December, 1945
much. He and his companions all seemed to be carrying packages and finally she became brave enough to ask him what they were. “ Gifts for the~ King,” he answered. "Mine is gold and the other two are frankincense and myrrh.” “Can’t you see the King without presents?” asked Penny. “No doubt, no doubt. But I should not want to go before Him empty- handed. Should you?” Penny thought a moment. “Then I had better get down and not go any farther,” she said, “I haven’t any present.” “As you like; but you could find one, you know,” “Could I really? Where? Would you wait while I look?” "No,” the Wise Man answered, “I couldn’t do that. I must be on my way.” “But could you tell me where to look?” asked Penny, wistfully. . “No, I couldn’t do that either. Each one must find his own gift.” . . “Well, let me down then,” said Penny, “ and I will start looking.” . As the man lifted her down from the camel he said gently, “There is nothing so golden as the heart of a little child,” and he rode away. As the second Wise Man passed, holding his present of frankincense, he leaned down from his camel as he whispered, “There is no incense sweet er than a little girl’s prayers,” and he too was gone. The third Wise Man looked at her for a very long time indeed. “My gift of myrrh is valuable,” he said, “but there is nothing so precious as obedience.” He smiled at her, and then he departed with the other two. Penny stood alone in the starry silence of the desert and thought, and thought, and thought. She longed very much to find a gift for the King, but she wanted to see her mother, too. She remembered what the last man had said about obedience, and she had come away from home without tell ing her mother. She turned about and started back. "They must be far away by now,” she said, thinking of the Wise Men as she hurried along. “And I suppose I shall never see them again. I did so wish to find a gift for the King and go with them to take it to Him. But I shall never see the King now.” Suddenly she felt a hand upon her shoulder. And she looked up to see if, after all, the Wise Men had returned. But they hadn’t. The face she was gazing into was more wise and more tender than any of the faces of men. She knew it at once. It was the face of her best Friend. “Why, it’s You!” Penny said, and slipped her hand into the hand of Jesus. “Happy Birthday!” “Don’t you mean ‘Merry Christ
A CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS HYMN
Words and Musfeby LOUISE WOODBRIDGÍ'
To be tung tenderly
1. List - en know, Was 2. Shep - herds then hast-ened from watch. ing their sheep,- And' 3. Wise men brought gifts to lay at His feet, Frank dear chil - dren the Sav ■ iour we
onee a young child
like youT——
His bed was a man- ger o - ver.
came to the man - ger low - ly Where Christ lay a - sleep in - cense and myrrh, and gold;____ The Sav. iour still waits
in His for the
--- 0 --- star,
“ I fT
r
head . was a
The
an - gels
er’s arms,
The Christ child To bring Him
moth -
chil - dren to - day
r
heav . en
a . far.
: ho •
*
• ly.
Yesl we
all know
Hin>,__
Wise
lien of
old.
her mother was bending over her to kiss her. “Where — where — are — t h e Wise Men?” she asked. “The Wise Men!” Peter shouted from the doorway. “Are you dream- ( Continued on Page 474)
mas’ ?” another familiar voice asked, with a laugh. Penny opened her eyes slowly, and looked around. She was not walking down a silver path of starlight at all; she was not even walking through familiar streets. She was at home in her own little bed and
Made with FlippingBook HTML5