. . I felt the walls of the cuddy chokin' me of a
sudden, an' went on deck.
"A fine night it was, up there. Very clear with a hint o' frost--no
moon. As I remember, she was in her first quarter and had gone down
some while. The tide had turned and was makin' in steady. I could
hear it clap-clappin' past the _Maid in Two Minds_--she lay a little
outside of us, to seaward, and we had swung so that her ridin' light
come over our starboard how. Out beyond her the lighthouse on the
breakwater kept flashin'--it's red over the anchorage--an' away
beyond that the 'Stone. Astern was all the half-circle o' Plymouth
lights--like the front of a crown o' glory. And the stars overhead,
sir!--not so much as a wisp o' cloud to hide 'em.
"'Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His
star in the east . . .'I'd always been curious about that star,
sir,--whether 'twas an ordinary one or one sent by miracle: and,
years before, I'd argued it out that the Lord wouldn't send one like
a flash in the pan, but--bein' thoughtful in all things--would leave
it to come back constant every year and bring assurance, if ye looked
for it.
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