"The church and the grotto of the Nativity, directly beneath it, are parcelled out among the three sects. Each has its own altars where services are performed, and there are other altars which are common to all, but at different hours. Several times there have been fights in the sacred grotto between these rival monks. A few years ago one of the sects set fire to some decorations that had been placed in the grotto by another, and the whole place was filled with smoke, and the walls were disfigured." One of the boys asked if there was any bloodshed in this affair. "Yes," was the reply; "I believe two or three of the monks were killed, and others severely wounded. It was necessary to call in the Turkish soldiers to suppress the disturbance, and the hostility among the Christians is so great that a guard is kept there constantly to preserve order. "It is said that the Crimean War owed its origin, in part, to a quarrel about the possession of the Church of the Nativity, and on several occasions the peace of Europe has been threatened by disputes for a few square inches of the floor of the sacred grotto!" [Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY.] During the above conversation the party had been walking through the church, admiring the beauty of the columns that support the roof, and listening to the chanting of the service at one of the altars in the side aisles. Pilgrims were kneeling at the shrines, or seated near the columns, and several monks were moving among them, or guiding strangers around the building. The Latin monks were easily distinguished from the others by their shaven heads, which contrasted in a marked degree with the tall hats of the Greeks and Armenians; and the boys observed that none of the rival sects said a word to either of the others. Evidently there was a bitter hatred between them, and although they were all to be considered devout Christians, they did not follow the injunction of their Master to love one another. [Illustration: THE PLACE OF THE NATIVITY.] The Doctor explained that there were two stairways descending into the grotto; that on the right being exclusively used by the Greeks and Armenians, while the other belonged to the Latins. As their guide was of the Latin Church they descended by the stairway on the left, and soon found themselves in the spot revered throughout all Christendom--the place where the founder of our religion was born. Near the foot of the stairway they came to a niche in the wall of rock, and in front of it was a marble slab set in the floor, with a silver star in the centre. On the star was the inscription: "HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST." ("Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.")