I answered."

"To us it came,' he said, 'in the first watch of this night, and with it
music not of earth.'"

"Afterward came the learned ones from the Eastern countries, - I know
not now the land. The gifts they brought him made all the place seem
like a king's palace; and with all their gifts they gave him worship
also."

"And I lay watching it all. And it shall be always so, I thought."

"But these, though wise men, were not of our race, and could not follow
the guiding star with our faith. Wherefore, so much stir had they made
throughout the kingdom, inquiring publicly concerning this, your
brother, that, through the jealousy of Herod, great was the trouble and
misery that fell upon the innocent after their going."

"But hearken, children; I hear even now your father and your brother
coming from their work. Place quickly the gifts within the basket."

It is a gentle figure that bends among mother and children, and a tender
voice that questions:

"Shall I bear forth the gifts?"

"They are ready now, my son. Even this moment thy brother James placed
the last within the basket, but canst thou not partake of the evening
meal before thou goest with them? Thou art but a lad, to go forth alone
after a day of toil."