ful and peaceful was it. Deep it lay in
the midst of a green valley, and the balmy breezes fanned its apple
orchards, and scattered afar the sweet fragrance of rosy blossoms or
ripened fruit. Soft grew the green grass beneath the feet. The smooth
waves gently lapped the shore, and water-lilies floated on the surface
of the tide; while in the blue sky above sailed the fleecy clouds.

And it was on the holy Christmas Eve that Joseph and his companions
reached the Isle of Avalon. With them they carried the Holy Grail hidden
beneath its cloth of snow-white samite. Heavily they toiled up the
steep ascent of the hill called Weary-All. And when they reached the top
Joseph thrust his thorn-staff into the ground.

And, lo! a miracle! the thorn-staff put forth roots, sprouted and
budded, and burst into a mass of white and fragrant flowers! And on the
spot where the thorn had bloomed, there Joseph built the first Christian
church in Britain. And he made it "wattled all round" of osiers gathered
from the water's edge. And in the chapel they placed the Holy Grail.

And so, it is said, ever since at Glastonbury Abbey--the name by which
that Avalon is known to-day--on Christmas Eve the white thorn buds and
blooms.

THE THREE KINGS OF COLOGNE

A LEGEND OF THE MIDDLE AGES

BY JOHN OF HILDESHEIM-MODERNIZED BY H. S. MORRIS (ADAPTED)

THE STAR

Now, when the Children of Israel were gone out of Egypt, and had won and
made subject to them Jerusalem and all the land lying about, there was
in the Kingdom of Ind a tall hill called the Hill of Vaws, or the Hill
of Victory. On this hill were stationed sentinels of Ind, who watched
day and night against the Children of Israel, and afterward against the
Romans.

And if an enemy approached, the keepers of the Hill of Vaws made a great
fire to warn the inhabitants of the land so that the men might make
ready to defend themselves.

Now in the time when Balaam prophesied of the Star that should betoken
the birth of Christ, all the great lords and the people of Ind and in
the East desired greatly to see this Star of which he spake; and they
gave gifts to the keepers of the Hill of Vaws, and bade them, if they
saw by night or by day any star in the air, that had not been seen
aforetime, that they, the keepers, should send anon word to the people
of Ind.

And thus was it that for so long a time the fame of this Star was borne
throughout the lands of the East. And the more the Star was