tle baby?" exclaimed Toddie.

"Yes," replied Mrs. Burton, shuddering to realize that Toddie had not
before been taught of the nature of the Holy Trinity.

"An' played around like uvver little boysh?" continued Toddie.

"I--I--suppose so," said Mrs. Burton, fearing lest in trying to instill
reverence into her nephews, she herself might prove irreverent.

"Did somebody say 'Don't' at _Him_ every time he did anyfing?" continued
Toddie.

"N--n--n--o! I imagine not," said Mrs. Burton, "because he was always
good."

"_That_ don't make any diffwelence," said Toddie. "The better a little
boy triesh to be, the more folks say 'Don't' to him. So I guesh nobody
had any time to say anyfing elsh at all to Jesus."

"What did He do next?" asked Budge, as deeply interested as if he had
not heard the same story many times before.

"He grew strong in body and spirit," said Mrs. Burton, "and everybody
loved Him; but before He had time to do all that, an angel came and
frightened His papa in a dream, and told him that the king of that
country would kill little Jesus if he could find Him. So Joseph, the
papa of Jesus, and Mary, His mamma, got up in the middle of the night,
and started off to Egypt."

"Seems to me that Egypt was 'bout as bad in those days as Europe is
now," remarked Budge. "Whenever papa tells about anybody that nobody can
find, he says, 'Gone to Europe, I s'pose.' What did they find when they
got there?"

"I don't know," said Mrs. Burton, musing. "I suppose the papa worked
hard for money to buy good food and comfortable resting-places for his
wife and baby; and I suppose the mamma walked about the fields, and
picked pretty flowers for her baby to play with; and I suppose the baby
cooed when His mamma gave them to Him, and laughed and danced and
played, and then got tired, and came and hid His little face in His
mamma's lap, and was taken into her arms and held ever so tight, and
fell asleep, and that His mother looked into His face as if she would
look through it, while she tried to find out what her baby would be and
do when He grew up, and whether He would be taken away from _her_, while
it seemed as if she couldn't live at all without having Him very closely
pressed to her breast and--"

Mrs. Burton's voice grew a little shaky, and, finally, failed her
entirely. Budge came in front of her, scrutinized her intently, but with
great sympathy, also, and, finally, leaned his elbows on her knees,
dropped his face