bosom you shall float, float, float away out into
the mists and clouds, if you will come with me.'

"But I hid under the violets and amid the tall grass, that the night
wind might not woo me with its pleading. 'Ho, there, old olive-tree!'
cried the violets; 'do you see the little Master coming? Is not the
midnight hour at hand?'

"'I can see the town yonder,' said the old olive-tree. 'A star beams
bright over Bethlehem, the iron gates swing open, and the little
Master comes.'

"Two children came to the hill-side. The one, older than his comrade,
was Dimas, the son of Benoni. He was rugged and sinewy, and over his
brown shoulders was flung a goatskin; a leathern cap did not confine
his long, dark curly hair. The other child was he whom they called the
little Master; about his slender form clung raiment white as snow, and
around his face of heavenly innocence fell curls of golden yellow. So
beautiful a child I had not seen before, nor have I ever since seen
such as he. And as they came together to the hill-side, there seemed
to glow about the little Master's head a soft white light, as if the
moon had sent its tenderest, fairest beams to kiss those golden curls.

"'What sound was that?' cried Dimas, for he was exceeding fearful.

"'Have no fear, Dimas,' said the little Master. 'Give me thy hand, and
I will lead thee.'

"Presently they came to the rock whereon Benoni, the shepherd, lay;
and they stood under the old olive-tree, and the old olive-tree swayed
no longer in the night wind, but bent its branches reverently in the
presence of the little Master. It seemed as if the wind, too, stayed
in its shifting course just then; for suddenly there was a solemn
hush, and you could hear no noise, except that in his dreams Benoni
spoke the Messiah's name.

[Illustration: "'What sound was that?' cried Dimas, for he was
exceeding fearful."]

"'Thy father sleeps,' said the little Master, 'and it is well that it
is so; for that I love thee Dimas, and that thou shalt walk with me in
my Father's kingdom, I would show thee the glories of my birthright.'

"Then all at once sweet music filled the air, and light, greater than
the light of day, illumined the sky and fell upon all that hill-side.
The heavens opened, and angels, singing joyous songs, walked to the
earth. More wondrous still, the stars, falling from their places in
the sky, clustered upon the old olive-tree, and swung hither and
thither like colored lanterns. The f