspiration of the great tides of life that swept by him on every side, were in such sharp contrast to the mean conditions to which he had been accustomed, that he could hardly sleep.

Indeed, the dreams of his unquiet slumbers were formed of less attractive constituents than the visions of his waking hours.

He had entered a new world, which stimulated his imagination, and furnished him with marvelous materials for growth.