Everything was
the same as usual; and to make sure that the night's visitors had
not been a fancy, she found her old broom hanging on a peg behind
the door, where she had put it when the servants knocked.
Now that the sun was shining, and she remembered the glitter of
the gold and the smell of the sweet gums and myrrh, she wished
she had gone with the travelers.
And she thought a great deal about the dear Baby the Three Kings
had gone to worship. She had no children of her own-- nobody
loved her--ah, if she had only gone! The more she brooded on the
thought, the more miserable she grew, till the very sight of her
home became hateful to her.
It is a dreadful feeling to realize that one has lost a chance of
happiness. There is a feeling called remorse that can gnaw like
a sharp little tooth. Babouscka felt this little tooth cut into
her heart every time she remembered the visit of the Three Kings.
After a while the thought of the Little Child became her first
thought at waking and her last at night. One day she shut the
door of her house forever, and set out on a long journey. She
had no hope of overtaking the Three Kings, but she longed to find
the Child, that she too might love and worship Him. She asked
every one she met, and some people thought her crazy, but others
gave her kind answers. Have you perhaps guessed that the young
Child whom the Three Kings sought was our Lord himself?
People told Babouscka how He was born in a manger, and many other
things which you children have learned long ago.
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