But the stranger looked at him, smiling as though he loved him, and laid his brown finger lightly on the four empty corners of the cabinet.  And Hyacinthe saw the squares of reddish wood ripple and heave and break, as little clouds when the wind goes through the sky.  And out of them thrust forth the little birds, and after them the lilies, for a moment living; but even as Hyacinthe looked, settling back into the sweet reddish-brown wood.  Then the stranger smiled again, laid all the tools in order, and, opening the door, went away into the woods.

Hyacinthe crept slowly to the door.  The winter sun, half risen, filled all the frosty air with splendid gold.  Far down the road a figure seemed to move amid the glory, but the splendor was such that Hyacinthe was blinded.  His breath came sharply as the glow beat on the wretched shed, on the old shavings, on the cabinet with the little birds and the lilies carved at the corners.

He was too pure of heart to feel afraid.  But “Blessed be the Lord,” whispered Hyacinthe, clasping his slow hands, “for He hath visited and redeemed His people.  But who will believe?”

Then the sun of Christ’s day rose gloriously, and the little sparrow came from his nest among the shavings and shook his wings to the light.

[*] Reprinted by permission of the publishers of “Everyland.”

THE SHEPHERD WHO DIDN’T GO[*]

By Jay T. Stocking

You have all heard of the shepherds who went to Bethlehem, but I do not believe any of you have heard of the shepherd who didn’t go.  The Bible does not say anything about him, but his story has come to me, and I am going to tell it to you.

The city of Bethlehem stood on a hill.  Below the town, with its steep narrow streets and white walls, were gray olive orchards.  Below the orchards were gardens bright with flowers.  Below the gardens lay green meadows, and beyond these pasture-lands that stretched away to the wilderness plains where little patches of grass grew among the bushes and between the great rocks.  There were caves among these rocks where wolves used to skulk and sometimes robbers hid.  So the shepherds who guarded their flocks in these wild pastures dared not leave them alone.

One clear beautiful night, many centuries ago, four shepherds were watching their flocks on these pastures.  Samuel, Ezra, Joel, and Dahvid were their names.  Samuel, Ezra, and Joel were strong men, no longer young, with shaggy eyebrows and brown beards; Ezra’s was short, Joel’s long, and Samuel’s streaked with gray.  They owned the flocks which they tended.  Dahvid was a boy with ruddy cheeks, bright eyes, and strong lithe limbs.  He cared for the flocks of old Abraham.  Abraham was old and rich, and did not work any more, but hired Dahvid, whose family was very poor, to care for his sheep.

The flocks of the four shepherds were lying quiet on the plain far below the city, and near by Samuel, Ezra, Joel, and Dahvid lay wrapped in their shepherds’ cloaks.