The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Christmas Child, by Hesba Stretton

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Title: The Christmas Child

Author: Hesba Stretton

Illustrator: K. Street

Release Date: January 27, 2007 [EBook #20453]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE CHRISTMAS
CHILD

BY

HESBA STRETTON

AUTHOR OF "JESSICA'S FIRST PRAYER"

ILLUSTRATED BY K. STREET

NEW YORK
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.
PUBLISHERS

COPYRIGHT, 1909
BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.

Published, September, 1909

THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.

[Illustration: NATHAN LIGHTED HER STEPS]

[Illustration: Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.]

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE COMING OF JOAN 1

II. JOAN'S SEARCH 10

III. THE CHILD IN THE MANGER 28

IV. LOST AND FOUND 40

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Nathan lighted her steps _Frontispiece_

The two were never apart 8

Joan saw her aunt standing by her bedside 54

Nathan came upstairs to visit Rhoda 60

THE CHRISTMAS CHILD

CHAPTER I

THE COMING OF JOAN

Along some parts of the coast in South Wales the mountains rise abruptly
from the shore, with only a narrow shingle between them and the sea.

High above the coast, however, there are warm, sunny little valleys and
dells among the hills, where sheep can find pasture and a fold; and here
there are many small farmsteads, surrounded by wild rocks and bleak
uplands, where the farmer and his family live with their servants, if
the