“Surely it draws nearer, the star!” he said.  “Look!”

As they passed a thicket where a brook flowed through the trees a fair boy came forth, cleansed, fresh, and radiant as if he had but just bathed in its clear waters.  It was the boy Zia.

“Who is this one?” said the oldest shepherd.

“How beautiful he is!  How the light shines on him!  He looks like a king’s son.”

[Illustration with caption:  “‘How beautiful he is!’”—­Page 54]

And as they passed, they made obeisance to him.