"Can it be the High Priest of the Jews, and the elders and the
scribes?" they thought. But the flight passed over Jerusalem.

It floated out over the hill country of Bethlehem; the throng of
silent angels holding close together, as if perplexed and doubtful;
the child-angel darting on far in advance, as one who knew the way
through the darkness.

The villages were all still: the very houses seemed asleep; but in one
place there was a low sound of talking in a stable, near to an inn--a
sound as of a mother soothing her baby to rest.

All over the pastures on the hillsides a light film of snow had
fallen, delicate as the veil of a bride adorned for the marriage; and
as the child-angel passed over them, alone in the swiftness of his
flight, the pure fields sparkled round him, giving back his radiance.

And there were in that country shepherds abiding in the fields,
keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo! the angel of the
Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them,
and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them: "Fear not;
for behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to
all nations. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David,
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto
you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in
a manger."

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly
host, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good-will toward men." And the shepherds said one to
another: "Let us now go, even to Bethlehem, and see this thing which
is come to pass."

So I said within myself that I also would go with the shepherds, even
to Bethlehem. And I heard a great and sweet voice, as of a bell, which
said, "Come!" And when the bell had sounded twelve times, I awoke; and
it was Christmas morn; and I knew that I had been in a dream.

Yet it seemed to me that the things which I had heard were true.

*

Martha Finley (1828 - 1909) was a teacher and author of numerous works, the most well known being the 28 volume Elsie Dinsmore series which was published over a span of 38 years. The daughter of Presbyterian minister Dr. James Brown Finley and his wife and cousin Maria Theresa Brown Finley, she was born on April 26th, 1828 in Chillicothe, Ohio. Finley wrote many of her books under the psodonym Martha Farquharson. She died in 1909 in Elkton, Maryland, where she moved in 1876.

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