“What said your father when he saw all this?” queried Joseph.

“He said but little.  There was a shadow on his face, yet he spoke cheerfully.  ‘I cannot understand it,’ he murmured.  ’They are trying to make Him King of the Jews; but King He will not be, at least not in their fashion.  Yet in some way I know He will be Prince and Deliverer.  I cannot understand, I will wait.’”

“Were you not in Jerusalem when He was put to death?”

“No.  My father was frail and ill and we had hastened home to Bethlehem.  News of His death on the cross had only just reached us when another messenger came to tell us that the sepulcher in which He had been laid was empty; that He had risen from the dead.

“My father’s eyes kindled when he heard this message.  He cast aside his staff and stood firm on his feet.  His voice, when he spoke, rang out like a trumpet.  ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel!’ he cried.  It is thus that He redeemeth His people.  This Jesus is not to be the Captain of our armies, but the Savior of our souls.  His kingdom is the kingdom of righteousness, and therefore it is that the prophet hath said:  “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.”

“Always after that, words of the prophet concerning the Messiah kept coming back to my father; and once and again he cried out:  ’Truly, this Jesus was the Son of God, the true King of Israel!’ As the months wore on, his words were more and more of the crucified and risen Lord, and he dwelt in a great peace.  At length, when the flocks were led forth to the midwinter pasturage, he begged to go with me.  It was on this very day that we came, the same day of the year on which the Lord was born.  He was feeble and tottered as he walked; but he leaned on my arm and we came slowly.  In the evening he said:  ’Let me go, my son, and sit once more under the great rock.’  I wrapped him in my coat of skins, and sat here where I sit now and where he was sitting when the angel came.  We talked here long, under the stars, that night, of Him whom we had learned to love as Master and Lord, of the works that He had done and the words that He had spoken, as His disciples had told of them.  We had been silent for a few moments, when I looked up, and saw that his head had fallen backward against the rock wall.  I sprang to him.  His eyes were shut, but his lips were moving.  I put my ear to his mouth, and heard him say only:  ’Peace—­on—­earth—­good will’—­they were his last words.  He had gone beyond our starlight, into the country where the light always shines—­the glory that fell that night, fifty years ago, upon these hills of Bethlehem.”

Stephanus was silent and Joseph’s eyes were full of tears.  At length the old man rose.

“Come, my son,” he said.  “Cesil is in the south; it is midnight; let us call your father and his brother.  The old man and the boy have kept their watch, and it is now time for rest.”