With them they carried the Holy Grail
hidden beneath its cloth of snow-white samite.
Heavily they toiled up the steep ascent of the
hill called Weary-All. And when they reached
the top Joseph thrust his thorn-staff into the
ground.
And, lo! a miracle! the thorn-staff put forth
roots, sprouted and budded, and burst into a mass
of white and fragrant flowers! And on the spot
where the thorn had bloomed, there Joseph built
the first Christian church in Britain. And he
made it ``wattled all round'' of osiers gathered
from the water's edge. And in the chapel they
placed the Holy Grail.
And so, it is said, ever since at Glastonbury
Abbey--the name by which that Avalon is
known to-day--on Christmas Eve the white
thorn buds and blooms.
THE THREE KINGS OF COLOGNE
A LEGEND OF THE MIDDLE AGES
BY JOHN OF HILDESHEIM-MODERNIZED BY
H. S. MORRIS (ADAPTED)
THE STAR
Now, when the Children of Israel were gone
out of Egypt, and had won and made subject to
them Jerusalem and all the land lying about,
there was in the Kingdom of Ind a tall hill called
the Hill of Vaws, or the Hill of Victory. On this
hill were stationed sentinels of Ind, who watched
day and night against the Children of Israel, and
afterward against the Romans.
And if an enemy approached, the keepers of the
Hill of Vaws made a great fire to warn the
inhabitants of the land so that the men might make
ready to defend themselves.
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