Dost thou understand?"
"Yes, my mother," said the child, and she left the window to follow
her mother back to the stove, limping painfully, for little Ruth was a
cripple. Her mother stooped suddenly and caught the child in her arms.
"My poor little lamb. It was a mule's kick, just six years ago, that
hurt your poor back and made you lame."
"Never mind, my mother. My back does not ache today, and lately when
the light of the strange new star has shone down upon my bed my back
has felt so much stronger and I have felt so happy, as though I could
climb upon the rays of the star and up, up into the sky and above the
stars!"
Her mother shook her head sadly. "Thou art not likely to climb much,
now or ever, but come, the supper is ready; let us go to find your
father. I wonder what keeps him."
They found the father standing at the gate of the courtyard, talking
to a man and woman who had just arrived. The man was tall, with a long
beard, and he led by a rope a snow white mule, on which sat the
drooping figure of the woman. As Ruth and her mother came near, they
heard the father say, "But I tell thee that there is no more room in
the inn. Hast thou no friends where thou canst go to spend the night?"
The man shook his head. "No, none," he answered. "I care not for
myself, but my poor wife.
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