Famous Stories Every Child Should Know | Page 4

the child looked sadly out by himself, and
when he saw the star, turned round and said to the patient pale face on
the bed, "I see the star!" and then a smile would come upon the face,
and a little weak voice used to say, "God bless my brother and the
star!"
And so the time came all too soon! when the child looked out alone,
and when there was no face on the bed; and when there was a little
grave among the graves, not there before; and when the star made long
rays down toward him, as he saw it through his tears.
Now, these rays were so bright, and they seemed to make such a
shining way from earth to Heaven, that when the child went to his
solitary bed, he dreamed about the star; and dreamed that, lying where
he was, he saw a train of people taken up that sparkling road by angels.
And the star, opening, showed him a great world of light, where many
more such angels waited to receive them.
All these angels, who were waiting, turned their beaming eyes upon the
people who were carried up into the star; and some came out from the
long rows in which they stood, and fell upon the people's necks, and
kissed them tenderly, and went away with them down avenues of light,
and were so happy in their company, that lying in his bed he wept for
joy.
But, there were many angels who did not go with them, and among
them one he knew. The patient face that once had lain upon the bed was

glorified and radiant, but his heart found out his sister among all the
host.
His sister's angel lingered near the entrance of the star, and said to the
leader among those who had brought the people thither:
"Is my brother come?"
And he said "No."
She was turning hopefully away, when the child stretched out his arms,
and cried, "O, sister, I am here! Take me!" and then she turned her
beaming eyes upon him, and it was night; and the star was shining into
the room, making long rays down towards him as he saw it through his
tears.
From that hour forth, the child looked out upon the star as on the home
he was to go to, when his time should come; and he thought that he did
not belong to the earth alone, but to the star too, because of his sister's
angel gone before.
There was a baby born to be a brother to the child; and while he was so
little that he never yet had spoken word he stretched his tiny form out
on his bed, and died.
Again the child dreamed of the open star, and of the company of angels,
and the train of people, and the rows of angels with their beaming eyes
all turned upon those people's faces.
Said his sister's angel to the leader:
"Is my brother come?"
And he said "Not that one, but another."
As the child beheld his brother's angel in her arms, he cried, "O, sister,
I am here! Take me!" And she turned and smiled upon him, and the star
was shining.

He grew to be a young man, and was busy at his books when an old
servant came to him and said:
"Thy mother is no more. I bring her blessing on her darling son!"
Again at night he saw the star, and all that former company. Said his
sister's angel to the leader:
"Is my brother come?"
And he said, "Thy mother!"
A mighty cry of joy went forth through all the star, because the mother
was reunited to her two children. And he stretched out his arms and
cried, "O, mother, sister, and brother, I am here! Take me!" And they
answered him, "Not yet," and the star was shining.
He grew to be a man, whose hair was turning gray, and he was sitting
in his chair by the fireside, heavy with grief, and with his face bedewed
with tears, when the star opened once again.
Said his sister's angel to the leader: "Is my brother come?"
And he said, "Nay, but his maiden daughter."
And the man who had been the child saw his daughter, newly lost to
him, a celestial creature among those three, and he said, "My daughter's
head is on my sister's bosom, and her arm is around my mother's neck,
and at her feet there is the baby of old time, and I can bear the parting
from her, God be praised!"
And the star was shining.
Thus the child came to be an old man, and his once smooth face was
wrinkled, and his steps were slow and feeble, and