Babouscka was terribly frightened, so she hid herself in her hut, and let
the servants knock a long time at her door before she dared open it and
answer their questions as to the road they should take to a far-away town.
You know she had never studied a geography lesson in her life, was old and
stupid and scared. She knew the way across the fields to the nearest
village, but she knew nothing else of all the wide world full of cities.
The servants scolded, but the Three Kings 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