views as we stood near the leafy stable,
and they were to the effect that the wayward son of the Aranjuez knew
more about the child in the manger than any one else thereabouts.

And Jose was right; for, before the bustle of inquiry had quite died
away, from out the sacristy door came a young girl wearing a veil and
dressed in the long black gown of the Christmas ceremonies. She walked
demurely through the crowd, which parted for her with inquiring looks,
and, going straight up to the chancel, dropped on her knees before the
Donna Isabella. She held down her head and made no motion; but all knew
instinctively that she was the mother of the child.

The noble Virgin stooped and raised her head with a loving compassion.
She put aside her veil and moved as if to kiss her, but one look at the
mother's face turned her kindness into rage. She cried, "What, you?" and
overwhelmed at the discovery sank down on the straw of the stable,
clasping the child with a firmer hold, as if to shield it from a foe.

It was a sore conflict for an unyielding will like that of the Donna
Isabella; but the part she had played in the sacred ceremonies and the
surrounding emblems of peace and good-will were softening influences.
More potent even than these was the persuasive contact of the little
hands which opened and shut in playful touches at her throat. I could
see from the varying expressions of her face that she questioned
herself. Should she yield? The pride of birth, the disobedience of a
youthful son to a mother of her indulgent nature, the stigma of a low
connection upon a noble family name--all these things pleaded urgently,
No. She looked up vindictively at the gaping congregation, which seemed
spellbound in wanton curiosity, wherewith was mingled not a little
religious dread. And then, again, she turned her eyes down upon the
innocent face beside her bosom, so guileless, to be the cause of such
varying passions in the throng about it. No, she could not give it up.
All the old maternal instincts were aroused in her, and the firmness of
her will was redoubled by the sentiment of love for her grandchild. Was
it not her son's child, then, as well as this woman's? Surely, she had a
right to keep it, and, glancing up with this last plea for possession
on her lips, she saw beside the kneeling wife a new figure, whose
presence made her pause and falter.

Only for an instant, however, for a kindlier light came into her clear
eyes, and reachin