hrist-child came,
He was like other babies, and had so lately come from heaven that He
was happy everywhere.

There were mangers all around the cave, where the cattle and sheep
were fed, and great heaps of hay and straw were lying on the floor.
Then, I think, there were brown-eyed cows and oxen there, and quiet,
woolly sheep, and perhaps even some dogs that had come in to take care
of the sheep.

And there in the cave, by and by, the wonderful baby came, and they
wrapped Him up and laid Him in a manger.

All the stars in the sky shone brightly that night, for they knew the
Christ-child was born, and the angels in heaven sang together for joy.
The angels knew about the lovely child, and were glad that He had come
to help the people on earth to be good.

There lay the beautiful baby, with a manger for His bed, and oxen and
sheep all sleeping quietly round Him. His mother watched Him and loved
Him, and by and by many people came to see Him, for they had heard
that a wonderful child was to be born in Bethlehem. All the people in
the inn visited Him, and even the shepherds left their flocks in the
fields and sought the child and His mother.

But the baby was very tiny, and could not talk any more than any other
tiny child, so He lay in His mother's lap, or in the manger, and only
looked at the people. So after they had seen Him and loved Him, they
went away again.

After a time, when the baby had grown larger, Mary took Him back to
Nazareth, and there He lived and grew up.

And He grew to be such a sweet, wise, loving boy, such a tender,
helpful man, and He said so many good and beautiful things, that
everyone who knew Him, loved Him. Many of the things He said are in
the Bible, you know, and a great many beautiful stories of the things
He used to do while He was on earth.

He loved little children like you very much, and often used to take
them up in His arms and talk to them.

And this is the reason we love Christmas Day so much, and try to make
everybody happy when it comes around each year. This is the reason;
because Christ, who was born on Christmas Day, has helped us all to be
good so many, many times, and because He was the best Christmas
present the world ever had!

[*] From "The Story Hour," by Kate Douglas Wiggins and Nora A.
Smith. Used by permission of the authors and also of the
publishers--Houghton, Mifflin and Company.

THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE[*]

By Lucy Wheelock

Two litt