gs spoke kindly to her, and asked
her to accompany them on their journey that she might show them the way as
far as she knew it. They told her, in words so simple that she could not
fail to understand, that they had seen a Star in the sky and were
following it to a little town where a young Child lay. The snow was in the
sky now, and the Star was lost out of sight.

"Who is the Child?" asked the old woman.

"He is a King, and we go to worship him," they answered. "These presents
of gold, frankincense and myrrh are for Him. When we find Him we will take
the crowns off our heads and lay them at His feet. Come with us,
Babouscka!"

What do you suppose? Shouldn't you have thought the poor little woman
would have been glad to leave her desolate home on the plains to accompany
these Kings on their journey?

But the foolish woman shook her head. No, the night was dark and
cheerless, and her little home was warm and cosy. She looked up into the
sky, and the Star was nowhere to be seen. Besides, she wanted to put her
hut in order--perhaps she would be ready to go to-morrow. But the Three
Kings could not wait; so when to-morrow's sun rose they were far ahead on
their journey. It seemed like a dream to poor Babouscka, for even the
tracks of the camels' feet were covered by the deep white snow. Everything
was the same as usual; and to make sure that the night's visitors had not
been a fancy, she found her old broom hanging on a peg behind the door,
where she had put it when the servants knocked.

Now that the sun was shining, and she remembered the glitter of the gold
and the smell of the sweet gums and myrrh, she wished she had gone with
the travellers.

And she thought a great deal about the little Baby the Three Kings had
gone to worship. She had no children of her own--nobody loved her--ah, if
she had only gone! The more she brooded on the thought, the more miserable
she grew, till the very sight of her home became hateful to her.

It is a dreadful feeling to realize that one has lost a chance of
happiness. There is a feeling called remorse that can gnaw like a sharp
little tooth. Babouscka felt this little tooth cut into her heart every
time she remembered the visit of the Three Kings.

After a while the thought of the Little Child became her first thought at
waking and her last at night. One day she shut the door of her house
forever, and set out on a long journey. She had no hope of overtaking the
Three Kings, but s