of Jehoshaphat refreshed them. Farther on in the fertile plain of
Judaea lambs and kids were feeding, and Joseph began to speak of his
childhood. His whole being was fresh and joyful. Home! And by
evening time Bethlehem, lighted by the setting sun, lay before them on
the hill-top.

They stood still for a space and looked at it. Then Joseph went into
the town to inquire about the place and the time of the enrolment, and
to seek lodging for the night. The young woman sat down before the
gate under the fan-shaped leaves of a palm-tree and looked about her.
The western land seemed very strange to her and yet sweet, for it was
her Joseph's childish home. How noisy it was in Jerusalem, and how
peaceful it was here--almost as still and solemn as a Sabbath evening
at Nazareth! Beloved Nazareth! How far away, how far away! Sometimes
the sound of a shepherd's pipe was heard from the green hills. A youth
leaned up against an olive tree and made a wreath of twigs and sang:
"Behold, thou art fair, my love. Thine eyes are as doves in thy
fragrant locks, thy lips are rosebuds, and thy two breasts are like
roes which feed among the lilies. Thou hast ravished my heart, my
sister, my spouse." Then he was silent, and the leaves rustled softly
in the evening breeze.

Mary looked out for Joseph, but he came not. And the singer continued:
"Who art thou that shinest like the day-dawn, fair as the moon, and
clear as the sun, divine daughter of Eve?" And Mary still waited under
the palm-tree and listened, and she began to feel strange pangs. She
drew her cloak more closely round her, and saw that the stars already
stood in the sky. But still Joseph came not. And from the hill the
singer: "And from the root of Jesse a twig shall spring." And a second
voice: "And all nations shall rise up and sing her praises." So did