Page:Frank Owen - Rare Earth, 1931.djvu/290

 Eve and it is good to find shelter in a cozy home. Christmas Eve is a strange night. All over the world folks gather around the fire, speaking in awe, at peace, waiting, waiting. They are waiting for a miracle. Unknown to themselves they expect a miracle even as almost two thousand years ago there was a miracle on Christmas morning. Christmas Eve is the only night in the year when all men are really brothers, when the fires of hatred are banked in their hearts." As the stranger spoke, Roma looked intently

into his face. And she thought that she had never seen a face that reflected so much suffering and yet so much beauty. The features were a trifle austere but the eyes were filled with tenderness. One could easily imagine such a man stopping by the wayside to care for a whimpering dog.

There was a lovely feeling of contentment in that room. The log spluttered and sang joyously in the grate. Hung Long Tom fetched a bowl of apples and a jug of cider but the stranger refused everything.