DECEMBER 211 



ass were there. The shepherds also were 

 kneeling at His feet. 



Then we two in the outer blackness 

 drew very near and trembled. And filled 

 with joy, and with rapturous awe, we 

 knelt with the shepherds of Bethlehem, 

 and we gazed at the babe through tears 

 of love and holy fear. And while we 

 gazed, a note of utter sweetness rose and 

 swelled until it became like the solemn 

 sound of an organ, until it filled all the 

 place where we were, and shook the 

 walls of the lowly cattle shed bursting 

 and shattering up through the roof. And 

 there was a rushing sound as of innumer- 

 able multitudes of angels' wings, and they 

 were like sharp-pointed flames of fire 

 thronging all around and upward. In our 

 ears we heard pealing and echoing, and 

 dying away amidst the hills, the words 

 of the ancient song of Peace, 'Glory to 

 God, and Peace on earth.' We hid our 

 faces in our hands, and so the vision 

 departed from our sight, and the fir trees 

 closed in once more around us. So dream- 

 fully we wandered on, the child's face 



