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. These answers puzzled the old
dame mightily. She had but one idea in her ignorant head. The Three Kings
had gone to seek a Baby. She would, if not too late, seek Him too.
She forgot, I am sure, how many long years had gone by. She looked in vain
for the Christ-child in His manger-cradle. She spent all her little
savings in toys and candy so as to make friends with little children, that
they might not run away when she came hobbling into their nurseries.
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