"I dunna think it was made purpose for that. Wur it, now, granny?"
Thus appealed to, the old woman, who had listened with an amused smile on her face, answered,
"No, my child. It's called Christmas 'cause it is the birthday of Christ."
"Who's He?" said Benny, looking up; and Nelly's eyes echoed the inquiry.
"Don't you know--ain't you never heerd?" said the old woman, in a tone of surprise.
"Nay," said Benny; "nothin' sense. Some o' the chaps says 'by Christ' as I says 'by golly'; but I never knowed He was somebody."
"Poor little dears! I didn't know as how you was so ignorant, or I should have told you before." And the old woman looked as if she did not know where or how to begin to tell the children the wonderful story, and for a considerable time remained silent. At length she said, "I'll read it to 'e out o' the Book; mebbe you'll understand it better that way nor any way else."
And, taking down from her shelf her big and much-worn Bible, she opened it at the second of St. Matthew, and began to read in a tremulous voice,--
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship Him."
And slowly the old woman read on until she reached the end of the chapter, while the children listened with wide-open and wondering eyes. To Nelly the words seemed to come like a revelation, responding to the deepest feeling of her nature, and awakening thoughts within her that were too big for utterance. Benny, however, on the contrary, could see nothing particularly interesting in the narrative itself. But the art of reading was to him a mystery past all comprehension. How granny could see that story upon the page of her Bible was altogether beyond his grasp. At length, after scratching his head vigorously for some time, he burst out,--
"By jabbers! I's got it at last!--Jimmy Jones squeeze me if I ain't! It's the specks that does it."
"Why, the story bizness, to be sure. Let me look at the book through your specks, shall I, granny?"
"Ay, if you like, Benny." And the next minute he was looking at the Bible with granny's spectacles upon his nose, with a look of blank disappointment upon his face.