She was scarcely missed before she was back again.
Well, of course it was a great day in the house on the alley, and the
guests sat long into the twilight before the warm fire, talking of
their old homes in the fatherland, the hard winter, and prospects for
work in the spring.
When at last they returned to the chilly discomfort of their own rooms,
each family found a package containing a new warm dress and pair of
shoes for every woman and child in the family.
"And I have enough left,"' said Ann the washerwoman, to herself, when
she was reckoning up the expenses of the day, "to buy my coal and pay
my rent till spring, so I can save my old bones a bit. And sure John
can't grumble at their staying now, for it's all along of keeping them
that I had such a blessed Christmas day at all."
XVII. A CHRISTMAS STAR*
* Published by permission of the American Book Co.
KATHERINE PYLE
"Come now, my dear little stars," said Mother Moon, "and I will tell
you the Christmas story."
Every morning for a week before Christmas, Mother Moon used to call all
the little stars around her and tell them a story.
It was always the same story, but the stars never wearied of it. It was
the story of the Christmas star--the Star of Bethlehem.
When Mother Moon had finished the story the little stars always said:
"And the star is shining still, isn't it, Mother Moon, even if we can't
see it?"
And Mother Moon would answer: "Yes, my dears, only now it shines for
men's hearts instead of their eyes.
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