"It is because you have slept in a manger on a Holy Eve."

"Aye," he responded, "but that was a matter of courage, too. There were
many strange noises. Also, in the middle of the night came Our Lady
herself and said to me: 'Hereafter thou shalt sing with the voice of an
angel.'"

"I should like to see Our Lady," said the child wistfully.

"Also," pursued the Fool, "She gave me power over great beasts. See! He
fears me, while he loves me."

And indeed there seemed some curious kinship between the horse and the
lad, perhaps because the barrier of keen human mind was not between
them.

"Think you," said the little maid, "if I slept where you did She would
appear to me? I would not ask much, only to be made a lad like you, and,
perhaps, to sing."

"But I am a simpleton. Instead of wit I have but a voice and now--a
horse."

"A lad like you," she persisted, "so that my father would love me and my
mother might come back again?"

"Better stay as you are," said the Fool. "Also, there will be no Holy
Eve again for a long time. It comes but once a year. Also it is hard
times for men who must either fight or work in the fields. I--" He