'Without ye become as little children ye cannot enter into the Kingdom
of Heaven.'

Kay and Gerda looked into each other's eyes, and then all at once the
meaning of the old hymn came to them.

'Where roses deck the flowery vale,
There, Infant Jesus, we thee hail!'

And there they both sat, grown up and yet children, children at heart;
and it was summer--warm, beautiful summer.




THE NIGHTINGALE

[Illustration: _Among these trees lived a nightingale, which sang so
deliciously, that even the poor fisherman, who had plenty of other
things to do, lay still to listen to it, when he was out at night
drawing in his nets._]

In China, as you know, the Emperor is a Chinaman, and all the people
around him are Chinamen too. It is many years since the story I am going
to tell you happened, but that is all the more reason for telling it,
lest it should be forgotten. The emperor's palace was the most beautiful
thing in the world; it was made entirely of the finest porcelain, very
costly, but at the same time so fragile that it could only be touched
with the very greatest care. There were the most extraordinary flowers