Читать книгу The Boy who Sang for the Angels - James Cantelon - Страница 6

quiet conversation. But then it sounded as though some small thing was whimpering at the door. For a moment Hilda thought it was a puppy. So she got up, went to the door and opened it, and to her astonishment there at her feet was a small basket with a baby in it. With a little scream of surprise she picked the basket up and exclaimed, “Martin! There’s a baby in this basket! Look!”

Sure enough, as Martin gently unfolded the blanket a small baby’s face looked up at him. “I think it’s a girl! So sweet! Where do you suppose she comes from?”

Hilda, so astonished that she could barely speak, stuttered, “I have no idea! We know everyone in town, and I’m not aware of any woman who was about to give birth at this time!”

At that moment the baby started to cry, and Hilda, as naturally as she would’ve done for her own child, immediately ran into the kitchen to get some milk. Within minutes she was feeding the baby, cuddling her gently in her arms. It was clear to Martin, as clear as the sky above, that Hilda had found a daughter.

The next morning, Christmas morning, while Hilda cared for the baby, Martin walked the snowy streets of the village inquiring of everyone if they had seen or heard someone carrying a basket the night before. In no time the whole village was abuzz with talk of Martin and Hilda’s new baby. Even the bishop got involved and to everyone’s amazement declared that he had no knowledge of any young mother within 20 miles of the village who had been about to give birth.

As the moral authority the bishop had the right to assign the child to any family he chose, but he was a kind and gentle man and felt that this baby was God’s gift to Martin and Hilda. “My heart has always gone out to them,” he said. “If there is any couple in the village who deserves a child, it is they.”

So, as natural as breathing, this little orphan child became Martin and Hilda’s daughter.