n our manger to-morrow
morning?"

"Perhaps," answered Rhoda; "nobody knows whose manger He will come to."

"Oh! I wish it could be ours!" cried Joan eagerly. "I wish Mary and
Joseph 'ud bring the little baby here, and the shepherds 'ud come to
seek for Him. Would n't you love it, Rhoda?"

"Shall we two get up early, very early in the morning, like the
shepherds did, and go and look in our manger if He 's there?" asked
Rhoda.

"Oh, yes, yes!" answered Joan, almost wild with delight. "Oh! Rhoda,
only suppose the baby should be there!"

Long before old Nathan was stirring, or anyone else in the house was
awake, Rhoda and Joan crept quietly down their own little staircase, and
after lighting the candle in Nathan's great horn lantern, they let down
the bar of the house-door and stepped out into the fold. It was very
dark, but the dim light from the lantern sparkled upon a fine
hoar-frost, which lay like silver on the causeway and glittered on every
straw scattered about the yard. Not a sound was to be heard, except a
very soft, low moan from the sea, and that they listened for as they
stood still on the doorstep. Joan's heart was beating fast, and her
small fingers clasped Rhoda's hand tightly as they stole along the
causeway to the cow-shed just beyond the barn.

The cow-shed was divided into two, and they passed through the outer
one, where the cows were lying in their stalls, and turned their large,
sleepy eyes upon the two girls, as if to inquire why they were disturbed
so early. In the little shed beyond the fodder and the hay were kept,
and the stalls were empty. The barn opened into it, and the deep black
space under the high roof of the barn served to deepen the delicious awe
in Joan's little heart. Rhoda herself trembled a little with a strange
feeling of seeking something which possibly might be found. She had
never realised so vividly that the Lord Jesus Christ was indeed born in
a stable and cradled in a manger; and she trod softly, with her heart
beating, like Joan's, faster than usual.

They stood still for a minute on the low door-sill, their lantern
casting its dim rays into the silent shed. Behind them was the deep
breathing of the cows, and the slow sound of their munching, and all
about them was the sweet, familiar scent of the hay. But this silent,
empty spot, half lit up by the lantern, seemed a strange, unfamiliar
place they hardly dared to enter. Rhoda lingered with a vague awe in her
heart, w