“Yes, Tim, they were all there except you. The flowers? Yes, they wanted to send them to you. Little Henry brought them. He was always good to you, you know. Bennie and Oscar were with him. The lesson? Oh, yes. It was about the three Kings. You know there were three wise men, kings, in the East. They saw a star, and somehow God told them that they should follow it. They followed it over deserts and mountains a long way until they came to Jerusalem. There they went to Herod and asked: ‘Where is He that should be born king of the Jews?’”
“A star? Way up in the sky?”
“Yes, indeed. And when they found out that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem, they set out to go there, and lo, the star went on before them and brought them right to the place.
“Yes, Tim, that’s why we put stars on Christmas trees. Indeed, we’ll have a beautiful one on the very tip-top of the tree.”
Tim lay thinking long about this story and about the star after Miss Merton was gone.
One night Tim seemed very feverish and restless. He tossed about as far as his soreness and stiffness would allow. He was getting very sore now from lying in bed so long.
“I’m awful sorry I can’t go to church to the Christmas tree, Papa,” he said.
“It’s too bad, Tim. You must try to be quiet and sleep now.”
“Christ was born on Christmas night,” said Tim earnestly. “I was to speak a verse. They won’t have that verse now, will they?”
“Oh, they’ll find some way,” said his papa.