[Sidenote:  We Must Follow the Star]

Gaspard went forth with the throng into the cathedral square.  “And this,” he said, “is the end of my search.  I have found the Christ.  His kingdom is in the imagination of man.  How beautiful, how wonderful, how strange it was!  ‘Dominus vobiscum,’ did not the priests say?  Here, then, at last I have found the city of the great King.”

But as he lingered, behold! the star which had stood over the dome of the cathedral was now before him, as at first, and seemed to waver and tremble, as if beckoning him on.  So, although his feet seemed bound to the spot, and his heart was still throbbing with the deep feelings the cathedral service had created in him, remembering the words of Balthazar, “we must follow the star,” he slowly and reluctantly walked on.

[Sidenote:  The Just Shall Live by Faith]

In the meantime Melchoir also had followed faithfully the path along which the star seemed to lead.  Through forests in which he almost lost his way, across rivers difficult and dangerous to ford—­still he followed on.  At length Melchoir’s star seemed to tarry over the spire of a gothic church, into which the people were going in throngs.  Waiting a moment, to be sure that the star was actually standing still, Melchoir went in with the rest.  In this place was no altar, such as Gaspard saw; no image on the cross; no white-robed priests; no swinging censers.  But, as Melchoir entered he heard strains from the organ, and a chorus of voices was singing an anthem beginning with the words, “Te Deum Laudamus.”  And when the anthem came to a close, a man clothed in a black robe, such as scholars were wont to wear, rose in his place upon a platform elevated above the people, and began to speak to them about the kingdom of Christ.  Melchoir listened in eager expectancy. [Sidenote:  The Truth Shall Make You Free] “The kingdom of the Christ,” the preacher said, “is the kingdom of the truth, and the truth is to be continued and kept alive by the strength of man’s belief.  Those things which have been handed down by holy men and sacred oracles since Christ was here upon the earth, are the truths by which we live.  How can Christ live except He live in our beliefs?  Why did the Father of all intrust us with our reasons, unless it were that we should make them the instruments of our faith and our salvation?  Let us therefore stand in our places, while we recite together the articles of our holy faith.”

These and many such words did the scholar-preacher declare.  And as he sat there with the people, Melchoir felt the weight of the solemn and earnest words, and he said:  “So at last have I come to the end of my search.  The kingdom of Christ is in the mind of man.  His kingdom is the kingdom of the truth.”

[Sidenote:  More Light Shall Break Forth]

Then he followed the throngs as they went forth from the church; but the star which had tarried over the lofty spire was now before him, and the opal light wavered and trembled, as if beckoning him on; and the words of the preacher, “we must believe,” seemed to blend with the words of Balthazar, “we must follow the star.”  So, reluctantly and slowly he followed on.