ld, old woman named Babouscka sat in her snug
little house by her warm fire. The wind was drifting the snow outside
and howling down the chimney, but it only made Babouscka's fire burn
more brightly.

"How glad I am that I may stay indoors!" said Babouscka, holding her
hands out to the bright blaze. But suddenly she heard a loud rap at
her door. She opened it and her candle shone on three old men standing
outside in the snow. Their beards were as white as the snow, and so
long that they reached the ground. Their eyes shone kindly in the
light of Babouscka's candle, and their arms were full of precious
things--boxes of jewels, and sweet-smelling oils, and ointments.

"We have traveled far, Babouscka," said they, "and we stop to tell you
of the Baby Prince born this night in Bethlehem. He comes to rule the
world and teach all men to be loving and true. We carry Him gifts.
Come with us, Babouscka!"

But Babouscka looked at the driving snow, and then inside at her cozy
room and the crackling fire. "It is too late for me to go with you,
good sirs," she said, "the weather is too cold." She went inside again
and shut the door, and the old men journeyed on to Bethlehem without
her. But as Babouscka sat by her fire, rocking, she began to think
about the little Christ Child, for she loved all babies.

"Tomorrow I will go to find Him," she said; "tomorrow, when it is
light, and I will carry Him some toys."

So when it was morning Babouscka put on her long cloak, and took her
staff, and filled a basket with the pretty things a baby would
like--gold balls, and wooden toys, and strings of silver cobwebs--and
she set out to find the Christ Child.

But, oh! Babouscka had forgotten to ask the three old men the road to
Bethlehem, and they had traveled so far through the night that she
could not overtake them. Up and down the roads she hurried, through
woods and fields and towns, saying to whomsoever she met: "I go to
find the Christ Child. Where does he lie? I bring some pretty toys for
His sake."

But no one could tell her the way to go, and they all said: "Farther
on, Babouscka, farther on." So she traveled on, and on, and on for
years and years--but she never found the little Christ Child.

They say that old Babouscka is traveling still, looking for Him. When
it comes Christmas eve, and the children are lying fast asleep,
Babouscka comes softly through the snowy fields and towns, wrapped in
her long cloak and carrying her ba