[Sidenote: Once More the Quest]

Then the star led them on, and they followed together until they came
at length to the doorway of a little cottage; and within the cottage
they saw a woman bending over a cradle, and in the cradle a little
child lay sleeping. She was a peasant woman; her clothing was not
rich; the furnishing of the cottage was humble and scanty. The cradle
itself was rude, as if put together by hands unskilful in tasks like
that. But when the mother looked at her babe a sweet smile played
about her lips, and a light was in her eyes. Then all suddenly the
three men remembered another scene long before, when they were bearers
of gold and frankincense and myrrh to another babe.

[Sidenote: He That Loveth Knoweth God]

And while they stood and wondered by the door, there came a strong and
sturdy peasant, broad-shouldered, roughly clad, his face browned in
the sun, his hands hardened with toil. He came and stood beside the
woman, and they bent together over the cradle of the sleeping child,
and the man drew the woman tenderly toward him and kissed her brow.

And still the three men lingered; for behold! the star stood still
above the child, and they dared not speak. But the heart of Gaspard
was saying in silence, "There is something greater than the repeated
miracle of the mass."

And Melchoir was thinking, "There is something mightier even than the
mind; something superior to naked truth."

[Sidenote: For God Is Love]