angels, we will never forget His dear ravens. Wont old Hans be glad?"

And the mother was glad; for she knew that God who giveth grace to the
lowly had indeed blessed the lad, because all his gifts and honors were
transformed, as always in the lowly heart, not into pride, but into
love.

But when the boy ran eagerly to find old Hans, to show him the jewel
and tell him of the princely promises, Hans was nowhere to be found;
not in the hermit's house, where he was to have met them and shared
their little festive meal, nor at his own stall, nor in the hut in
which he slept.

Gottlieb's heart began to sink.

Never had his dear old friend failed to share in any joy of theirs
before.

At length, as he was lingering about the old man's little hut,
wondering, a sad, silent company came bearing slowly and tenderly a
heavy burden, which at last they laid on Hans' poor straw pallet.

It was poor Hans himself, bruised and crushed and wounded in his
struggles to press through the crowd to see his darling, his poor
crooked limbs broken and unable to move any more.

But the face was untouched, and when they had laid him on the couch,
and the languid eyes opened and rested on the beloved face of the child
bending over him bathed in tears, a light came over the poor rugged
features, and shone in the dark, hollow eyes, such as nothing on earth