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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Rabbi and Priest, by Milton Goldsmith
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Rabbi and Priest
+       A Story
+
+
+Author: Milton Goldsmith
+
+
+
+Release Date: March 6, 2007  [eBook #20756]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RABBI AND PRIEST***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Janet Blenkinship and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from digital material
+generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries
+(http://www.archive.org/details/americana)
+
+
+
+Note: Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
+      http://www.archive.org/details/rabbiandpriest00goldrich
+
+
+
+
+
+RABBI AND PRIEST.
+
+A Story
+
+by
+
+MILTON GOLDSMITH.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Philadelphia:
+Jewish Publication Society of America.
+1891.
+Copyright, 1891,
+by the Jewish Publication Society of America.
+
+Press of
+Edward Stern & Co.
+Philadelphia.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Towards the end of 1882, there arrived at the old Pennsylvania Railroad
+Depot in Philadelphia, several hundred Russian refugees, driven from
+their native land by the inhuman treatment of the Muscovite Government.
+Among them were many intelligent people, who had been prosperous in
+their native land, but who were now reduced to dire want. One couple, in
+particular, attracted the attention of the visitors, by their
+intellectual appearance and air of gentility, in marked contrast to the
+abject condition of many of their associates. Joseph Kierson was the
+name of the man, and the story of his sufferings aroused the sympathy of
+his hearers. The man and his wife were assisted by the Relief Committee,
+and in a short time were in a condition to provide for themselves.
+
+The writer had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Kierson a few years later,
+and elicited from him a complete recital of his trials and an account of
+the causes of the terrible persecution which compelled such large
+numbers of his countrymen to flee from their once happy homes.
+
+His story forms the nucleus of the novel I now present to my readers.
+While adhering as closely as possible to actual names, dates and events,
+it does not pretend to be historically accurate. In following the
+fortunes of Mendel Winenki, from boyhood to old age, it endeavors to
+present a series of pictures portraying the character, life, and
+sufferings of the misunderstood and much-maligned Russian Jew.
+
+In the description of Russia's customs and characteristics, the
+barbarous cruelty of her criminal code and the nihilistic tendency of
+the times, the author has followed such eminent writers as Wallace,
+Foulke, Stepniak, Tolstoi and Herzberg-Fraenkel. The accounts of the
+riots of 1882 will be found to agree in historic details with the
+reports which were published at the time.
+
+With this introduction, I respectfully submit the work to the
+consideration of an indulgent public.
+
+                                                 MILTON GOLDSMITH.
+  PHILADELPHIA, April, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+RECRUITS FOR SIBERIA.
+
+
+We are in Russia.
+
+On the high road from Tscherkask to Togarog, and not far from the latter
+village, there stood, in the year 1850, a large and inhospitable-looking
+inn. Its shingled walls, whose rough surface no paint-brush had touched
+for long generations, seemed decaying from sheer old age. Its tiled roof
+was in a most dilapidated state, displaying large gaps imperfectly
+stuffed with straw, and serving rather to collect the rain and snow for
+the more thorough inundation of the rooms below than to protect them
+from the elements. The grounds about the house were in keeping with it
+in point of picturesque neglect, and were as innocent of cultivation as
+the building was of paint. A roughly paved path led from the highway to
+the tavern door. Two old and sickly poplar trees cast a poor and
+half-hearted shade upon the parched ground, and mournfully shook their
+leaves over the scene of desolation. The herbage grew in isolated
+patches on a black and uncultivated soil. Nature might have originally
+been friendly to the place, but generations of poverty and neglect had
+reduced it to a condition of wretched misery.
+
+As was this particular spot, so was the entire village. Slavery had
+wound its chains about the inhabitants, stifling whatever energy they
+possessed, entailing upon them constant toil to satisfy the exorbitant
+demands of their task-masters. Hence, even with a genial sun and a
+southern climate, the fields were barren, the crops poor and the people
+sunk in abject poverty.
+
+The dilapidated inn, or _kretschma_, was known in the vicinity by the
+ideal and appropriate name of "Paradise"--appropriate, because in it
+many a sinner had been tempted and had fallen from grace. It was the
+popular rendezvous of the village peasants. Thither the serfs living in
+the village of Togarog and for miles around, would repair after their
+labors in the fields, and forget their fatigue in a dram of rank Russian
+_vodka_. Upon the barren plot of ground before the tavern, the _mir_, or
+communal assembly, was wont to meet, and in open session elect its
+Elder, decide its quarrels, allot its ground to the heads of families,
+and frame its rude and primitive laws.
+
+In its bare and smoke-begrimed public room, the people of Togarog
+assembled night after night, and discussed, as far as the autocratic
+government of the Czar Nicholas would allow, the political news of the
+day. Poor souls! They enjoyed little latitude in this direction. Items
+of information concerning the acts of the central government in St.
+Petersburg were few and vague. The newspapers, owing to an extremely
+severe censorship, gave but meagre accounts of the political situation
+in the capital, and these were of necessity favorable to the government.
+Now and then, however, came rambling accounts of insurrections, of acts
+of cruelty, of large bodies of political offenders banished to a
+life-long slavery in Siberia. At times came the news that the Czar had
+been inspired by Providence to inaugurate some new and important reform,
+only to be followed by the announcement that Satan had held a conference
+with his Imperial Majesty, and that the reform had fallen through. All
+such information was carried into Togarog by word of mouth, for few of
+the good _moujiks_ could read the papers. Woe to anyone, however, who
+allowed his tongue too great a license! Woe to him who dared utter a
+suggestion that the existing laws bore heavily upon him. It was a
+dangerous experiment to criticise in a hostile spirit any of the abuses
+heaped upon the degraded people. The condition of Russia was
+deplorable.[1] Insurrection and rebellion nourished in all parts of the
+Empire. Degraded to the lowest depths, the crushed worm turned
+occasionally, but free itself it could not. Brave spirits arose for whom
+exile had no terrors. With their rude eloquence they incited their
+fellow-sufferers to throw off the yoke of tyranny and assert their
+freedom; and the morrow found them wandering toward the snow-bound
+confines of Siberia. Patriotism was not very much encouraged in Russia.
+
+The proprietor of the tavern, a burly, red-faced Cossack, Peter
+Basilivitch by name, was in the employ and under the protection of the
+Governor of Alexandrovsk, in which department the village of Togarog
+lay. The rent paid by Basilivitch was nominal, it is true, but he sold
+enormous quantities of liquor, all of which he was obliged to buy from
+the Governor's stills; furthermore, he furnished his master with such
+information concerning the actions, words, and even thoughts of his
+patrons, as came under his observation; and as the serfs that frequented
+"Paradise" had no suspicion of the true relation betwixt master and
+man, the Governor was enabled to keep himself accurately informed as to
+the sayings and doings of his subjects.
+
+Let us enter the public room, this bright Sunday afternoon in the month
+of April, in the year 1850. A dense crowd has assembled to-day to do
+honor to Basilivitch's wretched liquor. The face of the host fairly
+gloats in anticipation of the lucrative harvest that he will glean. He
+rubs his hands gleefully, as he orders his servants about.
+
+"Here, Ivan, a pint of _vodka_, and be quick about it! Alexander, you
+lazy dog, here comes the village elder, Selaski Starosta--see that he is
+served!"
+
+And the crowd continues to grow, until his room will scarcely seat all
+the guests.
+
+There are sturdy farmers, wearing their heavy coats and fur caps, in
+spite of the sultry weather and still warmer alcoholic beverages, and
+swearing and vociferating in sonorous Russian. There are gossiping
+women, decked in their caps and many-colored finery. There are
+smartly-arrayed young girls, chatting merrily with the swains at their
+side. Unruly children scamper, barefooted and bareheaded, around and
+under the tables. Puling infants and barking dogs add their discord to
+the din and confusion. It is a scene one is not apt to forget.
+
+We repeat it, this is Sunday; the one day when the arm of the laborer
+obtains a respite from the tasks imposed upon it during the week; and
+the serf of Russia knows no diversion, can find no relaxation, but in
+the genial climate of a tavern. But this is no ordinary occasion. Not
+every Sunday ushers in so bountiful a supply of customers to Peter
+Basilivitch's inn as this. There must be something of unusual
+importance, perhaps some interesting bit of rumor from the capital, that
+unites the inhabitants of Togarog. After the alcoholic beverages that
+are so freely imbibed fulfil their mission and loosen the wits and the
+tongues of these good _moujiks_, we may arrive at the cause. Nor have we
+long to wait. Already in the far corner of the dingy and smoke-obscured
+room, we hear voices in altercation; a hot, angry dispute forces itself
+upon our ears, and the people cease their revels to listen.
+
+"Say what you will," shouted one fur-bedecked individual; "it is an
+outrage! We are already burdened with enough taxes. Three days of the
+week we must work for the master of our lands, and but three days are
+left us for our own support; and now they want to tax us again for a war
+in which we have no interest."
+
+"But the Czar must have the money," retorted another. "The people of
+Poland are in a state of rebellion, and the army has already been
+ordered out to subdue that province."
+
+"Let them tax the nobles, then," angrily cried a third. "Why do they
+constantly bleed the poor peasant? Do they want to suck the last drop of
+our life's blood? I tell you, we ought not submit."
+
+"How will you help yourselves?" sneeringly asked the host, who, with
+napkin tucked under his chin, stood near the speakers, and lost not a
+word of the conversation.
+
+How, indeed? Silence fell over the disputants. The question had been
+asked, alas! how often, but the answer had not yet been forthcoming.
+
+"Let us arise and organize," at length cried the first speaker, one
+Podoloff by name, who was known as a man of great daring and more than
+average intelligence, and who had upon more than one occasion been
+unconsciously very near having himself transported to Siberia. "Let us
+organize!" he repeated. "Think ye we alone are tired of this wretched
+existence? Think ye that the peasants of Radtsk and Mohilev and Kief are
+less human than ourselves, and that they are less weary of the slavery
+under which they drag out a miserable existence? Let us assert our
+rights! With the proper organization, and a few good leaders, we could
+humble this proud nobility and bring it to our feet. There was a time
+when the Russian peasant was a free man, with the privilege to go
+whither he pleased, but a word from an arrogant ruler changed it all,
+and we are now bound and fettered like veritable slaves."
+
+A murmur of surprise swept through the room. Such an incendiary harangue
+was new to the serfs of that region. Never before had such revolutionary
+doctrines been openly advanced. Subdued complaints, undefined
+expressions of discontent, were frequent, and were as frequently
+repressed, but such an outspoken insult to the reigning nobility, such a
+fearless invitation to rebellion against the authorities, were unheard
+of.
+
+The village elder, a venerable and worthy man, arose and sought to check
+the fiery eloquence of the orator.
+
+"Be silent, Podoloff," he commanded. "It is not for you to speak against
+the existing order of things. Your father and your father's father were
+content to live as you do, and were none the worse for it. By what right
+do you complain?"
+
+"By the right that every human being ought to enjoy!" retorted Podoloff.
+"Our condition is growing worse every year. Last year the Czar imposed
+a tax on account of the disturbances in Poland. Three months later, the
+Governor created another tax to pay for his new palace. Now there is to
+be still another tax, bigger than the last. No; we ought not to stand
+it. It has reached the limit of endurance."
+
+Murmurs of approval arose from various quarters, only to be quickly
+suppressed by the cooler heads in the assembly.
+
+"Still we have much to be thankful for," said an old cobbler, Sobelefsky
+by name. "The nobles are very kind to us. They supply us with implements
+and find a market for our grain."
+
+"And for that they rob us of our money and our liberty," retorted
+Podoloff, hotly. "Ask Simon Schefsky there, how much he owes to our
+gracious Governor, who last year took from him his pretty daughter, that
+her charms might while away his weary hours in Alexandrovsk."
+
+"He is a tyrant!" shouted several women, their rough cheeks tingling at
+the recollection of recent indignities. The cry was taken up by many of
+the poor wretches present.
+
+What material there was in "Paradise" for the infernal regions of
+Siberia!
+
+In vain did Selaski Starosta endeavor to make himself heard. In vain did
+the older and more conservative among the company advise caution. The
+passion of an angry and enslaved people had for the moment broken its
+bonds, and the tumult could not be quelled by mere words.
+
+"See!" cried Podoloff, emboldened by his success. He sprang upon a table
+and tore a paper from his pocket. "Yesterday I went to Kharkov to sell
+some cattle. I found that the people there had already organized. They
+have sent a petition to the Czar, asking for greater liberties. Here is
+a copy. Let me read it to you," and, amid a silence as profound as the
+occasional bark of a dog or the wail of a child would permit, Podoloff
+read the following:
+
+"Russia, O Czar, confided to thee supreme power, and thou wert to her as
+a God upon earth. What hast thou done? Blinded by passion and ignorance,
+thou hast sought nothing but power! Thou hast forgotten Russia! Thou
+hast consumed thy time in reviewing troops, in altering uniforms, in
+signing the legislative papers of ignorant charlatans. Thou hast created
+a despicable race of censors of the press, that thou mightst sleep in
+peace, and never know the wants, never hear the murmurs of thy people,
+never listen to the voice of truth. Truth! Thou hast buried her. For her
+there is no resurrection. Thou hast refused liberty. At the same time
+thou wast enslaved by thy passions. By thy pride and thy obstinacy thou
+hast exhausted Russia. Thou hast armed the world against her. Humiliate
+thyself before thy brothers! Bow thy haughty forehead in the dust!
+Implore pardon! Ask counsel! Throw thyself in the arms of thy people.
+There is no other way of salvation for thee!"[2]
+
+Podoloff replaced the paper in his pocket, and looked triumphantly about
+him. A twofold sentiment greeted the reading of this wonderful
+manifesto. The younger generation were disposed to applaud it, but the
+older men, those who preferred to bear the evils they had rather than
+fly to those they knew not of, shook their fur-capped heads in doubt.
+
+"Did the writers sign their names to that article?" asked the
+circumspect old cobbler.
+
+"Not they," answered Podoloff. "They valued their lives too highly. But
+nearly every village in the north has sent the Czar a similar petition.
+Nicholas must in the end perceive our misery, and lighten our burdens."
+
+"Or make our existence doubly bitter," answered old Schefsky. "It is a
+dangerous experiment."
+
+"The Government will take no notice of it, unless it be to double your
+taxes," said the Elder.
+
+At the word "taxes," a new storm of wailing and imprecations broke out.
+
+"I could not pay another kopeck," cried one cadaverous looking wretch.
+"I work myself to death, and as it is can hardly keep starvation from
+the door."
+
+"Why don't they tax the nobles?" asked another. "They can stand it."
+
+"Or the Jews," cried a third, whose liberal potations of alcohol had
+brought him to the verge of intoxication. "Let them take all they
+possess. A Jew don't work in the fields. He has no right to wealth!"
+
+Here was a topic upon which all these people were cordially agreed.
+
+"Oppress the Jews."
+
+There was not a dissenting voice in the room.
+
+"The Czar has need of soldiers. Why don't he take the sons of Jews for
+his wars?"
+
+"We must sit and toil till our nails fall off, while the Jews do nothing
+but grow rich."
+
+"We'll have no more of it! Let the Jews pay the taxes."
+
+And so the cry went on. Glass after glass of _vodka_ moistened the
+capacious throats that had shrieked themselves hoarse, and in the cry of
+"Down with the Jews!" the other more dangerous cry of "Down with the
+Nobles!" was for the moment forgotten.
+
+It was with difficulty that the Elder of the commune could make himself
+heard above the din.
+
+"My friends," he finally said, "I am afraid we have made bad work of it
+to-day. Should this get to the Governor's ears, I fear some of us will
+suffer. I hope, however, that what we have to-day heard and discussed
+will remain our secret. I trust all of you. I am sure there is no
+traitor among us who would betray our deliberations to the Governor. As
+regards our condition, let us be patient. We have nothing serious to
+complain of. If the Czar needs money, ours should be at his disposal. If
+he needs men for the army, we are his subjects and his property.
+Whatever he does, is for the best. Let us submit. As to the manifesto we
+have just heard, we will have none of it. Other _mirs_ may do as they
+please, but we will remain loyal to our Czar and our Governor, and live
+our quiet, uneventful lives."
+
+These words, delivered in a simple but forcible manner by the
+acknowledged head of the village, did not fail of their desired effect.
+The rabble, realizing the danger into which its enthusiasm had hurried
+it, became but too anxious to appear on the side of the Government.
+Those who had been loudest in their outcry, now meekly protested against
+disloyalty, and Podoloff suddenly found himself bereft of all friends,
+with the exception of three or four fearless supporters, as stanch as
+their leader. In vain he sought by his eloquence to regain his lost
+ground, but he was in a hopeless minority, and, gulping down the
+remaining spirits which stood before him, he prepared to leave the
+tavern.
+
+"Continue to suffer," were his parting words. "No people is worse off
+than it deserves to be. But the day is not far distant when the serf
+shall be able to hold up his head, a free man, and that will be
+accomplished as soon as you all feel the humiliation of being slaves!"
+
+The meeting broke up in great disorder. Sentiment appeared to be
+divided, but the radicals were very circumspect in their remarks, for
+earlier experience had taught them that, under an autocratic government
+like that of Czar Nicholas, silence was golden. The blandly smiling
+host, Basilivitch, went from group to group, threw in a word here and a
+suggestion there, smiled at this man's eloquence and ridiculed that
+man's caution, all the while making a mental inventory of the facts he
+would lay before the Governor on the next morning.
+
+The peasants, when they retired for the night, felt none of that
+pleasurable exaltation which should accompany a step towards liberty,
+but were oppressed by the weight of an undefined terror, as though they
+were on the verge of some catastrophe.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: "Looking about, one saw venality in full feather, serfdom
+crushing people like a rock, informers lurking everywhere. No one could
+safely express himself in the presence of his dearest friend. There was
+no common bond, no general interest. Fear and flattery were
+universal."--_Tourgenieff._]
+
+[Footnote 2: Leroy-Boileau.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+MASTER AND MAN.
+
+
+A clear April morning was dawning when Basilivitch saddled his horse and
+rode off in the direction of Alexandrovsk, at which place he arrived at
+noon and at once repaired to the Governor's residence. A crowd of idle
+and flashily-dressed servants, all of whom were serfs, lounged about the
+new and stately palace, and found exhilarating amusement in setting
+their ferocious dogs upon the unoffending farmers who happened to pass
+that way. The greater the fear evinced by the victims, the greater was
+the delight of the humorously inclined menials, and if perchance a dog
+succeeded in fixing his fangs in the garments or calf of a pedestrian
+their mirth found vent in ecstatic shouts of laughter. Basilivitch had
+on more than one occasion been upon such errands as that which brought
+him to-day, and seemed on terms of familiarity with the liveried
+guardians of the palace. They obligingly called off their dogs, and at
+once announced the innkeeper to his excellency, General Drudkoff. The
+Governor had dined sumptuously and received his henchman graciously.
+
+Stretching himself upon a sofa and lazily rolling a cigarette, he said:
+
+"Well, Basilivitch, what news do you bring? How fare my good subjects at
+Togarog?"
+
+"I have bad news, your excellency," answered Basilivitch. "My heart is
+sad at the information I have to impart. Insurrection is rife in our
+village, and not only your excellency, but also his majesty the Czar is
+in imminent danger."
+
+The Governor sprang up from his couch, and his face became ashen white
+with fear. There was perhaps no man in all Russia more cruel, and at the
+same time more cowardly, than this General Drudkoff.
+
+"Explain yourself," he cried, at length recovering from his terror.
+"What do you mean?"
+
+Thereupon the loyal Basilivitch began a recital of the events of the
+previous evening. Nor did he spare exaggeration where it suited him to
+strive for effect. According to his version, Podoloff had incited his
+fellow-peasants to march at once to Alexandrovsk and attack his
+excellency in the palace. The line of march had already been formed with
+the arch agitator, Podoloff, at the head.
+
+"I saw," said Basilivitch, waxing warm as his recital progressed, "I saw
+that it would fare ill with your excellency if the progress of the mob
+was not arrested. With a handful of friends, therefore, I threw myself
+in front of the insurgents and commanded them to disband."
+
+"Well done," cried the Governor, upon whom every word made a profound
+impression. "What did Podoloff do?"
+
+"He would have come on alone, but I overpowered him and secured him in
+my barn, where he spent the night in imprecations against your
+excellency."
+
+"You did well, Basilivitch, and I shall not forget you. But who were
+Podoloff's accomplices? You say a number of men supported him in his
+treasonable utterances."
+
+"Yes; there were fully a dozen of them," said Basilivitch, counting upon
+his fingers, and enumerating a number of poor innocents, whose only
+offence lay in the fact that Basilivitch owed them some private grudge.
+"There were quite a number of Jews in the assembly," continued the
+innkeeper; "and their presence seemed to cause a great deal of
+ill-feeling."
+
+Now it happened that there was not a single Jew in the tavern on that
+memorable Sunday. The twelve Israelitish families of Togarog found
+sufficient relaxation and entertainment in their own circle, and did not
+in the least yearn after the boisterous and uncivil companionship of
+Russian _moujiks_. Alas! they knew but too well that taunts and insults
+would be their portion, if they but dared to show themselves at one of
+these public gatherings. Moreover, the Jews were in the midst of their
+Passover, a time during which the partaking of any refreshments not
+prepared according to their strict ritual is sternly interdicted.
+
+Be that as it may, Basilivitch did not allow such simple facts to stand
+in his way. He had come with a very pretty and effective tale, and drew
+largely upon his imagination to make it dramatic.
+
+"Ah, the Jews again!" hissed the Governor. "Did they take an active part
+in the insurrection?"
+
+Basilivitch was forced to admit that they did not.
+
+The Governor appeared disappointed.
+
+"Well, what matters it?" he said. "They have been a menace to us long
+enough. I doubt whether they have a legal right to live in this part of
+Russia. We must investigate the matter. In the meantime, we will make an
+example of them. Give me the names of those Hebrews that were present."
+
+Basilivitch's powers of improvisation failed him. In vain he endeavored
+to remember the names of the Jews who would most likely have been
+implicated in such an affair, but the names had slipped his memory.
+
+"Your excellency," he stammered, "I never could tax my memory with their
+outlandish names."
+
+"It is of no consequence," said the Governor. "A Jew is a Jew. We will
+make an example of the entire tribe. And now, good Basilivitch, of what
+do the people complain?"
+
+"It is a mere bagatelle, your excellency. They would like to imitate
+their betters and live a life of ease and luxury; as though a serf were
+created for anything but labor. They complain that they cannot lie upon
+a bed of roses. They want their taxes remitted and would like their
+children to be sent to school, to be brought up to detest honest work."
+
+"Preposterous!" exclaimed the Governor. "What else have they to complain
+of?"
+
+"They say that, while they must toil from morning till night, the Jews
+do nothing but amass wealth; that they must provide men for the army,
+while the Jews remain at home."
+
+"Stop!" cried the Governor in a fury. "Is what they say concerning the
+Jews true?"
+
+"It is, your excellency. They do not work in the fields, they have no
+trades, they simply buy and sell and make money."
+
+The Governor paced the room in silence, an occasional vehement gesture
+alone giving evidence of the agitation or fear that was raging within
+him. Finally, he stopped and stood before the obsequious Basilivitch.
+
+"We will find a plan to humble the haughty race," he said. "Return to
+Togarog and keep your eyes open. Make out a list of the Jews in the
+village, and find out exactly how many boys there are in each family,
+and what are their ages. We will remove the brats from their parents'
+influence and send them to the army, where they will soon become loyal
+soldiers and faithful Catholics. Bring me the names of the _moujiks_ who
+supported Podoloff in his rebellion. I shall send them to Siberia to
+reflect on the uncertainty of human aspirations. Now, go! Here is a
+rouble for you. Should any new symptoms of revolt show themselves, send
+me word at once."
+
+Scarcely had the door closed upon Basilivitch, before the Governor rang
+for his Secretary.
+
+"Send two officers to Togarog at once," he commanded. "It appears my
+good serfs are becoming unruly, and would like a taste of freedom. Let
+the officers disguise themselves as peasants, and carefully observe
+every action of Podoloff and his friends. Let our faithful Basilivitch
+also be watched. I have my suspicions concerning that fellow. He is too
+ready with his information."
+
+The Secretary left the room to fulfil the Governor's instructions, while
+Basilivitch remounted his horse and returned to his _kretschma_, to
+serve, with smiling countenance and friendly mien, the men whom he had
+devoted to irretrievable ruin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A FAMILY IN ISRAEL.
+
+
+In a remote portion of Togarog, and separated from the main village by a
+number of wretched lanes, lay the Jewish quarter. A decided improvement
+in the general condition of the houses which formed this suburb was
+plainly visible to the casual observer. The houses were, if possible,
+more unpretentious than those of the serfs, yet there was an air of
+home-like comfort about them, an impression of neatness and cleanliness
+prevailed, which one would seek for in vain among the semi-barbarous
+peasants of Southern Russia. To the inhabitants of these poor huts, home
+was everything. The ordinary occupations, the primitive diversions of
+the serfs, were forbidden them. Shunned and decried by their gentile
+neighbors, the Jews meekly withdrew into the seclusion of their
+dwellings, and allowed the wicked world to wag. Their "home" was
+synonymous with their happiness, with their existence.
+
+The shadows of evening were falling upon the quiet village. Above, the
+stars were beginning to twinkle in the calmness of an April sky, and
+brighter and brighter shone the candles in the houses of the Jews,
+inviting the wayfarer to the cheer of a hospitable board.
+
+It is the Jewish Sabbath eve, the divine day of rest. The hardships and
+worry of daily toil are succeeded by a peaceful and joyous repose. The
+trials and humiliations of a week of care are followed by a day of peace
+and security.
+
+The poor, despised Hebrew, who, during the past week, has been hunted
+and persecuted, bound by the chain of intolerance and scourged by the
+whip of fanaticism; who, in fair weather and foul, has wandered from
+place to place with his pack, stinting, starving himself, that he may
+provide bread for his wife and little ones, has returned for the Sabbath
+eve, to find, in the presence and in the smiles of his dear ones, an
+ample compensation for the care and anxiety he has been compelled to
+endure.
+
+At the end of the street, and not far from the last house in the
+settlement, stands the House of Prayer. Thither the population of the
+Jewish quarter wends its way. Men arrayed in their best attire, and
+followed by troops of children, who from earliest infancy have been
+taught to acknowledge the efficacy of prayer, enter the synagogue.
+
+It is a poor, modest-looking enclosure.
+
+A number of tallow candles illumine its recesses. The _oron-hakodesh_,
+or ark containing the holy Pentateuch, a shabbily-covered pulpit, or
+_almemor_, and a few rough praying-desks for the men, are all that
+relieve the emptiness of the room. Around one side there runs a gallery,
+in which the women sit during divine service. In spite of its humble
+plainness, the place beams with cheerfulness; it bears the impress of
+holiness. Gradually the benches fill. All of the men, and many of the
+boys who form the population of the quarter, are present.
+
+Reb Mordecai Winenki, the reader, begins the service. Prayers of sincere
+gratitude are sent on high. The worshippers greet the Sabbath as a lover
+greets his long-awaited bride--with joy, with smiles, with loving
+fervor. The service is at an end and the happy participants return to
+their homes.
+
+Beautiful is the legend of the Sabbath eve.
+
+When a man leaves the synagogue for his home, an Angel of Good and an
+Angel of Evil accompany him. If he finds the table spread in his house,
+the Sabbath lamps lighted, and his wife and children in festive attire,
+ready to bless the holy day of rest, then the good Angel says:
+
+"May the next Sabbath and all thy Sabbaths be like this. Peace unto this
+dwelling!"
+
+And the Angel of Evil is forced to say, "Amen."
+
+No one, indeed, would, before entering one of these poor, unpainted huts
+expect to find the cheerful and brilliant interior that greets his eyes.
+Let us enter one of the houses, that of Reb Mordecai Winenki.
+
+The table is covered with a snow-white cloth. The utensils are clean and
+bright. The board is spread with tempting viands. An antique brass lamp,
+polished like a mirror, hangs from the ceiling, and the flame from its
+six arms sheds a soft light upon the table beneath. A number of silver
+candlesticks among the dishes add to the illumination.
+
+On this evening, Mordecai returned from the synagogue with his son
+Mendel, a lad of thirteen, and his brother-in-law, Hirsch Bensef, a
+resident of Kief. Mordecai was a thin, pale-faced, brown-bearded man of
+forty or thereabouts, with shoulders stooping as though under a weight
+of care; perhaps, though, it was from the sedentary life he led,
+teaching unruly children the elements of Hebrew and religion. He had
+resided in Togarog for fourteen years, ever since he had married Leah,
+the daughter of Reb Bensef of Kief. His wife's brother was a man of
+different stamp. He was a few years younger than Mordecai. His step was
+firm, his head erect, his beard jet black, and his intellect, though not
+above the superstitious fancies of his time and race, was, for all
+ordinary transactions, especially those of trade, eminently clear and
+powerful. He was, as we shall see, one of the wealthiest Jewish
+merchants in Kief, and therefore quite a power in the community of that
+place.
+
+Leah met the men at the door.
+
+"Good _Shabbes_, my dear husband; good _Shabbes_, brother," said the
+woman, cheerfully, her matronly face all aglow with pride and pleasure.
+"You must be famished from your long trip, brother."
+
+"Yes, I am very hungry. I have tasted nothing since I left Kharkov, at
+five o'clock this morning."
+
+"How kind of you to come all that distance to our boy's _bar-mitzvah!_
+He can never be sufficiently grateful."
+
+"He is my god-child," said the man, affectionately stroking his nephew's
+head. "I take great pride in him. It has pleased the Lord to deny me
+children, and the deprivation is hard to bear. Sister, let me take
+Mendel with me. I am rich and can give him all he can desire. He shall
+study Talmud and become a great and famous rabbi, of whom all the world
+will one day speak in praise. You have still another boy, while my home
+is dreary for want of a child's presence. What say you?"
+
+But the mother had, long before the conclusion of this appeal, clasped
+the boy to her bosom, while the tears of love forced themselves through
+her lashes at the bare suggestion of parting from her first-born.
+
+"God forbid," she cried, "that he should ever leave me; my precious
+boy." And she embraced him again and again.
+
+Meanwhile, the husband had crossed the room to where a little fellow,
+scarcely six years of age, lay upon a sofa.
+
+"Well, Jacob, my boy; how do you feel?" he asked, gently.
+
+"A little better, father," murmured the child. "My arm and ear still
+pain me, but not so much as yesterday."
+
+The boy sat up and attempted to smile, but sank back with a groan.
+
+"Poor child, poor child," said the father, soothingly, "Have patience.
+In a few days you will be about again."
+
+"Is uncle here? I want to see uncle," cried the boy.
+
+Hirsch Bensef obeyed the call, and, going to the sufferer, kissed his
+burning brow.
+
+"Why, Jacob; how is this?" he said. "I did not know that you were sick.
+What is the trouble, my lad?" The child turned his face to the wall and
+shuddered.
+
+Reb Mordecai shook his head mournfully, while a tear he sought to
+repress ran down his furrowed cheek.
+
+"It is the old story," he said. "Prejudice and fanaticism, hatred and
+ignorance."
+
+And while the Sabbath meal waited, the father told his tale in a simple,
+unaffected manner, and the uncle listened with clenched hands and
+threatening glances.
+
+The day following the events in the _kretschma_, little Jacob had
+wandered, in company with some Christian playmates, through the village,
+and seeing the door of a barn wide open, his childish curiosity got the
+better of his discretion, and he peeped in. A brindled cow, with a
+pretty calf scarcely three days old, attracted his attention, and for
+some minutes he gazed upon the pair in silent ecstasy. Then, knowing
+that he was on forbidden ground, he retraced his steps and endeavored to
+reach the lane where he had left his companions. The master of the farm,
+however, having witnessed the intrusion from a neighboring window, did
+not lose the opportunity to vent his anger against the whole tribe of
+inquisitive Jews. On the following day the cow ran dry. In vain did the
+calf seek nourishment at the maternal breast; there was nothing to
+satisfy its cravings.
+
+The farmer, slow as he was in matters of general importance, was far
+from slow in tracing the melancholy occurrence to its supposed source.
+
+"That accursed Jew has bewitched my cow," was his first thought, and his
+second was to find the author of the deed and mete out punishment to
+him.
+
+Throughout the whole of Russia, and even in parts of civilized Germany,
+Jews are accused of all manner of sorcery. The _Cabala_ is the principal
+religious authority of the lower classes among the Russian Jews, and
+this may perhaps inspire such a preposterous notion. The Jews,
+themselves, frequently believe that some one of their own number is in
+possession of supernatural secrets which give him wonderful and awful
+powers. Many were the tortures which these poor people were doomed to
+endure for their supposed influence over nature's laws.
+
+It was an easy matter to find little Jacob. His hours at the _cheder_
+(school) were over. He was sure to be playing upon the streets, and his
+capture was quickly effected. Seizing the innocent little fellow by the
+arm, the irate peasant lifted him off his feet, and dragged him by sheer
+force into the barn, where he confronted the malefactor with his victim.
+
+"So, you thought you could bewitch my cow," he hissed. "But I saw you,
+Jew, and, by our holy Czar, I swear that, unless you repair the damage,
+I shall feed your carcass to the dogs."
+
+Poor Jacob was too terrified to understand of what crime he had been
+accused. He looked piteously at his tormentor, and burst into tears.
+
+"Well?" cried the peasant, impatiently; "will you take off the spell, or
+shall I call my dog?"
+
+The child, knowing that such threats were not made in vain, endeavored
+to plead his innocence, but the bellowing of the hungry calf outweighed
+the sobbing of the boy, and with an angry oath Jacob was struck to the
+ground, and a ferocious bull-dog, but little more brutal than his
+master, was set upon the helpless little fellow.
+
+"Please, Mr. Farmer, don't kill me," he pleaded, groaning in pain.
+
+"Will you cure my cow?" demanded the peasant.
+
+"I'll try to; I'll do my best," sobbed the boy, whose pain made him
+diplomatic at last.
+
+The dog was called off, and the child, after promising to restore the
+cow to her former condition, was turned out into the lane, where his
+mother found him an hour later, unconscious, his body lacerated, one arm
+broken, and a portion of his right ear torn off.
+
+When Reb Mordecai concluded his sad narration, all about him were in
+tears.
+
+"Just God!" exclaimed the uncle; "hast Thou indeed deserted Thy people,
+that Thou canst allow such indignities? How long, O Lord! must we endure
+these torments?"
+
+"Nay, brother," sobbed the poor mother, while she caressed her ailing
+boy; "what God does is for the best. It is not for us to peer into his
+inscrutable actions. But come, Mordecai, banish your sorrows. This is
+_Shabbes_, a day of joy and peace. Come, the table is spread."
+
+Father and mother placed their hands upon the heads of their children,
+and pronounced the solemn blessing:--"May God let you become like
+Ephraim and Manasseh!" and the family took their places at the table.
+
+Then Mordecai made _kiddush_, which consisted in blessing the wine,
+without which no Jewish Sabbath is complete, and having pronounced
+_motzi_, a similar prayer over the bread, he dipped the latter in salt,
+and passed a small piece to each of the participants. It is a ceremony
+which no pious Jew ever neglects.
+
+In spite of the recent affliction, the meal was a merry one. The poorest
+Israelite will deny himself even the necessaries of life during the six
+working-days, that he may live well on the Sabbath. Reb Mordecai was a
+poor man. He had a small income, derived from teaching the Talmud to the
+children in the vicinity, from transcribing the holy scrolls, and from
+sundry bits of work for which he was fitted by his intellectual
+attainments. He was the most influential Jew in the settlement and not
+even the fanatical serfs of the village could find a complaint to make
+against his character or person.
+
+The theme of conversation was naturally the family festival, which would
+take place upon the morrow. Mendel having attained his thirteenth year
+and acquired due proficiency in the difficult studies of the Jewish law,
+would become _bar-mitzvah_; in other words, he would take upon himself
+the responsibility of a man before God and the world, and acknowledge
+his readiness to act and suffer for the maintenance of the belief in
+_Adonai Echod_--the only God. Mendel, under his father's tuition, had
+made rapid strides. He was the wonder of every male inhabitant of the
+community. His knowledge of the Scriptures was simply phenomenal, and
+his philosophical reasoning puzzled and astonished his friends.
+
+"He will be a great rabbi some day," they prophesied.
+
+Hirsch Bensef had journeyed all the way from Kief to take part in the
+family festival. There were some privileges which not even the wealthy
+Jews of Russia could purchase, and among them was the right to travel in
+a public conveyance. Hirsch was obliged to journey as best he could. A
+kindly disposed wagoner had permitted him to ride part of the way, but
+the greater portion of the distance he was compelled to walk. Still, at
+any cost, he had determined not to miss so important an event as his
+nephew's _bar-mitzvah_.
+
+The bread having been broken, the supper was proceeded with. The fish
+was succulent and the cake delicious. A lofty and religious Sabbath
+sentiment enhanced the charm of the whole meal. Then a prayer of thanks
+was offered, the dishes were cleared away and the family settled
+themselves at ease, to discuss the topics most dear to them.
+
+"You make a great mistake, sister," said Bensef, "if you allow Mendel to
+waste his time in this village. The boy is much too bright for his
+surroundings."
+
+"Don't begin that subject again," said the mother, determinedly; "for I
+positively will not hear of his leaving. The parting would kill me."
+
+"But," continued her brother, "have you ever asked yourself what his
+future will be in this wretched neighborhood? Shall he waste his
+precious years helping his father teach _cheder_? Shall he earn a few
+paltry kopecks in making _tzitzith_ (fringes for the praying scarfs) for
+the _Jehudim_ in the village? Or, shall he cobble shoes or peddle from
+place to place with a bundle upon his back, which are the only two
+occupations open to the despised race?"
+
+"Alas!" sighed the mother, "what you say may be true. But what would you
+propose for the boy?"
+
+"Let him go with me to Kief. There are nearly fifteen thousand of our
+co-religionists in that city; and, while their lot is not an enviable
+one, it is decidedly better than vegetating in a village. Our celebrated
+Rabbi Jeiteles is getting old and we will soon need a successor. It is
+an honorable position and one which our little Mendel will some day be
+able to fill. Would you not like living in a big city, my boy?"
+
+Mendel hovered between filial affection and a desire to see the big
+world. It was difficult to decide.
+
+"I should like to remain with father and mother--and Jacob," he
+stammered, "and yet----"
+
+"And yet," continued his uncle, "you would love to come to Kief, where
+everything is grand and brilliant, where the stores and booths are
+fairly alive with light and beauty, where the soldiers parade every day
+in gorgeous uniforms. Ah, my boy, there is life for you!"
+
+"But how much of that life may the Jews enjoy?" asked Mordecai. "Are
+they not restricted in their privileges and deprived of every
+possibility of rising in station? Is their lot any happier than ours in
+this village, where, at all events, we are not troubled with the envy
+which the sight of so much luxury must bring with it?"
+
+"It will not always be so," said Bensef, confidently. "With each year we
+may expect reforms, and where will they strike first if not in the
+cities? Nicholas already has plans under consideration, whereby the
+condition of the serfs may be bettered."
+
+"How will that benefit our race?"
+
+"How? I will tell you. The serf persecutes the Jew because he is himself
+persecuted by the nobility. There is no real animosity between the
+peasant and his Jewish neighbors. Our wretched state is the outgrowth of
+a petty tyranny, in which the serf desires to imitate his superiors. Let
+the people once enjoy freedom and they will cease to persecute the
+Hebrews, without whom they cannot exist."
+
+"Absurd ideas," interrupted the teacher. "Our degradation proceeds not
+from the people, but from those in authority. Our lot will not improve
+until the Messiah comes with sword in hand, to deliver us from our
+enemies. Remember the proverb: 'The heavens are far, but further the
+Czar.'"
+
+"But about Mendel?" asked Bensef, suddenly reverting to his original
+topic, for in spite of his hopeful theories, he did not feel sanguine
+that he would live to see their realization.
+
+"The matter is not pressing," said the father. "We can think it over,
+and decide before you return to Kief."
+
+"No, no!" cried Leah; "Mendel must not leave us. Promise to remain, my
+child!"
+
+But the boy was now delighted with the idea of accompanying his uncle.
+He asked a thousand questions concerning the wonderful town of Kief,
+which suddenly became the goal of all his hopes and ambitions.
+
+Bensef took the boy upon his lap and told him all about the great city,
+which had once been the capital of Russia. Mendel listened and sighed.
+His eyes beamed with pleasurable anticipation. Before going to bed, he
+threw his arms about his mother's neck.
+
+"Mother," he whispered; "let me go to Kief. I want to become great."
+
+Leah held him in a convulsive embrace, but said nothing.
+
+The morrow was Saturday--Sabbath morning. The little synagogue was
+crowded with an expectant throng. It was long since there had been a
+_bar-mitzvah_ in Togarog, and Israelites came from all the villages in
+the vicinity to witness the happy event. Happy seemed the men, arrayed
+in their white _tallesim_ (praying scarfs)--happy at the thought of
+another member being added to their ranks. Happy appeared the mothers in
+the reflection that their sons, too, would some day be admitted to the
+holy rite. When Mendel finally mounted the _almemor_ (pulpit), and began
+his _Bar'chu eth Adonai_, the audience scarcely breathed.
+
+Like a finished scholar did Mendel recite his _sidrah_, that portion of
+the _Torah_ or Law which was appropriate to the day. This was followed
+by the _drosha_, a well-committed speech, expressive of gratitude to his
+parents and teachers, and full of beautiful promises of a future that
+should be pleasant in the eyes of the Lord. The words fell from his lips
+as though inspired. It was a proud moment for the boy's parents. Their
+tears mingled with their smiles. Forgotten were hardships and
+persecutions. God still held happiness in reserve for his chosen people.
+When the boy concluded his exercises, kisses and congratulations were
+showered upon him by his admiring friends.
+
+"Hirsch Bensef is right," said Mordecai to his wife. "Mendel ought to go
+to some large city. He has wonderful talents. He may become a great
+rabbi. Who can tell?"
+
+"We shall see; we shall see!" replied his wife, with a look of mingled
+pleasure and pain. But she did not say her husband was in the wrong.
+
+In the afternoon the entire congregation visited Reb Mordecai, so that
+the little house scarcely held all the people. The men came with their
+long _caftans_, the women with their black silk robes, their prettiest
+wigs, and strings of pearls; and one and all brought presents, tokens of
+their esteem. Naturally, Mendel was the centre of attraction. His
+present, past and future were discussed. A brilliant career was
+predicted for him, and he was held up as a model to his juniors.
+
+Little Jacob was also the recipient of attentions from young and old.
+His mishap, though painful, was not an exceptional case. Similar ones
+occurred almost weekly in the surrounding country. What mattered it?
+His arm would be stiff and his ear mutilated to the end of his days; but
+he was only a Jew--doomed to live and suffer for his belief in the one
+God. It was a sad consolation they gave him, but it was the best they
+had to offer.
+
+The poor children, Christian as well as Jew, came from miles around to
+receive alms, which were generously given. Then refreshments were
+served, followed by speeches and jests; and so the afternoon and evening
+wore merrily away, and night--a dark and dismal night--followed the
+happy day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A NIGHT OF TERROR.
+
+
+The guests had retired to their homes. The children had been blessed and
+sent to bed. The parents throughout the quarter, having discussed the
+one topic of the day, Mendel's _bar-mitzvah_, had extinguished their
+candles and sought their pillows, preparatory to again venturing forth
+into a cold and inhospitable world in search of their meagre
+subsistence.
+
+In the village, too, the serfs had retired, the brawling in "Paradise"
+had gradually ceased, and silent night had cast her mantle of sleep over
+Togarog.
+
+A dim rumbling of wagons, a clattering of horses' hoofs, a murmur of
+men's voices fell upon the air. Nearer and nearer came the sounds and
+the soldiers that produced them, until the village was reached. With as
+little noise as possible, the company crept through the narrow streets
+until they came to the inn of our friend Basilivitch, who evidently
+expected them, for he hastily opened the door and bade the martial band
+enter. There was a whispered consultation between the host and the
+leader of the soldiers. Basilivitch put on his cap and guided the
+captain through the village. Carefully the two scanned the houses, and
+now and then Basilivitch drew a cross upon one of the doors with a piece
+of red chalk. They then directed their footsteps to the Jewish quarter,
+where they repeated their tactics, and finally rejoined their companions
+in "Paradise." Here the soldiers were given their instructions, and
+silently and stealthily, lest they might arouse the village and invite
+resistance, they crept forth in twos, to the huts marked with the mystic
+sign of the cross. The house of Podoloff was the first they reached.
+Cautiously one of the soldiers knocked at the door.
+
+"Who's there?" cried a voice, inside.
+
+"Friends! Open at once!" was the enticing answer.
+
+Podoloff hastily attired himself, and, cautiously opening the door, he
+peeped through the crevice. At the sight of the soldiers, he
+instinctively divined danger, and tried to bar the entrance. Too late!
+One of the soldiers had already thrust the muzzle of his gun into the
+opening, while the other forced his way into the room.
+
+"Utter a single cry," he said, "and you are a corpse."
+
+Resistance was useless. Podoloff, in spite of his pleading, was seized
+and his hands bound behind him. Then, while one man held guard over the
+captive's wife and children, the other ransacked the house, rummaging
+through filthy and worm-eaten closets, and exploring dirty coffers, into
+which had been thrust a wretched assortment of rags--the garb of
+slavery. Every scrap of paper was captured and jealously guarded.
+During this time, the greatest silence was preserved. Other arrests were
+to be made, and it was imperative upon the men to take every precaution
+not to arouse the intended victims prematurely.
+
+"Forward, march!" commanded one of the soldiers; and poor Podoloff,
+without even daring to bid his wife farewell, was forced into the street
+and carried, rather than led, to Basilivitch's hostlery.
+
+Nine others were captured in a similar manner; nine poor wretches,
+doomed to life-long misery in the copper mines of Siberia, many of them
+having not the slightest idea of the nature of their offence.
+Basilivitch had placed the Governor of Alexandrovsk under eternal
+obligations by his patriotic devotion. Of the number captured, there
+were three who had seconded Podoloff during the discussion at the inn,
+the previous Sunday afternoon. The remainder were to be exiled, because
+the Governor, on Basilivitch's recommendation, deemed them dangerous. A
+good day's work, Basilivitch! You have done the nation a signal service,
+and have rid yourself of six persons from whom you had at various times
+borrowed money, and who had of late become troublesome in their dunning.
+They will not trouble you from the Siberian mines.
+
+The prisoners were thrown into two carts, which had been brought for
+that purpose, and a detachment of soldiers accompanied them without
+delay to Alexandrovsk. There they were put into prison for a month,
+until it pleased the Governor to take notice of them. Then followed the
+mere mockery of a trial, during which the prisoners were not permitted
+to utter a word in self-defence, and as a fitting end to this travesty
+of justice, the ten unfortunates were launched upon their weary
+foot-journey to the frozen North, destined to live and die beyond the
+reach, beyond the sympathy of mankind.
+
+Let us retrace our steps and accompany the Governor's soldiers through
+the Jewish quarter. The refinement of cruelty demanded from the Jews a
+greater sacrifice than from the Catholics. The malefactors must be
+punished through their little ones. In pursuance of a decree of the
+mighty Czar, passed some years before, the Governors of the various
+provinces were authorized to visit the Jewish homes, and to remove from
+them all male children that had reached the age of five years.[3]
+
+There was a twofold object in this course. Firstly, the humane Czar
+desired to accustom these babes to the rigorous soldier life of Russia,
+to transform the weakly scions of an oriental race into strong and hardy
+Russians; and, secondly, it was deemed a blessing to humanity to tear
+the Jewish children from their homes, parents and religion, and to bring
+them up in the only saving Catholic faith. Far, far from all that was
+dear to them, in a strange locality, among hostile people, exposed to
+unutterable hardships and rigorous discipline, these unfortunate beings
+dragged out their wretched existence. Fully half of their number died of
+exposure, wearing away their poor lives in a vain longing for home and
+friends, while the remainder survived, only to forget their kind and
+kin, and to furnish the raw material for future Nihilists. Many Jewish
+communities had already suffered from this heartless decree, and those
+who had been spared its terrors, anticipated them as they would some
+dreaded scourge, some deadly pestilence. That the Jews of Togarog and
+the surrounding villages had escaped its influences, was due less to the
+humane sentiments of the Governor than to his natural indolence. But now
+his ire was aroused. The Jews should feel his power.
+
+The detachment of soldiers having seen their Russian prisoners safely on
+the road to oblivion, now directed their attention to the Jewish
+quarter.
+
+Mordecai Winenki's house stood not far from the head of the street. No
+need to knock for admittance. A Jew was not allowed to lock his door,
+the better to give his sociable neighbors an opportunity of molesting
+him. Two of the soldiers entered, and groped their way through the
+darkness. The master of the house heard their footsteps, and timidly
+called out:
+
+"Who's there?"
+
+"Quick, Jew, give us a light!" was the sole reply.
+
+Shaking like a leaf, poor Mordecai struck a light, and the candle cast
+its rays upon the fierce-looking Cossacks in the apartment. A cry
+escaped the man's lips, but it was quickly stifled by the rough hand of
+one of the soldiers.
+
+"If you make the least noise I will strangle you. Now show me where your
+boys sleep!"
+
+"Oh, God! they will take my Mendel for a recruit," cried the poor
+father.
+
+"Silence, you viper! Well, why don't you move? We want to know where
+your boys are sleeping!"
+
+Mordecai, convinced of the futility of resistance, shuffled across the
+floor in his bare feet, and opened the door of an adjoining room. There,
+in the innocence of youth, lay Mendel, dreaming, perhaps, of his recent
+triumphs. An unpitying hand landed the boy upon the floor. Paralyzed
+with fear, he could not speak, but gazed pleadingly from his father to
+the soldiers. His uncle Bensef, who had shared his bed, now endeavored
+to interfere, but a blow from the stalwart Cossack sent him to the
+opposite corner of the room. Quickly they inspected the boy, taking a
+mental note of his height and appearance, and, barely giving him time to
+put on his clothing, hurried him into the arms of the soldiers waiting
+without.
+
+"You have another son! Where is he?" demanded one of the soldiers of the
+half-paralyzed Mordecai.
+
+"No! no!" he sobbed; "I have no more!"
+
+"You lie, Jew! Show us the other boy!" And without further ceremony,
+they broke into the third room, where Jacob lay in the arms of his
+terrified mother.
+
+In vain the boy shrieked at the sight of the fierce-looking visitors. In
+vain the mother pleaded: "He is sick and helpless. Spare him. He is but
+a baby. Leave him with me!"
+
+There was no pity in the breasts of the hardened soldiers. Neither tears
+nor entreaties won them over. The more the sorrowing parents implored,
+the louder were the oaths, the fiercer the blows of the barbarous
+Cossacks.
+
+Jacob, followed by his weeping parents, was carried half-dressed into
+the street.
+
+Similar scenes were enacted in every house in which there were male
+children. Of the twelve Jewish homes in Togarog, but two were spared.
+The children, in most cases scantily dressed, were hurried to
+Basilivitch's hostlery, where wagons were in waiting to take them to
+Alexandrovsk for the Governor's inspection.
+
+Mournful was the train that followed the little band through the
+village. Shrieks and lamentations, prayers and imprecations resounded,
+until the brutal guards, wearied by the incessant clamor, finally drove
+the frenzied people back and set out upon their homeward journey.
+
+The little ones sat cowering in the wagons, afraid to weep, scarcely
+daring to breathe. Taken from home when they most needed their parents'
+care and love, what would become of these poor waifs? What would the
+future have in store for them?
+
+General Drudkoff could now sleep in peace; the insurrection in Togarog
+was quelled. Its ringleaders were on the way to Siberia, and its
+abettors, the Jews (according to Basilivitch), had been rendered
+harmless.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 3: This decree was repealed by Alexander II.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE JOURNEY TO KHARKOV.
+
+
+The wagons, with their helpless freight, reached Alexandrovsk shortly
+after daybreak. Their first stupor having passed, the children conversed
+with each other in whispers and tried in their own poor way to console
+one another. Jacob, whose mutilated ear and broken arm had not been
+improved by the rough treatment he had experienced, wept bitterly at
+first, until the savage voice of a soldier bade him be quiet. Then the
+child made a Spartan-like endeavor to forget his pain and fell asleep
+upon his brother's breast. It was nine o'clock on Sunday morning when
+they arrived at the Governor's palace. The devout and religious General
+Drudkoff usually declined to transact any business on that day; but this
+was an important matter of State, a question threatening perhaps the
+very existence of the Empire, and a departure from ordinary rules was
+allowable. The waifs were brought into the ante-chamber, and obliged to
+pass muster before his excellency, who read them a lesson upon their
+future career and duties. After those whose hasty abduction had made it
+impossible to dress, had been provided with odds and ends of clothing,
+the rags cast off by the children of the Governor's serfs, and which his
+excellency declared were much too good for Jews, the lads were again
+placed upon rickety carts, and, while the Governor proceeded to his
+religious services at the _kiosk_, they were escorted under a strong
+guard to the military headquarters at Kharkov.
+
+Long and tedious was the journey. At noon a village was reached, and the
+travellers were furnished with a meal consisting of pork and bread.
+Half-famished by his long fast, one of the boys had already bitten into
+his portion, but stern religion interfered.
+
+"Do not eat it," whispered Mendel; "it is _trefa!_" (unclean).
+
+The lads gazed wistfully at the tempting morsels, but touch them they
+dared not.
+
+"Why don't you eat?" roughly asked one of the soldiers, whose duty it
+was to walk by the side of the wagon and guard against a possible
+escape.
+
+"It is forbidden," answered Mendel, who, being the oldest of the little
+group, took upon himself the duties of spokesman. "It is unclean."
+
+"If it is good enough for us, it is good enough for a Jew. Here, eat
+this quickly!" and he endeavored to force a large piece of the dreaded
+meat between the teeth of one of the lads.
+
+"If they wont eat, let them starve," said another of the guards, who was
+attracted by the noise. "Why do you trouble yourself about them?"
+
+"You are right," answered the first; "let them starve."
+
+And their fast continued.
+
+The smiling fields through which they rode, the sunny sky above them,
+the merry birds warbling in the bushes, had no attraction for the
+ill-fated boys. The world was but a vast desert, an unfriendly
+wilderness to them. But Mendel's mind, sharpened by misfortune, was not
+dormant. A thought of escape had already presented itself to his active
+brain.
+
+"If Jacob and I could only manage to run away and reach our uncle in
+Kief," he mused.
+
+Presently he plucked up courage and asked the guard: "Will you please
+tell me what you are going to do with us?"
+
+"You will find out when you get to Kharkov," was the ungracious
+rejoinder.
+
+To Kharkov! The information was welcome indeed. Not that Mendel had ever
+been in that place, but he recollected hearing his uncle say that he had
+come through Kharkov on his way from Kief. It must be on the direct
+route to the latter city. O God! if he could but escape!
+
+A dark, stormy night found the travellers in the miserable little
+village of Poltarack. The weary horses were unharnessed and the soldiers
+looked about for comfortable quarters for the night. They found refuge
+in a dilapidated structure, the only inn of which the place could boast.
+The children were led to a barn, where a bountiful supply of straw
+served them as a bed. A piece of bread and a glass of rank brandy formed
+their evening meal, and hunger left them no desire to investigate
+whether the humble repast was _kosher_ (clean) or not.
+
+The footsteps of the guards had scarcely died away in the distance,
+before Mendel sprang to the door and endeavored to open it. It was
+securely locked and the boy turned disconsolate to his companions. It
+was the hour when, at home, their fathers would send them lovingly to
+bed, when their mothers would tuck them comfortably under the covers and
+kiss them good-night; and here they lay, clad in tatters, numb with
+cold, pinched with hunger; pictures of misery and woe. Heart-rending
+were the sighs, bitter the complaints, in which the poor lads gave
+utterance to their feelings.
+
+"Come, boys!" at length cried Mendel, "it wont do to grieve. Let us bear
+up as bravely as possible. They will take us to Kharkov and leave us at
+military headquarters. Perhaps we can escape. If we are kept together it
+will be difficult, but if they separate us, it will perhaps be easy to
+give the soldiers in charge the slip. If you get away, do not at once go
+back home or you will be recaptured. Go on until you come to a Jewish
+settlement, where you will be cared for. Jacob, you must try to stay
+with me, whatever may happen."
+
+Long and earnest was the conversation between the boys, all of whom, in
+spite of their tender years, realized their perilous position.
+
+Then Mendel arose and recited the old and familiar Hebrew evening
+prayers and the little gathering made the responses; then, weary and
+homesick, the boys cried themselves to sleep.
+
+At break of day, the Cossacks pounded at the barn-door, and the boys,
+after breakfasting on dry bread, again set out upon their tedious
+journey. The soldiers who had accompanied the wagons, were replaced by
+others; the new men were in a better humor and more graciously inclined
+than those of the preceding day. They even condescended to jest with the
+young recruits and to civilly answer their many questions. From their
+replies, Mendel gleaned that the commander at Kharkov would distribute
+them among the various military camps throughout the province, where
+constant hard labor, a stern discipline and a not too humane treatment
+would eventually toughen their physical fibre and wean them from the
+cherished religion of their youth.
+
+The weather was unfriendly, the sky was overcast, and the boys,
+shivering with cold and apprehension, at length made their entry into
+Kharkov. The commander of the garrison, a grim-visaged, bearded warrior,
+received them, heard the story of their capture from one of the guards,
+amused himself by pulling the boys' ears and administering sundry blows.
+He then divided them into twos, to be escorted to the various barracks
+about the district. Mendel and Jacob were permitted to go together, not
+because the commander yielded to a feeling of humanity, but because they
+happened to be standing together, and it really did not matter to the
+Russian authorities how the new recruits were distributed. A soldier was
+placed in charge of each couple, and, like cattle to the slaughter, the
+boys were led through the town.
+
+Weary and silent, yet filled with wonder and surprise, Mendel and Jacob
+preceded their guard through the gay and animated streets of Kharkov. It
+was a new life that opened to their vision. With childish curiosity they
+gazed at every booth, looked fondly into every gaily decorated shop and
+glanced timidly at the many uniformed officers who hurried to and fro.
+
+For a moment, their desolate homes, their sorrowing parents, their
+unpromising future were forgotten in the excitement of the scenes about
+them, and it required at times the rough command and brutal push of the
+soldier behind them to recall them to the misery of the moment. This
+soldier, a fine-looking, sturdy fellow, appeared as much interested in
+the animated scene as were his captives. Years had passed since he had
+last visited Kharkov, his native town. Much had changed during that
+period. A conflagration had destroyed the central portion of the city
+and imposing stone edifices had in many streets replaced the former
+crazy structures. Now and then an old building or hoary landmark would
+recall pleasant memories of early youth. The fountain in the centre of
+the square was eloquent with reminders of by-gone joys, of hasty
+interviews, of stolen kisses; and our brave warrior strode along with a
+bland smile of contentment upon his bronzed countenance. Suddenly, a man
+brushed past him. The two looked at each other for a moment, as if in
+doubt, and then with a simultaneous shout of recognition, they shook
+each other heartily by the hand.
+
+"Cantorwitch!" cried the soldier. "By all the saints, this is rare good
+luck! How have you been?"
+
+"Very well, friend Polatschek. But you are the last man I should have
+looked for in Kharkov. How well your service agrees with you."
+
+The two friends stood and talked of all that had befallen them since
+their separation. Not until the calendar of gossip had been exhausted
+did Cantorwitch finally ask: "But what brings you to Kharkov, my boy? I
+thought you were on the southern frontier."
+
+"So I was; so I was," rejoined the other. "I have been sent up with two
+Jewish recruits. Holy Madonna! what has become of them?"
+
+Mendel and Jacob had disappeared, without even saying, "By your leave!"
+In vain the friends peered into the various shops along the street, into
+every open door-way, behind every box and barrel. In vain they inquired
+of every soldier who passed. No one had seen the runaways.
+
+Poor Polatschek, after listening to the consolations of his friend and
+fortifying himself with a quart of spirits, returned to headquarters, to
+spend the following ninety days under arrest for gross negligence while
+on duty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+TWO UNFORTUNATES.
+
+
+To Mendel, Cantorwitch seemed a special messenger sent by a benign
+Providence. He waited for a moment until he perceived the two friends in
+earnest conversation, and seizing his brother by the arm, he took
+advantage of an approaching crowd of sight-seers to get away from the
+gossiping soldier. The boys ran down the nearest street as fast as their
+feeble limbs would carry them. Not until they had reached the limits of
+the town did they pause for breath, and Jacob, thoroughly exhausted,
+sank to the ground.
+
+"Thank God, we are free!" said Mendel, jubilantly.
+
+But Jacob began to weep, crying, "Oh, I'm so tired and hungry!"
+
+"Do not cry; it is of no use. We will find our way to Kief, and there
+uncle will take care of us."
+
+"I do not think I can go much farther, Mendel."
+
+"But you must. If we remain here we shall be captured and put into
+prison. Let us go as far as we possibly can. Perhaps we can find a
+village on the road where the _Jehudim_ (Jews) will shelter us until you
+become stronger. Come, Jacob."
+
+The child struggled to his feet and the brothers set out upon their
+journey through an unknown country.
+
+The sun, the cheerful king of day, had peeped through the April rifts
+and sent his bright rays upon the smiling landscape. Gradually the
+clouds dissolved under the genial influence and a friendly sky cheered
+the fugitives on their way.
+
+The merry chirping of the birds, the buzzing of the insects, the
+blossoming fruit trees along the route, betokened the advent of spring.
+Mendel gulped down a great lump in his throat and stifled a sob, as he
+thought of his distant home. How happy, how joyful, had this season
+been, when, after the termination of the Bible studies at the _cheder_,
+their father had taken them for a long walk through the fields and in
+his own crude way had spoken of the beauties of Nature and of the wisdom
+and beneficence of the Creator. Then, all was peace and contentment; and
+now, what a dreary contrast! Mendel dashed the gathering tears from his
+eyes--it would not do to let Jacob see him cry--and resolutely taking
+his little brother by the hand, walked on more rapidly.
+
+There was a tedious journey in prospect; God only knew when and where it
+would end. On they walked through bramble and marsh, over stones and
+fallen boughs, preferring the newly-ploughed fields to the public road,
+for fear of detection; trembling with fear at the sight of a human
+being, lest it might be a soldier charged with their recapture. On they
+struggled until night hid the road from their view and darkness arrested
+further progress. A ruined and deserted shed afforded them shelter, a
+stone did service as a pillow, and, embracing each other, the lads lay
+down to sleep.
+
+The dawn found the wanderers astir, and after a hasty ablution at a
+neighboring brook and a recital of their morning prayers, they bravely
+started out upon their cheerless journey.
+
+The day had dawned brightly, but before long threatening clouds obscured
+the sun. The wind veered to the North and howled dismally.
+
+Sadly and silently the boys trudged onward, buffeting the wind and
+stifling their growing hunger.
+
+"Mendel," finally sobbed Jacob, "I am so hungry. If I only had a piece
+of bread I would feel much stronger."
+
+"Let us walk faster," replied the other. "Perhaps we will reach some
+village."
+
+Manfully they pushed onward for another hour, Mendel endeavoring to
+entertain his brother by relating stories he had heard when a child.
+
+Jacob stopped again, exhausted.
+
+"It is no use, Mendel," he cried. "I am too hungry to walk any further."
+
+"Courage, brother," answered Mendel, cheerfully. "See, there are houses
+ahead of us. We can surely find something to eat."
+
+The waifs dragged their way to a weather-beaten hut and knocked at the
+door. A mild-visaged woman responded and surveyed the travel-stained
+children with something like compassion.
+
+"We are hungry," pleaded Mendel. "Please give us a bite of food."
+
+"Who are you and where do you come from?" queried the woman.
+
+"We are trying to reach Kief, where we have friends," answered Mendel.
+"Please do not let us starve on the road."
+
+"Jews, eh?" asked the woman, suspiciously. "Well, no matter; you don't
+look any too happy. Come in and warm yourselves."
+
+The boys were soon sitting before a roaring kitchen-fire, while the
+woman busied herself with providing them with a meal. Tempting, indeed,
+did it appear to the famished lads; but could they eat it? Was it
+prepared according to the Jewish ritual? It was a momentous question to
+Mendel, and only his little brother's pinched and miserable countenance
+could have induced him to violate the law which to his conception was as
+sacred as life itself. While Mendel debated, Jacob solved the knotty
+problem by attacking the savory dishes before him, and his brother
+reluctantly followed his example.
+
+"It may be a sin, but God will forgive us," was his mental reflection as
+he greedily swallowed the food.
+
+The woman looked on in admiration at the huge appetites of the lads. She
+plied them with questions, to which she received vague replies, and
+finally contented herself with the thought that these were perhaps
+wayward children who had run away from home and were now penitently
+trying to find their way back.
+
+After the boys were rested, they thanked their kind hostess and set out
+again upon their wanderings with no other compass than blind chance, but
+avoiding the highways for fear of being captured by the soldiers. On
+they went for hours, Mendel supporting his complaining brother and
+whispering words of hope and courage.
+
+By noon the sky had become darker, the storm more threatening. The wind
+blew in furious gusts over the dismal country, and an occasional
+rumbling of distant thunder filled the weary lads with dread. The road
+they had chosen was absolutely deserted. It lay through a bleak,
+scarcely habitable prairie, a landscape common enough in that part of
+Russia; and stones and brambles did much to retard their progress. There
+was not a place of shelter in sight. The outlook was sufficiently
+unpromising to dismay the most resolute.
+
+Jacob sat down upon a stone and began to weep.
+
+"I can go no further," he sobbed. "I am tired and sick."
+
+"But you must come," pleaded his brother. "See what a storm is
+gathering. If we remain here we shall be drenched. We must find
+shelter."
+
+"Go alone, brother," said the little one. "I'll stay here."
+
+There was a sudden flash of lightning, which illumined Jacob's bandaged
+face, pale with fear and fatigue. The trembling boys looked at each
+other and Jacob began to cry.
+
+"Come, Jacob," murmured Mendel, helping his brother to rise. "We shall
+die if we stay here. May God protect us."
+
+Again the waifs plodded on, Mendel supporting his brother and
+endeavoring to protect him from the cruel wind. Darker grew the sky.
+Large drops of rain began to fall and with a startling peal of thunder
+the tempest broke in its fury. The pitiless wind sweeping through the
+land from the bleak northern steppes brought cold and desolation in its
+train. The poor children were drenched to the skin. They clung to each
+other and painfully made their way across the miry fields to the
+highway, the ancient road of the Tartar Khans.
+
+At last Jacob succumbed to the awful strain and sank to the ground.
+
+"Let me die," moaned the child.
+
+"Oh, dear brother; you must live! We will find our way back to Togarog
+to papa and mamma. How they would grieve if I came back alone."
+
+The child shook his head mutely to this appeal, but rise he could not.
+Mendel was in despair.
+
+A bright flash lit up the landscape and showed the dim outlines of huts
+not many rods away.
+
+"God be thanked!" cried Mendel, fervently. "See, Jacob, there are
+houses. The village is near. There we can get food and shelter. Come,
+lean on me and we will be there in a few minutes."
+
+"No, go alone; I am too weak."
+
+"I will carry you," cried Mendel. "Oh, I can do it; I am strong enough."
+
+He attempted to lift the child from the ground, but he had overrated his
+strength and gave up his task in despair. What was he to do? He could
+not leave him in the road to perish. If he could but reach the village
+and summon help. They would not refuse assistance to a dying child, even
+if he were a Jew.
+
+"Jacob," he said, encouragingly, "I am going for help. Don't be afraid;
+keep up your courage and strength until I come back. The rain will soon
+stop. Good-by. I shall not be long."
+
+Kissing his scarcely conscious brother, the heroic boy bounded in the
+direction of the village.
+
+Though the thunder still rolled and the lightning still flashed, the
+rain soon ceased and the clouds began to show cheerful patches of blue.
+Mendel was gone some five minutes when a covered _droshka_ drove up the
+road as rapidly as the muddy ground would allow. The driver, amply
+protected by furs, seemed proof against both wind and water, yet he
+cursed in good round Russian at the inclemency of the weather. Suddenly,
+a brilliant flash lighted up the road, and he saw a lad near the wheels.
+With an oath, the driver reined in the frightened horses and jumped to
+the ground.
+
+"What is it, Ivan? Has anything happened?" asked a lady, from the
+carriage window.
+
+"Please your excellency, a little boy lying in the road, half-dead."
+
+"Bring him here," commanded the lady, and the child was lifted into the
+carriage and placed on the seat before them.
+
+"What a pretty lad," said the lady, who was no less important a person
+than the Countess Drentell, of Lubny, to her companion. "The poor child
+must be badly hurt."
+
+"Perhaps a little brandy would strengthen him," suggested the practical
+coachman, who knew the value of the remedy.
+
+The cordial revived him, and, opening his eyes, he murmured: "Wait for
+me, Mendel; I will go along."
+
+"Drive on, Ivan, as quickly as possible; we must get the little fellow
+some dry clothes," said the Countess.
+
+Yielding to the luxury of shelter and to the effect of the brandy, Jacob
+sank into a sweet sleep.
+
+Mendel had in the meantime reached the village and knocked at the first
+house. A _moujik_ emerged and eyed him suspiciously. "What do you
+want?" he asked, gruffly.
+
+"We have been caught in the storm and my brother is out on the road,
+dying. Please help me bring him here."
+
+"You are a Jew, are you not?" asked the man, savagely, as he recognized
+by the boy's jargon that he was a member of the proscribed race.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered Mendel, timidly.
+
+"Then go about your business; I wont put myself out for a Jew!" saying
+which, he shut the door in the boy's face.
+
+Sadly Mendel wandered on until he met a kindly disposed woman, who
+directed him to the Jewish quarter.
+
+"At the house of prayer there is always someone to be found," thought
+Mendel, and thither he bent his steps. Half-a-dozen men at once
+surrounded him and listened to his harrowing story; half-a-dozen hearts
+beat in sympathy with his distress. One of the number soon spread the
+dismal tidings; the entire congregation, headed by Mendel, hastened to
+where the child had been left. As they came to the highway, a _droshka_
+passed them at full speed; they fell back to the right and left to make
+room for the galloping horses and in a moment the carriage had
+disappeared.
+
+When they reached the spot pointed out by Mendel they saw the impress of
+a child's form in the yielding ground, and a tattered little cap which
+was Jacob's; but the child was gone.
+
+"The soldiers have recaptured him!" gasped Mendel, with a groan of
+anguish. "Oh, my poor brother; God help you!" and sank unconscious into
+the friendly arms of his new acquaintances.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A RUSSIAN NOBLEMAN.
+
+
+After an hour's sojourn in "The Imperial Crown," the best inn of
+Poltava, Countess Drentell continued her journey towards her
+country-seat at Lubny, where the carriage arrived just before nightfall.
+With the creaking of the wheels upon the gravel path leading to the
+house, Jacob awoke and gazed sleepily about him.
+
+"See, Tekla; he is awake!" cried the Countess. "Poor child!"
+
+The carriage stopped; Ivan opened the door and assisted the ladies to
+alight.
+
+"Carry the little one into the house and take him to the kitchen to
+dry," commanded the Countess. "What a surprise he will be to Loris and
+how he will enjoy having a playmate!"
+
+Another servant appeared at the door to assist the Countess.
+
+"Your excellency," he whispered, "the Count arrived the day before
+yesterday. He was furious at finding you absent."
+
+Louise bit her lip and her face became pale. Then she shrugged her
+pretty shoulders and broke into a careless laugh.
+
+"Oh, well, Dimitri will forgive me when I tell him how sorry I am," she
+thought to herself, as she tripped up the stone steps into the house.
+
+In the brilliantly lighted hall she was met by her husband, Count
+Dimitri Drentell, and she clasped her arms around his neck in a
+transport of conjugal affection.
+
+"So you have come back, my dear, from those horrid barracks!" she
+cried. "I am so glad! But why didn't you send word you were coming, that
+I might have been at home to meet you? But it is just like you to keep
+the matter a perfect secret and give me no chance to prepare for your
+reception."
+
+The Count's brow contracted. Before he had an opportunity to reply, his
+wife continued:
+
+"Indeed, I'm glad you've come. If I had known that I was marrying a son
+of Mars who would be away in the army for eight months of the year, I
+doubt whether I should have left my happy Tiflis."
+
+The Countess paused for want of breath.
+
+"The Czar places duty to country higher than domestic comfort," answered
+her husband, curtly. "But how could you leave your home and your child
+for so long a time? It is now three days since I arrived here, expecting
+to be lovingly received by you and little Loris; but you had gone away,
+no one knew whither, leaving Loris in charge of an ignorant woman, who
+has been sadly neglecting the child."
+
+"Poor fellow," laughed the Countess, in mock grief. "I suppose he will
+be happy to see his mamma again. But, my dear, you must not scold me for
+having gone away. It was so dull at home without you, so lonesome, that
+I could bear it no longer, and I took a trip to Valki, to visit the
+Abbess of the convent there."
+
+The cloud upon the Count's face darkened.
+
+"I have repeatedly told you that I do not approve of your excursions
+into the country," he answered, gloomily; "and I am especially opposed
+to your locking yourself up in a convent. You pay no heed to my
+requests, nor do you seem to realize the dangers you incur in travelling
+about in that manner."
+
+"Then let us live in our town house. I am too dull here, all alone,"
+answered the Countess, nestling closer to her husband and kissing him.
+
+"It was at your desire that I bought this place, immediately after our
+marriage. You were enchanted with it and said it reminded you of your
+Caucasian country. Now you are already tired of it."
+
+"I would not be if you were here to share its delights with me," she
+answered, coquettishly. "But, alone!--b-r-r! It is too vast, too
+immense! I shall never feel at home in it."
+
+Louise gave her graceful head a mournful shake and looked dismally at
+her husband.
+
+Suddenly she cried: "Where is Loris? What have they done with my boy?"
+
+"It is time you inquired," said her husband, reproachfully. "I doubt if
+he remembers you."
+
+Louise broke into a merry laugh. "Not know his mamma? Indeed! We shall
+see!"
+
+Going to a table, she rang a bell, which was immediately answered by a
+liveried servant.
+
+"Bring me my Loris," she cried.
+
+"He has already been put to bed," answered the man.
+
+"Bring him, anyhow. I have not seen him for almost nine days."
+
+The man disappeared, and shortly after a nurse entered, bearing in her
+arms a bright little fellow scarcely four years of age. Loris, the
+tyrant of the house, who was fast being spoiled by the alternate
+indulgence and neglect of his capricious mother, struggled violently
+with his nurse, who had just aroused him from his first sleep.
+
+Louise threw herself upon the child in an excess of maternal devotion.
+She fairly covered him with kisses.
+
+"How has my Loris been? My poor boy! Will he forgive his mamma for
+having deserted him?"
+
+The boy resented this outburst of love by sundry kicks and screams.
+
+"The child is cross and sleepy," said the Count; "let Minka put him to
+bed."
+
+"Wait a moment," exclaimed the Countess, in childish glee. "I have
+brought him a present. Loris, my pet, how would you like a little boy to
+play with? A real live boy?"
+
+Loris ceased his struggles and became interested.
+
+"I want a pony to play with! I don't want a boy," he cried, peevishly.
+
+"What folly have you been guilty of now?" asked Dimitri, with some
+misgivings, for he had had frequent proofs of his wife's impulsive
+extravagance.
+
+"You shall see, my dear."
+
+Louise rang for Ivan. When he appeared, she asked:
+
+"What have you done with the boy we found?"
+
+"He is in the kitchen and has just eaten his supper," answered the
+servant.
+
+"Bring him up at once."
+
+While Ivan went to fetch Jacob, the Countess related, with many
+embellishments and exaggerations, and with frequent appeals to her maid
+Tekla for corroboration, how she had found the boy on the road, how she
+had saved his life, and, finally, how she had decided to bring him home
+as a little playmate for her darling Loris. Before she had finished her
+story Jacob himself appeared upon the scene, the personification of
+abject misery. His features were still besmeared with the dirt of the
+highway, his clothes were in a wretched condition, and his bandaged arm
+and lacerated face did not improve his general appearance. Louise
+laughed heartily when this apparition entered the door.
+
+"Is he not a beauty?" she exclaimed.
+
+The Count was too much surprised to speak. After a pause, during which
+poor Jacob looked pleadingly from one to the other, Dimitri asked:
+
+"In all seriousness, Louise, why did you introduce that being into our
+house?"
+
+"He is not as bad as he looks," answered the Countess. "Wait till he is
+washed and dressed, and you will agree that he is a handsome fellow."
+
+The Count crossed the room and looked at the boy.
+
+"What is your name?" he asked, gruffly.
+
+"Jacob Winenki," answered the child, timidly.
+
+"A Jew!" ejaculated the Count. "By our Holy Madonna, that is just what I
+needed to make me completely happy--the companionship of an accursed
+Jew!"
+
+Jacob instinctively divined that he was not welcome, and began to cry.
+
+"Please, I want my mamma!"
+
+"Stop your whimpering, you cur!" shouted the enraged Count.
+
+But Jacob's tears would not be checked so abruptly.
+
+"Please don't send me back to the soldiers," he pleaded, in his
+miserable jargon. "I don't want to go with the soldiers."
+
+At this juncture Loris joined in the cry. "I don't want him. I want a
+pony to play with."
+
+"Here, Ivan," commanded the excited Count, "take this brat out into the
+barn, and keep him secure until I ask for him. We will investigate his
+case after supper. Minka, take Loris to bed at once." Then turning to
+his wife, who actually trembled before his infuriated glance, he said:
+
+"Louise, you have done some very silly things since I married you, but
+this is the most absurd. You know my aversion to Jews, and here you
+bring a dirty Jew out of the streets to become a playmate of our Loris!"
+
+"I could not leave the poor child to die in the road," pouted Louise,
+who, in addition to being extremely frivolous, was very tender-hearted.
+"If I had found a sick dog, I should have aided him."
+
+"I would rather it had been a dog than a Jew."
+
+"How could I know it was a Jew?"
+
+"By his looks; by his language," answered the exasperated man.
+
+"He was insensible, and could not speak," retorted Louise; "and his
+appearance no worse than that of other dirty children. Tell me,
+Dimitri," she added, throwing her arms about her husband's waist, in a
+childish endeavor to appease his wrath; "tell me why you have such an
+animosity towards the Jews?"
+
+The count impressively rolled up his sleeve and displayed a scar about
+two inches in length upon his forearm.
+
+"See, Louise," he said, gloomily; "that is some of their accursed work.
+Have I not cause to detest them? They are spiteful, vengeful,
+implacable."
+
+Louise lovingly kissed the scarred arm.
+
+"Poor Dimitri," she murmured; "how it must have pained. Tell me how it
+happened."
+
+"There is no need to go into details," answered the Count, abruptly.
+"But if ever I acquire the power, I shall make a Jew smart for every
+drop of blood that flowed from the wound. Come, supper must be ready.
+We will not spoil our appetites by speaking of the despicable race."
+
+Count Drentell wisely refrained from telling his wife the cause of his
+scar. It was not for a wife's ear to hear the tale. Eight years before,
+he, with a number of young officers of the army stationed at Pinsk,
+while in search of a little pleasurable excitement, had raided the
+Jewish quarter and terrorized the helpless inhabitants. After having
+broken every window, the party, inflamed by wine and enthusiasm, entered
+the house of Haim Kusel, demolished the furniture, helped themselves to
+articles of value that chanced to be exposed, and having caught a
+glimpse of Haim's pretty daughter, Drentell, the leader of the band,
+attempted to embrace her. The Jew, who had offered no resistance while
+his hard-earned possessions were being destroyed, was driven to frenzy
+by the insult to his daughter. Seizing a knife he drove the party from
+the house, but not until he had wounded several of the wretches, among
+whom was Drentell. Kusel had saved his daughter's honor, but he well
+knew that he had forfeited his life if he remained in the village.
+Packing up the few household articles that yet remained, he and his
+daughter fled from Pinsk to find protection with friends in a distant
+town.
+
+At midnight, the officers, now reinforced by a number of sympathizing
+comrades, returned, and furious at the escape of their victim, burned
+his dwelling to the ground. Drentell never forgot his ignominious
+repulse nor the wound he received at the hands of Haim Kusel. His own
+offence counted as naught, so blunted was his moral sense. To inflict
+misery upon a Jew was at all times considered meritorious, but for a
+Jew to so far forget himself as to assault an officer of the Czar, was a
+crime for which the whole race would one day be held accountable.
+
+While the Count and Countess are at supper, we may find time to examine
+into their past and become better acquainted with the worthy couple,
+into whose company the events of this story will occasionally lead us.
+
+Dimitri was the only son of Paul Drentell, the renowned banker of St.
+Petersburg, who had been raised to the nobility as a reward for having
+negotiated a loan for the Government. Paul had been sordid and
+avaricious; his vast wealth was wrung from the necessities of the
+unfortunates Otho were obliged to borrow from him or succumb to
+financial disaster. Had he been a Jew, his greed, his miserly ways, his
+usuries, would have been stigmatized as Jewish traits, but being a
+devout Catholic he was spoken of as "Drentell, the financier."
+
+The nobility of Russia counts many such upstarts among its
+representatives. It boasts of a peculiar historical development. The
+hereditary element plays an unimportant part in matters of state.
+Exposed to the tyranny of the Muscovite autocrats, they hailed with joy
+the elevation of the Romanoff family to the throne. The condition of the
+nobles was thenceforth bettered, their political influence increased.
+Under Peter the Great, however, there came a change. To noble birth,
+this Czar showed a most humiliating indifference, and the nobles saw
+with horror the accession to their ranks of the lowest order of men. The
+condition of the aristocracy, old and new, was not, however, one of
+unmixed happiness. The nobles were transformed into mere servants of the
+Czar, and heavily did their bondage weigh upon them. After the death of
+the great Prince, they experienced varied changes. Catherine converted
+the surroundings of her court into a ludicrous imitation of the elegant
+and refined French _régime_. Parisian fashions and the French language
+were adopted by the nobility. It was a pleasure-seeking, pomp-loving
+aristocracy that surrounded the powerful Empress. But her capricious and
+violent son overturned this order of things and again reduced the
+nobility to a condition of dependence and even degradation, from which
+it had not yet recovered in the days of Nicholas I. For these reasons
+the nobility of Russia is not characterized by the proud bearing and
+firm demeanor which are the attributes of the aristocracy of Western
+Europe. A _parvenu_, who has, by an act of slavish submission, won the
+Emperor's favor, may be ennobled, and he thenceforth holds his head as
+high as the greatest. No one of these is regarded as more important than
+his neighbor. Dumouriez, having casually spoken to Nicholas of one of
+the considerable personages at court, received the reply:
+
+"You must learn, sir, that the only considerable person here is the one
+to whom I am speaking, and that only as long as I am speaking to
+him."[4]
+
+Hence, we rarely find a Russian noble who is proud of his ancestry or of
+his ancient name. It is wealth and power, momentary distinction and
+royal favor that make him of worth. When, therefore, Paul Drentell,
+because of his valuable services in raising a loan which enabled Russia
+to engage in war with one of her less powerful neighbors, was elevated
+to the nobility, it caused no surprise, and the banker at once began a
+life of pomp and extravagance which he thought suited to his new
+station. His wealth was fabulous, and was for the greater part invested
+in large estates, comprising confiscated lands, formerly the property of
+less fortunate nobles, who, deprived of their rank, were now atoning for
+their sins in the frozen North. His possessions included about twenty
+thousand male serfs; consequently, more than forty thousand souls.
+
+Dimitri, upon his father's elevation, was sent to the army, where he
+distinguished himself in nocturnal debauches and adventures such as we
+have related, and where, thanks to his father's influence, he shortly
+rose to the rank of lieutenant.
+
+About five years before the beginning of this story, Paul Drentell died
+and his vast estates, as well as his title of Count, descended to
+Dimitri, who now found himself one of the richest men in the Empire. He
+was, moreover, a personal friend of the young Czarewitch, Alexander, in
+whose regiment he served. To such a man, a notable future was open:
+great honors as Governor of a province or exile to Siberia as a
+dangerous power. One of the features of public life in Russia is the
+comparative ease with which either of these distinctions may be
+obtained.
+
+Count Drentell was haughty and arrogant, caring for naught but his own
+personal advantage, consulting only his own tastes and pleasures. He was
+a stern officer to his soldiers, a cruel taskmaster to the serfs he had
+inherited, and a bitter foe of the Jews whom he had offended.
+
+Very different was his wife, Louise. A Georgian by birth, her beauty and
+ingenuousness had won her great popularity at the court of St.
+Petersburg, to which she had been introduced by the Governor of Tiflis.
+She was neither tall nor short, possessed a wealth of raven black hair,
+perfect teeth, lustrous black eyes, a smile that would inspire poets and
+a voice that was all music and melody. When Count Drentell carried her
+off in the face of a hundred admirers, he was considered lucky indeed.
+Dimitri never confessed, even to himself, that he regretted his hasty
+choice. Louise was as capricious as she was beautiful, as unlettered as
+she was charming, as superstitious as she was fascinating. All that she
+did was done on impulse. She loved her husband on impulse, she deserted
+her child for weeks at a time on impulse, she succored the poor or
+neglected them on impulse. Her army of servants set her commands at
+defiance, for they knew them to be the outgrowth of momentary caprice.
+
+Fortunately for the domestic happiness of the couple, the Count was with
+his command at St. Petersburg during two-thirds of the year, while his
+wife enjoyed herself as best she might on his magnificent estate at
+Lubny.
+
+Brought up among the highlands of Tiflis, Louise possessed all of the
+unreasoning bigotry characteristic of the people inhabiting that region.
+She was religious to the very depths of superstition, and she chose
+Lubny for a dwelling-place, less for its resemblance to the sunny hills
+of her native province than for its proximity to several large Catholic
+cloisters for both monks and nuns, whence she hoped to receive that
+religious nourishment which her southern and impetuous nature craved. It
+was while returning from an expedition to the furthest of these
+nunneries, in which she frequently immured herself for weeks at a time,
+that she found Jacob upon the road.
+
+The Count, who, with the companions of his youth, had lost what little
+religious sentiment he may have once possessed, regarded this trait in
+his wife with great disfavor; but neither threats nor prayers effected a
+change, and he finally allowed her to follow her own inclinations.
+
+While the union was not one of the happiest, there were fewer
+altercations than might have been reasonably expected from the
+thoroughly opposite natures of man and wife. Louise, with all her
+faults, was a loving wife, and when her husband's temper was ruffled,
+her smiles and caresses, her appealing looks and tender glances, won him
+back to serenity.
+
+The supper, therefore, was not as gloomy as the stormy introduction
+indicated. Both had much to tell each other, for a great deal had
+occurred during their eight months' separation, and it was late when
+they left the table.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 4: Wallace's "Russia."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+AN UNWILLING CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY.
+
+
+On the following morning the Count bethought himself of the Jewish lad,
+and the reflection that he had harbored one of the despised people on
+his estates for an entire night, rekindled his anger against the whole
+race. He rang for Ivan and strode impatiently up and down his
+well-furnished library until the coachman appeared.
+
+"Tell the Countess that I await her here, and then bring me the boy you
+found on the road!"
+
+Both Louise and Jacob made their appearance shortly after. Jacob had
+been washed and his hair combed, and not even the Count could deny that
+he was a lad of uncommon beauty.
+
+"What is your name?" interrogated the Count, with the air of a grand
+inquisitor.
+
+"Jacob Winenki."
+
+"Where do you live?"
+
+"In the Jew lane," answered the child, slowly.
+
+"But where? In what town?"
+
+Jacob hung his head. He did not know.
+
+"How did you come here?" was the next query.
+
+Then Jacob related, with childish hesitancy, how the soldiers stole him
+and his brother from home and took them to a big city, and how he and
+Mendel ran away and were caught in a storm. Further information he could
+not give, having no recollection of anything that happened from the time
+of his lying upon the highway until he found himself in the _droshka_
+with the ladies.
+
+"You say that the soldiers came to your house and took you and your
+brother away?" asked the Count.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"What did they want with you?"
+
+"One of them said he would make _goyim_ (gentiles) of us," answered the
+boy, in his native jargon.
+
+"I see," said Count Drentell, as the truth dawned upon him; "you were
+taken to become recruits. So you escaped!"
+
+"Please, sir, Mendel and I ran away. We wanted to go home to father and
+mother."
+
+"Were there more boys with you?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Did they run away, too?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"There is not much information to be obtained from the child," said
+Drentell, angrily. Then pointing to the boy's face and arm, he asked:
+
+"Did that happen to you on the road?"
+
+"Oh, no; that happened at home," answered Jacob, tearfully; and he
+related the story of the cow and the farmer, the details of which were
+too deeply impressed upon his memory to be soon forgotten.
+
+Louise understood the jargon of the boy but imperfectly, still her
+sympathetic nature comprehended that the boy had been seriously hurt,
+and she asked her husband to repeat the story of his injuries.
+
+"Poor fellow," she exclaimed, wiping away a tear. "How cruelly he has
+been treated!"
+
+"I suppose it served him right," answered the Count, rudely. "Who knows
+what he had been guilty of. One never knows whether a Jew is lying or
+telling the truth."
+
+In spite of his doubts upon the subject, Drentell examined the boy's
+arm. It was evident that the bone had been broken, and that the fracture
+had been imperfectly set. After a short inspection, he hazarded an
+opinion that the boy would have a stiff arm all his life.
+
+"It was almost well," sobbed Jacob, "but the soldiers pulled me about so
+that it is now much worse."
+
+"Poor boy," sighed the Countess, "how dreadful it must be! Can we do
+nothing for him?"
+
+"In the name of St. Nicholas, Louise, cease this sentimental
+whimpering," retorted her husband, losing patience.
+
+"But think of a stiff arm through life, and his ear almost torn off! It
+is terrible to carry such mutilations to the grave."
+
+"It does not matter much," answered the Count, "he is a Jew."
+
+"True, I had forgotten that. It does make a great difference, does it
+not?" And the impulsive little woman dried her eyes and smilingly forgot
+her compassion.
+
+"What will you do with him?" she asked, after a pause.
+
+"I don't know. The wisest plan would be to deliver him up to military
+headquarters. He was taken from home to be a recruit, and having escaped
+from the Czar's soldiers, I would be derelict in my duty if I did not at
+once send him back."
+
+At the word "soldiers," Jacob, who had caught but a few stray words of
+the conversation, began to howl and shriek.
+
+"No, don't send me back to the soldiers," he pleaded. "They will kill
+me! Please don't send me back!"
+
+"Stop your crying," thundered the Count, stopping his ears with his
+hands to keep out the disagreeable sounds, "or I will call the soldiers
+at once."
+
+This terrible threat had the desired effect, and Jacob, gulping down his
+grief, remained quiet save for an occasional sob that would not be
+repressed.
+
+"Listen, Dimitri," said the Countess. "I found the boy insensible in the
+storm. He is sick and weak. Of what service can a child like that be
+among the soldiers? Under rough treatment he would die in a week. Even
+though he be a Jew, there is no use in sacrificing his life uselessly."
+
+"But we can't keep him here," urged the Count.
+
+"There is no need of his remaining at Lubny. The principal motive in
+taking Jewish children from their homes is to make Christians of them.
+That can certainly be better accomplished at a cloister than in camp.
+Send the boy to the convent at Poltava; they will baptize him and make a
+good Catholic of him, and we will gain our reward in heaven for having
+led one erring soul to the Saviour." And the religious woman crossed
+herself devoutly.
+
+While his wife argued, Drentell appeared lost in thought. Suddenly his
+face became illumined by a fiendish light, and he rubbed his hands in
+evident satisfaction.
+
+"Louise," he said, at length, "those are the first sensible words I have
+heard you utter since we were married. Your idea is a capital one!"
+
+"I am glad you think so," she replied, wisely refraining from commenting
+upon her husband's doubtful compliment. "The Abbess at Valki told me
+only the day before yesterday, that for every soul brought into the holy
+church, a Christian's happiness would be increased tenfold in Paradise."
+
+"Fanatical absurdities," cried the Count, who was as free from religious
+sentiment as his wife was devout. "If I consent to have the child
+brought up in a convent, I am not actuated by any considerations of
+future reward or punishment. I don't believe in such antiquated dogmas.
+But to the convent he shall go, and when they have taught him to forget
+his origin and his religion, when they have educated him into a
+fanatical, Jew-hating priest, then will I use him to wreak upon his own
+race that vengeance which I have sworn never to forego."
+
+Louise shuddered at her husband's vehement gestures and passionate
+words. His eyes rolled wildly, his whole body seemed swayed by
+uncontrollable rage. Little Jacob, although he understood nothing of the
+Count's words, recoiled instinctively and hid his face in his hands.
+
+Drentell gradually regained his composure, and after walking up and down
+the room for a few moments, in apparent meditation, he rang the bell.
+
+A servant entered.
+
+"Take the boy back to the barn, and keep him there until I ask for him
+again," he commanded. "Then harness up at once and send for _Batushka_
+Alexei, the Abbot of the convent at Poltava. Tell his reverence that I
+desire to see him as soon as possible on matters pertaining to the holy
+church."
+
+The servant disappeared, taking Jacob with him, and the Count and
+Countess were left alone to discuss their plans.
+
+It was almost night when the vehicle containing the Abbot rolled up to
+the villa, and the _batushka_ (priest) was announced. He was a
+powerfully built man, displaying a physique of which a Roman gladiator
+might have been proud. His grizzled beard reached down to his waist, and
+his flowing black robes gave him the appearance of a dervish. Alexei
+enjoyed the reputation of being very devout, and the cloister of which
+he was the head was known as the most thoroughly religious in the
+Empire. To this man the future of the Jewish lad was to be entrusted.
+
+When the holy man entered the library, both the Count and his wife
+crossed themselves reverently.
+
+"Your excellency has sent for me," said Alexei, slowly.
+
+"Yes, _batushka_," answered the Count. "We wish to place in your pious
+care a young Jewish boy who, having escaped from his parents' roof, and
+having much to fear from the anger of his people, desires to seek
+present safety and ultimate salvation of his soul in the bosom of our
+holy church. I at once thought of you, as I believe that under your
+tuition the lad will be instructed in all that is essential to the
+perfect Christian."
+
+"Your excellency does me too much honor," said the priest, meekly. "With
+the grace of our Lord Christ, I shall do my utmost to bring this lamb
+into the fold."
+
+"The boy is feverish and his mind wanders," continued the Count. "If you
+interrogate him, he will tell you that he received certain injuries--a
+broken arm and a mutilated ear--from the Christians. I happen to be
+conversant with the facts of the case and know that he was injured by
+members of his own family, in their impotent frenzy to keep him from
+seeking the solace of the only saving church. I desire you to remember
+three things, _batushka_: Firstly, that this boy must be taught to
+forget absolutely that he belongs to that accursed people; secondly, the
+idea must be firmly implanted in his mind that he has been mutilated by
+the Jews; and thirdly, he must be taught to despise and detest the
+Hebrew race with all the hatred of which his soul is capable. Do you
+understand me?"
+
+"I do, your excellency. You desire the boy to so far forget his former
+associations, that he will belong heart and soul to the church of
+Christ; and as a further precaution that he may never harbor a desire to
+return to the religion of his fathers, you desire us to impress him with
+an implacable hatred, a thirst for revenge against his race, for wrongs
+they have inflicted upon him."
+
+The Count looked at the priest significantly; they had understood one
+another.
+
+"You will find the boy docile," continued Drentell, "and unless he
+belies the characteristics of his people, you will find him quick and
+intelligent. Employ that intelligence for the good of our holy faith and
+to the prejudice of the Jewish race. Give him every advantage, every
+inducement to advance, and shape his career so that in him the church
+will find a faithful supporter and an earnest champion."
+
+"And the Jews an enemy before whom the stoutest of their number shall
+quail," continued the priest. "So shall it be, your excellency."
+
+"I shall expect to receive occasional reports of his progress. Let him
+be taught to respect me as his benefactor, and once a year I desire him
+to spend a week or two with me, in order that by wise counsels and
+salutary advice, I may assist the holy church in her noble work.
+Remember, too," and here the Count's features assumed a threatening
+look, "that this act of to-day is done by the authority of his majesty
+the Czar, who will hold you accountable for the strict observance of all
+you have promised."
+
+The priest bowed his head humbly.
+
+"I reverence the church, your excellency," he answered, "but above all I
+owe allegiance to its spiritual head, the Czar."
+
+All preliminaries having been arranged, Jacob was sent for. The priest,
+who not unnaturally expected to see a young man, was greatly surprised
+at the appearance of this puny child. He concealed his astonishment as
+well as possible, merely observing:
+
+"I presume, your excellency, this is my future pupil."
+
+"It is, and may he prove worthy of his eminent teacher."
+
+"Come, my boy," said the priest, taking the mystified Jacob by the
+hand; "say good-by to your benefactors."
+
+But Jacob, upon whom the sombre-robed, grim-visaged stranger did not
+make a favorable impression, broke from his hold and took refuge in the
+skirts of the Countess, as the most compassionate of the company.
+
+"Don't let them take me away," he sobbed. "Let me remain with you."
+
+"Be a good boy and he will take you home to your papa and mamma," said
+the Countess, with the best intentions in the world.
+
+"Will he take me to Mendel?" asked the boy.
+
+"Yes, he is going there now and will take you to all your friends."
+
+The child wiped away his tears and a smile rippled over his face. He put
+his hand confidingly into that of the priest, and said:
+
+"Come, I will go with you."
+
+The priest, in spite of his fanaticism, took the poor Jew in his arms
+and kissed him tenderly. Then setting him again upon his feet, he
+whispered:
+
+"I shall take him to a kind and loving mother, one from whose embrace he
+will not care to flee--the Holy Mother of God."
+
+Jacob entered the wagon with his new acquaintance, and in the belief
+that he was going direct to the home of his parents, he fell asleep.
+When he awoke, he found himself borne by strong arms into the convent,
+whose doors closed upon him, separating him forever from his home and
+his religion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+A MIRACULOUS CURE.
+
+
+Let us return to Mendel.
+
+The unconscious boy was carried to the village by the sympathizing
+Israelites of Poltava. When he recovered his senses he found himself
+safely sheltered in the house of Reb Sholem, the _parnas_ (president of
+the congregation). It was a pleasure to find kind sympathy, a warm room
+and a substantial meal, after the hardships of the last few days; but
+the constant recollection of Jacob's disappearance, the reproaches which
+Mendel heaped upon himself for having deserted his brother, left him no
+peace of mind.
+
+The Jews of Poltava displayed their practical sympathy by dividing into
+groups and scouring the village and the surrounding country, in hopes of
+finding some clue to the whereabouts of the boy. He might even now be
+wandering through the fields. Night, however, found them all gathered at
+Reb Sholem's house, sorrowful and disheartened, as not a trace of the
+missing lad had been discovered. Mendel retired in a state of fever and
+tossed restlessly about on his bed during the entire night. He was moved
+by but one desire--to get to his uncle at Kief as quickly as possible.
+In the morning he informed his host of his plans. A carrier of the
+village, who drove his team to within a few versts of Kief, was induced,
+upon the payment of an exorbitant sum, to take the boy as a passenger,
+and at dawn next morning they started upon their slow and tedious
+journey, followed by the good wishes of the Jewish community. It was an
+all-day trip to Kief. Over stone and stubble, through ditch and mire
+moved the lumbering, springless vehicle, and Mendel, who quitted Poltava
+with an incipient fever, arrived at his destination in a state of utter
+exhaustion. The carrier set him down at the outskirts of the town. It
+was as much as his position was worth to have harbored a Jew--a fugitive
+from the military at that--and slowly and painfully Mendel found his way
+through the strange city, to the Jewish quarter. Every soldier that
+crossed his path inspired him with terror; it might be some one charged
+with his recapture. Not until he reached his destination did he deem
+himself safe.
+
+To the south-east of the city, stretched along the Dnieper, lay the
+Jewish settlement of almost fifteen thousand souls. The most dismal,
+unhealthy portion of the town had in days gone by been selected as its
+location. The decree of the _mir_ had fixed its limits in the days of
+Peter the Great, and its boundaries could not be extended, no matter how
+rapidly the population might increase, no matter how great a lack of
+room, of air, of light there might be for future generations. The houses
+were, therefore, built as closely together as possible, without regard
+to comfort or sanitary needs. To each was added new rooms, as the
+necessities of the inhabiting family demanded, and these additions hung
+like excrescences from all sides of the ugly huts, like toadstools to
+decaying logs. Every inch of ground was precious to the ever-increasing
+settlement. It was a labyrinth of narrow, dirty streets, of unpainted,
+unattractive, dilapidated houses, a lasting monument of hatred and
+persecution, of bigotry and prejudice. Mendel gasped for a breath of
+fresh air, and, feeling himself grow faint, he hurried onward and
+inquired the way to Hirsch Bensef's house. A plain, unpretentious
+structure was pointed out and Mendel knocked at the door.
+
+Hirsch himself opened the door. For a moment he stood undecided,
+scarcely recognizing in the form before him, his chubby nephew of a week
+ago. Then he opened his arms and drew the little fellow to his breast.
+
+"Is it indeed you, Mendel?" he cried. "_Sholem alechem!_ (Peace be with
+you!) God be praised that He has brought you to us!" and he led the boy
+into the room and closed the door.
+
+"Miriam," he called to his wife, who was engaged in her household duties
+in an adjoining room; "quick, here is our boy, our Mendel. I knew he
+would come."
+
+Mendel was lovingly embraced by his cheerful-looking aunt, whom he had
+never seen, but whom he loved from that moment.
+
+"What ails you, my boy? You look ill; your head is burning," said
+Miriam, anxiously.
+
+"Yes, aunt; I fear I shall be sick," answered Mendel, faintly.
+
+"Nonsense; we will take care of that," replied Hirsch. "But where is
+Jacob?"
+
+Mendel burst into tears, the first he had shed since his enforced
+departure from home. In as few words as possible he told his story,
+accompanied by the sobs and exclamations of his hearers. In conclusion,
+he added:
+
+"Either Jacob wandered away in his delirium and is perhaps dead in some
+deserted place, or else the soldiers have recaptured him and have taken
+him back to Kharkov."
+
+"Rather he be dead than among the inhuman Cossacks at the barracks,"
+returned his uncle. "God in His mercy does all things for the best!"
+
+"The poor boy must be starving," said Miriam, and she set the table with
+the best the house afforded, but Mendel could touch nothing.
+
+"It looks tempting, but I cannot eat," he said. "I have no appetite."
+
+The poor fellow stretched himself on a large sofa, where he lay so
+quiet, so utterly exhausted, that Hirsch and his wife looked at each
+other anxiously and gravely shook their heads.
+
+A casual stranger would not have judged from the unpretentious exterior
+of Bensef's house, that its proprietor was in possession of considerable
+means, that every room was furnished in taste and even luxury, that
+works of oriental art were hidden in its recesses. Persecuted during
+generations by the jealous and covetous nations surrounding them, the
+Jews learned to conceal their wealth beneath the mask of poverty.
+Robbers, in the guise of uniformed soldiery and decorated officers of
+the Czar, stalked in broad daylight to relieve the despised Hebrew of
+his superfluous wealth, and thus it happened that the poorest hut was
+often the depository of gold and silver, of artistic utensils, which
+were worthy of the table of the Czar himself. Nor was this fact entirely
+unknown to the surrounding Christians. Not unfrequently were
+persecutions the outcome of the absurd idea that every Jewish hovel was
+the abode of riches, and that every hut where misery held court, where
+starving children cried for bread, was a mine of untold wealth. The
+condition of the race has changed in some of the more civilized
+countries, but in Russia these barbarous notions still prevail.
+
+Hirsch Bensef, by untiring energy and perseverance as a dealer in curios
+and works of art, had become one of the wealthiest and most influential
+men in the community. He was _parnas_ of the great congregation of Kief,
+and was respected, not only by his co-religionists, but also by the
+nobles with whom he transacted the greater portion of his business.
+
+His wife, who had in her youth been styled the "Beautiful Miriam," even
+now, after twelve years of married life, was still a handsome woman. Her
+dark eyes shone with the same bewitching fire; her beautiful hair had,
+in accordance with the orthodox Jewish custom, fallen under the shears
+on the day of her marriage, but the silken band and string of pearls
+that henceforth decked her brow did not detract from her oriental
+beauty. Hirsch was proud of her and he would have been completely happy
+if God had vouchsafed her a son. Like Hannah, she prayed night and
+morning to the Heavenly throne. Such was the family in whose bosom
+Mendel had found a refuge.
+
+After a while, the boy asked for a glass of water, which he swallowed
+eagerly. Then he asked:
+
+"When did you leave Togarog, uncle; and how are father and mother?"
+
+Bensef sighed at the recollection of the sad parting and tearfully
+related the events of that memorable night.
+
+"After the soldiers had carried you off," he said, "the little band that
+followed you to the confines of the village, returned sorrowful to their
+homes. I need not tell you of our misery. It appeared as though God had
+turned his face from his chosen people. We spent the night in prayer and
+lamentations. In every house the inhabitants put on mourning, for
+whatever might befall the children, to their parents they were
+irretrievably lost."
+
+"Poor papa! poor mamma!" murmured Mendel, wiping away a tear.
+
+"On the following morning," continued Bensef; "all the male _Jehudim_
+went to Alexandrovsk and implored an audience of the Governor. He sent
+us word that he would hold no conference with Jews and threatened us all
+with Siberia if we did not at once return home. What could we do? I bade
+your parents farewell, and after promising to do all in my power to find
+and succor you and Jacob, I left them and returned home, where I arrived
+yesterday. Thank God that you, at least, are safe from harm."
+
+Mendel nestled closer to his uncle, who affectionately stroked his
+fevered brow.
+
+"Oh! why does God send us such sufferings?" moaned the boy.
+
+"Be patient, my child. It is through suffering that we will in the end
+attain happiness. When afflictions bear most heavily upon us, then will
+the Messiah come!"
+
+This hope was ever the anchor which preserved the chosen people when the
+storms of misfortune threatened to destroy them. The belief in the
+eventual coming of a redeemer who would lead them to independence, and
+for whose approach trials, misery and persecution were but a necessary
+preparation, has been the great secret of Israel's strength and
+endurance.
+
+During the evening, a number of Bensef's intimate friends visited the
+house and were told Mendel's history. The news of his arrival soon
+spread through the community, awakening everywhere the liveliest
+sympathy. Many parents had been bereft of their children in the
+self-same way and still mourned the absence of their first-born, whom
+the cruel decree of Nicholas had condemned to the rigors of some
+military outpost. Mendel became the hero of Kief, while he lay tossing
+in bed, a prey to high fever.
+
+In spite of the care that was lavished upon him, he steadily grew worse.
+Fear, hunger, exposure and self-reproach had been too much for his
+youthful frame. For several days Miriam administered her humble
+house-remedies, but they were powerless to relieve his sufferings. The
+hot tea which he was made to drink, only served to augment the fever.
+
+On the fifth day, Mendel was decidedly in a dangerous condition. He was
+delirious. The doctors in the Jewish community were consulted, but were
+powerless to effect a cure. Bensef and his wife were in despair.
+
+"What shall we do?" said Miriam, sadly. "We cannot let the boy die."
+
+"Die?" cried Hirsch, becoming pale at the thought. "Oh, God, do not take
+the boy! He has wound himself about my heart. Oh, God, let him live!"
+
+"Come, husband, praying is of little avail," answered his practical
+wife; "we must have a _feldsher_" (doctor).
+
+"A _feldsher_ in the Jewish community? Why, Miriam, are you out of your
+mind? Have you forgotten how, when Rabbi Jeiteles was lying at the point
+of death, no amount of persuasion could induce a doctor to come into the
+quarter. 'Let the Jews die,' they answered to our entreaties; 'there
+will still be too many of them!'"
+
+Miriam sighed. She remembered it well.
+
+"What persuasion would not do, money may accomplish," she said, after a
+pause. "Hirsch, that boy must not die. He must live to be a credit to us
+and a comfort to our old age. You have money--what gentile ever
+resisted it?"
+
+"I will do what I can," said the man, gloomily. "But even though I could
+bring one to the house, what good can he do. It is merely an experiment
+with the best of them. They will take our money, make a few magical
+incantations, prescribe a useless drug, and leave their patient to the
+mercy of Fate."
+
+Hirsch Bensef was right. At the time of which we speak, medicine could
+scarcely be classed among the sciences in Russia, and if we accept the
+statement of modern travellers, the situation is not much improved at
+the present day. The scientific doctor of Russia was the _feldsher_ or
+army surgeon, whose sole schooling was obtained among the soldiery and
+whose knowledge did not extend beyond dressing wounds and giving an
+occasional dose of physic. Upon being called to the bedside of a
+patient, he adopted an air of profound learning, asked a number of
+unimportant questions, prescribed an herb or drug of doubtful efficacy,
+and charged an exorbitant fee. The patient usually refused to take the
+medicine and recovered. It sometimes happened that he took the
+prescribed dose and perhaps recovered, too. On a level with the
+_feldsher_ and much preferred by the peasantry, stood the _snakharka_, a
+woman, half witch, half quack, who was regarded by the _moujiks_ with
+the greatest veneration. By means of herbs and charms, she could
+accomplish any cure short of restoring life to a corpse. "The
+_snakharka_ and the _feldsher_ represent two very different periods in
+the history of medical science--the magical and the scientific. The
+Russian peasantry have still many conceptions which belong to the
+former. The majority of them are now quite willing, under ordinary
+circumstances, to use the scientific means of healing, but as soon as a
+violent epidemic breaks out and scientific means prove unequal to the
+occasion, the old faith revives and recourse is had to magical rites and
+incantations."[5]
+
+Neither of these systems was regarded favorably by the Hebrews. The
+_feldshers_ were, by right of their superior knowledge, an arrogant
+class; and it was suspected that on more than one occasion they had
+hastened the death of a Jew under treatment, instead of relieving him.
+The Israelites were equally suspicious of the _snakharkas_; not because
+they were intellectually above the superstitions of their times, but
+because the incantations and spells were invariably pronounced in the
+name of the Virgin Mary, and no Jew could be reasonably expected to
+recover under such treatment.
+
+What was to be done for poor Mendel? Hirsch, assisted by suggestions
+from his wife, cogitated long and earnestly. Suddenly Miriam found a
+solution of the difficulty.
+
+"Why not send to Rabbi Eleazer at Tchernigof?"
+
+Hirsch gazed at his wife in silent admiration.
+
+"To the _bal-shem_?" he asked.
+
+"Why not? When Chune Benefski's little boy was so sick that they thought
+he was already dead, a parchment blessed by the _bal-shem_ brought him
+back to life. Is Mendel less to you than your own son would be?"
+
+"God forbid," said Hirsch; then added, reflectively: "but to-day is
+Thursday. It will take a day and a half to reach Tchernigof, and the
+messenger will arrive there just before _Shabbes_. He cannot start on
+his return until Saturday evening, and by the time he got back Mendel
+would be cold in death. No; it is too far!"
+
+"_Shaute!_" (Nonsense!) ejaculated his wife, who was now warmed up to
+the subject. "Do you imagine the _bal-shem_ cannot cure at a distance as
+well as though he were at the patient's bedside? Lose no time. God did
+not deliver Mendel out of the hands of the soldiers to let him die in
+our house."
+
+One of the most fantastic notions of Cabalistic teaching was that
+certain persons, possessing a clue to the mysterious powers of nature,
+were enabled to control its laws, to heal the sick, to compel even the
+Almighty to do their behests. Such a man, such a miracle worker, was
+called a _bal-shem_.
+
+That a _bal-shem_ should thrive and grow fat is a matter of course, for
+consultations were often paid for in gold. To the wonder-working Rabbi
+travelled all those who had a petition to bring to the Throne of
+God--the old and decrepit who desired to defraud the grave of a few
+miserable years; the unfortunate who wished to improve his condition;
+the oppressed who yearned for relief from a tyrannical taskmaster; the
+father who prayed for a husband for his fast aging daughter; the sick,
+the halt, the maim, the malcontent, the egotist--all sought the aid, the
+mediation of the holy man. He refused no one his assistance, declined no
+one's proffered gifts.
+
+It was finally decided to send to the _bal-shem_ to effect Mendel's
+cure. But time was pressing, Mendel was growing visibly worse and
+Tchernigof was a long way off!
+
+Hirsch rose to go in search of a messenger.
+
+"Whom will you send?" asked his wife, accompanying him to the door.
+
+"The beadle, Itzig Maier, of course," rang back Hirsch's answer, as he
+strode rapidly down the street.
+
+Let us accompany him to Itzig Maier's house, situated in the poorest
+quarter of Kief. In a narrow lane stood a low, dingy, wooden hut, whose
+boards were rotting with age. The little windows were covered for the
+most part with greased paper in lieu of the panes that had years ago
+been destroyed, and scarcely admitted a stray beam of sunlight into the
+room. The door, which was partially sunken into the earth, suggesting
+the entrance to a cave, opened into the one room of the house, which
+served at once as kitchen and dormitory. It was damp, foul and
+unhealthy, scarcely a fit dwelling-place for the emaciated cat, which
+sat lazily at the entrance. The floor was innocent of boards or tiles,
+and was wet after a shower and dry during a drought. The walls were bare
+of plaster. It was a stronghold of poverty. Misery had left her impress
+upon everything within that wretched enclosure. Yet here it was that
+Itzig Maier, his wife, and five children lived and after a fashion
+thrived. In one respect he was more fortunate than most of his
+neighbors; his hut possessed the advantage of housing but one family,
+whereas many places, not a whit more spacious or commodious, furnished a
+dwelling to three or four. The persecutions which limited the Jewish
+quarter to certain defined boundaries, the intolerance which prohibited
+the Jews from possessing or cultivating land, or from acquiring any
+trade or profession, were to blame for this wretchedness.
+
+A brief review of the past career of our new acquaintance, Itzig Maier,
+will give us a picture of the unfortunate destiny of thousands of
+Russian Jews.
+
+Itzig had studied Talmud until he had attained his eighteenth year. But
+lacking originality he lapsed into a mere automaton. His eighteenth year
+found him a sallow-visaged, slovenly lad, ignorant of all else but the
+Holy Law. His anxious and loving parents began to think seriously of his
+future. Almost nineteen years of age and not yet married! It was
+preposterous! A _schadchen_ (match-maker) was brought into requisition
+and a wife obtained for the young man. What mattered it that she was a
+mere child, unlettered and unfit for the solemn duties of wife and
+mother? What mattered it that the young people had never met before and
+had no inclination for each other? "It is not good for man to be alone,"
+said the parents, and the prospective bride and bridegroom were simply
+not consulted. The girl's straggling curls succumbed to the shears; a
+band of silk, the insignia of married life, was placed over her brow,
+and the fate of two inexperienced children was irrevocably fixed; they
+were henceforth man and wife.
+
+Both parents of Itzig Maier died shortly after the nuptials and the
+young man inherited a small sum of money, the meagre earnings of years,
+and the miserable hut which had for generations served as the family
+homestead. For a brief period the couple lived carelessly and
+contentedly; but, alas! the little store of wealth gradually decreased.
+Itzig's fingers, unskilled in manual labor, could not add to it nor
+prevent its melting away. He knew nothing but Law and Talmud and his
+chances for advancement were meagre, indeed. After the last rouble had
+been spent, Itzig sought refuge in the great synagogue, where as beadle
+he executed any little duties for which the services of a pious man were
+required--sat up with the sick, prayed for the dead, trimmed the lamps
+and swept the floor of the House of Worship; in return for which he
+thankfully accepted the gifts of the charitably inclined. His wife, when
+she was not occupied with the care of her rapidly growing family,
+cheerfully assisted in swelling the family fund by peddling vegetables
+and fruit from door to door.
+
+Oh, the misery of such an existence! Slowly and drearily day followed
+day and time itself moved with leaden soles. There were many such
+families, many such hovels in Kief; for although thrift and economy,
+prudence and good management are pre-eminently Jewish qualities, yet
+they are not infrequently absent and their place usurped by neglect with
+its attendant misery.
+
+In spite of privations, however, life still possessed a charm for Itzig
+Maier. At times the wedding of a wealthy Jew, or the funeral of some
+eminent man, demanded his services and for a week or more money would be
+plentiful and happiness reign supreme.
+
+Hirsch Bensef entered the hut and found Jentele, Maier's wife,
+perspiring over the hearth which occupied one corner of the room. She
+was preparing a meal of boiled potatoes. A sick child was tossing
+restlessly in an improvised cradle, which in order to save room was
+suspended from a hook in the smoke-begrimed ceiling. Several children
+were squalling in the lane before the house.
+
+"_Sholem alechem_," said the woman, as she saw the stranger stoop and
+enter the door-way, and wiping her hands upon her greasy gown, she
+offered Hirsch a chair.
+
+"Where is your husband?" asked Hirsch, gasping for breath, for the heat
+and the malodorous atmosphere were stifling.
+
+"Where should he be but in the synagogue?" said Jentele, as she went to
+rock the cradle, for the child had begun to cry and fret at the sight of
+the stranger.
+
+"Is the child sick?" asked Bensef, advancing to the cradle and observing
+the poor half-starved creature struggling and whining for relief.
+
+"Yes, it is sick. God knows whether it will recover. It is dying of
+hunger and thirst and I have no money to buy it medicines or
+nourishment."
+
+"Does your husband earn nothing?"
+
+"Very little. There have been no funerals and no weddings for several
+months."
+
+"Can you not earn anything?"
+
+"How can I? I must cook for my little ones and watch my ailing child."
+
+"Are your children of no service to you?"
+
+"My oldest girl, Beile, is but seven years old. She does all she can to
+help me, but it is not much," answered Jentele, irritably.
+
+Hirsch sighed heavily and drawing out his purse, he placed a gold coin
+in the woman's hand.
+
+"Here, take this," he said, "and provide for the child." He thought of
+Mendel at home and tears almost blinded him. "Carry the boy out into the
+air; this atmosphere is enough to kill a healthy person. Well, God be
+with you!" and Hirsch hurriedly left the the house.
+
+He found the man he was seeking at the synagogue. Poverty and privation,
+hunger and care, had undertaken the duties of time and had converted
+this person into a decrepit ruin while yet in the prime of life.
+
+Without unnecessary delay, for great was the need of haste, Hirsch
+unfolded his plans, and Itzig, in consideration of a sum of money,
+consented to undertake the journey at once. The money, destined as a
+gift to the _bal-shem_, was securely strapped about his waist, and
+arrangements were made with a _moujik_, who was going part of the way,
+to carry Itzig on his wagon.
+
+"Get there as soon as possible, and by all means before _Shabbes_!" were
+Bensef's parting words.
+
+In the meantime not a little sympathy was manifested for the unfortunate
+lad. Bensef's house was crowded during the entire day. Every visitor
+brought a slight token of love--a cake, a cup of jelly, a leg of a
+chicken; but Mendel could eat nothing and the good things remained
+untouched. There was no lack of advice as to the boy's treatment.
+Everyone had a recipe or a drug to offer, all of which Miriam wisely
+refused to administer. There was at one time quite a serious dispute in
+the room adjoining the sick-chamber. Hinka Kierson, a stout, red-faced
+matron, asserted that cold applications were most efficacious in fevers
+of this nature, while Chune Benefski, whose son had had a similar
+attack, and who was therefore qualified to speak upon the subject,
+insisted that cold applications meant instant death, and that nothing
+could relieve the boy but a hot bath. Miriam quieted the disputants by
+promising to try both remedies. To her credit be it said, she applied
+neither, but pinned her entire faith upon the coming remedy of the
+_bal-shem_.
+
+Friday noon came but it brought no improvement. He continued delirious
+and his mind dwelt upon his recent trials, at one moment struggling
+against unseen enemies and the next calling piteously upon his brother
+Jacob.
+
+Hirsch and Miriam could witness his suffering no longer, but went to
+their own room and gave free vent to the tears which would not be
+repressed.
+
+"Oh, if the answer from the Rabbi were but here," sighed Miriam.
+
+"Itzig will have just arrived in Tchernigof," said her husband,
+despondingly. "We can expect no answer until Monday morning."
+
+"And must we sit helpless in the meantime?" sobbed Miriam, through her
+tears.
+
+The door opened and a woman living in the neighborhood entered to
+inquire after the patient.
+
+"See, Miriam," she said, "when I was feverish last year after my
+confinement, a _snakharka_ gave me this bark with which to make a tea. I
+used a part of it and you remember how quickly I recovered. Here is all
+I have left. Try it on your boy; it can't hurt him and with God's help
+it will cure him."
+
+Yes, Miriam remembered how ill her neighbor had been and how rapid had
+been her convalescence. She took the bark and examined it curiously,
+made the tea and administered a portion without any visible effect.
+
+"Continue to give it to him regularly until it is all gone," said the
+neighbor, and she went home to prepare for the Sabbath.
+
+Miriam, too, had her house to put in order and to prepare the table for
+the following day; but for the first time the gold and silver utensils,
+the snow-white linen--the luxurious essentials of the Sabbath
+table--failed to give her pleasure. What did all her wealth avail her if
+Mendel must die! Her husband sat apathetically at the boy's bedside,
+watching his flushed face and listening to his delirious raving. The end
+seemed near. The boy asked for drink and Miriam gave him more of the
+tea.
+
+Five o'clock sounded from the tower of a near-by church and Hirsch arose
+to dress for the house of prayer. _Shabbes_ must not be neglected,
+happen what may. Suddenly there was an unusual commotion in the narrow
+lane in which stood Bensef's house. The door was hastily thrown open and
+in rushed Itzig, the messenger to Tchernigof, followed by a dozen
+excited, gesticulating friends.
+
+Bensef ran to meet them, but when he saw his messenger already returned
+his countenance fell.
+
+"For God's sake, what is the matter? Why are you not in Tchernigof?" he
+said.
+
+"I was," retorted Itzig, "but I have come back. Here," he continued,
+opening a bag about his neck and carefully drawing therefrom a small
+piece of parchment covered with hieroglyphics, "put this under the boy's
+tongue and he will recover!"
+
+"But what is this paper?" asked Hirsch, suspiciously.
+
+"It is from the _bal-shem_. Don't ask so many questions, but do as I
+tell you! Put it under the boy's tongue before the Sabbath or it will be
+of no avail!"
+
+Hirsch looked from Itzig to the ever-increasing crowd that was peering
+in through the open door. Then he gazed at the parchment. It was about
+two inches square and covered with mystic signs which none understood,
+but the power of which none doubted. In the margin was written in
+Hebrew, "In the name of the Lord--Rabbi Eleazer."
+
+There was no time for idle curiosity. Hirsch ran into the patient's
+presence with the precious talisman and placed it under the boy's
+tongue.
+
+"There, my child," he whispered; "the _bal-shem_ sends you this. By
+to-morrow you will be cured."
+
+The boy, whose fever appeared already broken, opened his eyes and,
+looking gratefully at Hirsch, answered:
+
+"Yes, dear uncle, I shall soon be well," and fell into a deep sleep.
+
+Hirsch closed the door softly and went out to his friends. The
+excitement was intense and the crowd was steadily growing, for the news
+had spread that Itzig Maier had been to Tchernigof and back in less than
+two days.
+
+"Tell us about it, Itzig," they clamored. "How is it possible that you
+could do it?" But Itzig waved them back and not until Hirsch Bensef came
+out from the sick chamber did he deign to speak. Then his tongue became
+loosened, and to the awe and amazement of his listeners he related his
+wonderful adventures. He told them that, having left the wagon half-way
+to Tchernigof, he had walked the rest of the distance, reaching his
+destination that very morning at eleven o'clock. The holy man, being
+advised by mysterious power of his expected arrival, awaited him at the
+door and said: "Itzig, thou hast come about a sick boy at Kief." The
+_bal-shem_ then gave him a parchment already written, and told him to
+return home at once and apply the remedy before _Shabbes_, otherwise the
+spell would lose its efficacy.
+
+"Then," continued the messenger, "I said, 'Rabbi, this is Friday noon;
+it takes almost a day and a half to reach Kief. How can I get there by
+_Shabbes_?' Then he answered, 'Thinkest thou that I possess the power to
+cure a dying man and not to send thee home before the Sabbath? Begin thy
+journey at once and on foot and thou shalt be in Kief before night.'
+Then I gave him the present I had brought and started out upon my
+homeward journey. I appeared to fly. It seemed as though I was suspended
+in the air, and trees, fields and villages passed me in rapid
+succession. This continued until about a half hour ago, when I suddenly
+found myself before Kief and at once hastened here with the parchment."
+
+This incredible story produced different effects upon the auditors
+present.
+
+"It is wonderful," said one. "The _bal-shem_ knows the mysteries of
+God."
+
+"I don't believe a word of it," shouted another; "such things are
+impossible."
+
+"But we have proof of it before us," cried a third. "Itzig could not
+have returned by natural means."
+
+Then a number of the men related similar occurrences for which they
+could vouch, or which had taken place in the experience of their
+parents, and the gathering broke up into little groups, each
+gesticulating, relating or explaining. The excitement was indescribable.
+
+Bensef laid his hand upon Itzig's shoulder and led him aside.
+
+"Look at me, Itzig," he commanded. "I want to know the truth. Is what
+you have just related exactly true."
+
+"To be sure it is. If you doubt it, go to the _bal-shem_ and ask him
+yourself."
+
+"Do you swear by----" Then checking himself, Hirsch muttered: "We will
+see. If the boy recovers, I will believe you."
+
+When Itzig arrived at the synagogue that evening, he was the cynosure of
+all eyes, and it is safe to say that there was not in Kief a Jewish
+household in which the wonderful story was not repeated and commented
+upon.
+
+Mendel recovered with marvellous rapidity. Whether his improvement was
+due to the Peruvian bark which the kind-hearted neighbor had brought,
+or to the power of the Cabalistic writing, or to the psychological
+influence of faith in the _bal-shem's_ power, it is not for us to
+decide, but certain it is that Rabbi Eleazer received full credit for
+the cure and his already great reputation spread through Russia.
+
+The fact that Itzig, whose poverty had been notorious, now occasionally
+indulged in expenditures requiring the outlay of considerable money,
+caused a rumor to spread that the worthy messenger had gone no further
+than the village of Navrack, where he himself prepared the parchment and
+then returned with the wonderful story of his trip through the air and
+with his fortune augmented to the extent of Bensef's present to the
+Rabbi. Envious people were not wanting who gave ear to this unkind rumor
+and even helped to spread it. But the fact that Mendel had been snatched
+from the jaws of death was sufficient vindication for Itzig, who for a
+long time enjoyed great honors at Kief.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 5: Wallace, p. 77.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+MENDEL THINKS FOR HIMSELF.
+
+
+Mendel's fondness for study determined his future career. Nowhere were
+there such opportunities for learning the Talmud as in Kief. Its
+numerous synagogues, its eminent rabbis, its large Hebrew population,
+made it the centre of Judaism in Southern Russia. In its schools some of
+the most learned rabbis of the Empire had studied.
+
+Throughout the whole of Russia there were, at the time of which we
+speak, but few universities, and these scarcely deserved to rank above
+second-rate colleges. Education was within the reach of very few. At the
+present day, "the merchants do not even possess the rudiments of an
+education. Many of them can neither read nor write and are forced to
+keep their accounts in their memory, or by means of ingenious
+hieroglyphics, intelligible only to their inventors. Others can decipher
+the calendar and the lives of the saints, and can sign their name with
+tolerable facility. They can make the simpler arithmetical calculations
+with the help of a little calculating machine, called _stchety_."[6]
+
+In the days of Nicholas it was infinitely worse. Learning of any kind
+was considered detrimental to the State; schools were practically
+unknown. "The most stringent regulations were made concerning tutors and
+governesses. It was forbidden to send young men to study in western
+colleges and every obstacle was thrown in the way of foreign travel and
+residence. Philosophy could not be taught in the universities."[7]
+
+Contrast with this enforced lethargy the intellectual activity that we
+meet with everywhere in Jewish quarters. No settlement in which we find
+a _minyan_ (ten men necessary for divine worship), but there we will
+also find a _cheder_, a school in which the Bible and the Talmud are
+taught. Indeed, study is the first duty of the Jew; it is the
+quintessence of his religion. The unravelling of God's Word has been
+from time immemorial regarded as the greatest need, the most ennobling
+occupation of man--a work commanded by God. The Talmud teems with
+precepts concerning this all-important subject.
+
+"Study by day and by night, for it is written: 'Thou shalt meditate
+therein day and night.'"
+
+"The study of the Law may be compared to a huge heap that is to be
+cleared away. The foolish man will say: 'It is impossible for me to
+remove this immense pile, I will not attempt it.' But the wise man says:
+'I will remove a little to-day, and more to-morrow, and thus in time I
+shall have removed it all.' It is the same in studying the Law."[8]
+
+It was to this incessant study of the Scriptures that Israel owed its
+patience, its courage, its fortitude during centuries of persecution. It
+was this constant delving for truth which produced that bright, acute
+Jewish mind, which in days of fanaticism and intolerance, protected the
+despised people from stupefying mental decay. It was this incessant
+yearning after the word of God, which moulded the moral and religious
+life of the Jews and preserved them from the fanatical excesses of the
+surrounding peoples.
+
+That this study often degenerated into a mere useless cramming of
+unintelligible ideas is easily understood, and its effects were in many
+cases the reverse of ennobling. At the age of five, the Jewish lad was
+sent to _cheder_ and his young years devoted to the study of the Bible.
+Every other occupation of mind and body was interdicted, the very plays
+of happy childhood were abolished. The Pentateuch must henceforth form
+the sole mental nourishment of the boy. Later on he is led through the
+labyrinth of Talmudic lore, to wander through the dark and dreary
+catacombs of the past, analyze the mouldering corpses of a by-gone
+philosophy, drink into his very blood the wisdom, superstitions,
+morality and prejudices of preceding ages. He must digest problems which
+the greatest minds have failed to solve. Either the pupil is spurred on
+to preternatural acuteness and becomes a credit to his parents and his
+teachers, or he succumbs entirely to the benumbing influence of an
+over-wrought intellect and is rendered unfit for the great physical
+struggle for existence.
+
+What is the Talmud, this sacred literature of Israel? It is a collection
+of discussions and comments of biblical subjects, by generations of
+rabbis and teachers who devoted their time and intellects to an analysis
+of the Scriptures. It is a curious store-house of literary gems, at
+times carefully, at times carelessly compiled by writers living in
+different lands and different ages; a museum of curiosities, into which
+are thrown in strange confusion beautiful legends, historical facts,
+metaphysical discussions, sanitary regulations and records of scientific
+research. In it are preserved the wise decisions, stirring sermons and
+religious maxims of Israel's philosophers.
+
+Although a huge work, consisting of twelve folios, it bears no
+resemblance to a single literary production. On first acquaintance it
+appears a wilderness, a meaningless tangle of heterogeneous ideas, of
+scientific absurdities, of hair-splitting arguments, of profound
+aphorisms, of ancient traditions, of falsehood and of truth. It is a
+work of broadest humanity, of most fanatical bigotry.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that the Talmud contains a great number
+of trivial subjects, which it treats with great seriousness. It
+contains, for example, dissertations upon sorcery and witchcraft as well
+as powerful religious precepts, and presents along-side of its wise and
+charitable maxims many utterances of an opposite nature. "For these
+faults the whole Talmud had often been held responsible, as a work of
+trifles, as a source of trickery, without taking into consideration that
+it is not the work of a single author. Over six centuries are
+crystallized in the Talmud with animated distinctness. It is, therefore,
+no wonder if in this work, sublime and mean, serious and ridiculous,
+Jewish and heathen elements, the altar and the ashes are found in motley
+mixture."[9]
+
+To the _jeschiva_, or Talmud school, Mendel was immediately sent after
+his phenomenal recovery. The great Rabbi Jeiteles himself became the
+lad's instructor. Let us accompany Mendel on this beautiful autumn day
+to his school.
+
+The house of Rabbi Jeiteles was hemmed in on three sides by decaying and
+overcrowded dwellings, facing on the fourth a narrow, neglected lane.
+There was nothing in its appearance to attract a passer-by. The
+interior, however, was neatly and tastefully, if not luxuriously,
+furnished. On entering, one found himself in a comfortably arranged
+reception-room. On the eastern wall there hung a _misrach_, a scriptural
+picture bearing the inscription, "From the rising of the sun to its
+setting shall the name of the Lord be praised." Prints of biblical
+subjects adorned the remaining walls, the Sabbath lamp hung from the
+ceiling and thrift and comfort seemed to be thoroughly at home. Rebecca,
+the Rabbi's wife, a pleasant-faced, mild-tempered little woman, was busy
+arranging the table for the evening meal. There is not much to be said
+about her and absolutely nothing against her. To a profound admiration
+for her husband's ability, she added charity and benevolence and shared
+with him the respect of the congregation. It had pleased the Lord to
+deprive her of her three sons and the mother's love and devotion was now
+lavished upon her sole remaining child, her daughter Recha.
+
+"My sons would be a great comfort to me," she often sighed, and then
+added, with resignation: "the Lord's will be done."
+
+To the right of the entrance lay the staircase leading to the bed-rooms
+on the second floor, and to the left a door opened into the
+school-rooms, a recent addition to the dwelling, and in which the
+Rabbi's fifty-odd pupils were daily instructed in their important
+studies.
+
+In the first of these rooms, the elementary department, sat the younger
+boys, whose spiritual and mental welfare were entrusted to an assistant,
+a young pedagogue, who did not believe in sparing the rod at the expense
+of the child, but, mindful of the unmerciful whippings he had received
+in his youth, endeavored on his part to inculcate the precepts of the
+Pentateuch by means of sound thrashings. The progress of his pupils was
+not phenomenal, but their training was eminently useful in aiding them
+to bear the blows and trials which the gentile world had in store for
+them. The Rabbi occasionally looked in upon the class and added his
+instructions to those of the assistant, who in the presence of his
+superior concealed his rod and assumed an air of unspeakable tenderness
+and loving solicitude towards his charges.
+
+The second school-room was for the more advanced pupils, who had for the
+most part passed their _bar-mitzvah_ and now revelled in the mystic lore
+of the Talmud. On rough wooden desks, whose surfaces had been engraved
+by unskilled hands, huge folios lay open. At the upper end of the room
+sat the Rabbi, on whose head the frosts of sixty winters had left their
+traces. His snow-white beard covered his breast and his hair hung in
+silver locks over his temples. His pale and finely-cut features stamped
+him as a man of education and refinement. The venerable patriarch had
+for more than thirty years filled the position of Chief Rabbi of Kief,
+and his reputation as a Talmudist and a man of great mental acumen was
+not confined to his native town.
+
+The rattan which the Rabbi held in his hand, the better to guide his
+pupils, was never used for corporal punishment, for a glance or a
+whispered admonition from the beloved teacher was more potent than were
+blows from another. At his side sat his little daughter Recha, scarcely
+nine years of age, whose features gave promise of great oriental beauty.
+Her dark eyes and darker hair, her rosy lips and merry smile, formed a
+veritable symphony of childish loveliness. Recha deemed it a great favor
+to be allowed in the room with her father during school-hours, and as
+her presence exercised a refining influence over the boys, each one of
+whom loved the girl in his own juvenile way, the Rabbi offered no
+objections.
+
+The boys were being instructed in a difficult passage of the Talmud.
+Following the movements of the Rabbi's head and body they recited their
+appropriate lines. Like a mighty _crescendo_ swelled the chorus, for the
+greater the pupil's zeal the louder rose his voice, and ever and anon
+they were inspired to quicker time, to greater enthusiasm, until the
+lesson came to an end.
+
+Alas, poor boys! Taken from the cheerful sunlight to pass the days of
+happy boyhood in wading through heaps of useless learning, tutored in a
+philosophy which demands age and experience for its perfect
+comprehension; of what use can all this Talmud delving be to you, when
+once life summons you to more practical duties? And yet how much better
+this training, confusing and bewildering though it be, than the absolute
+ignorance, the unchecked illiteracy of the Russian Christians.
+
+Rabbi Jeiteles interrupted his class to amplify upon the passage just
+read. He had been a great traveller in his youth, had wandered through
+Austria and Germany, and had picked up disconnected scraps of worldly
+information, to which, in a measure, his superiority in Kief was due.
+There were envious calumniators who did not hesitate to assert that the
+Rabbi was a _meshumed_ (a renegade), that his mind had become polluted
+with ideas and thoughts at variance with Judaism, that he had in his
+possession--_O mirabile dictu!_--a copy of the Mendelssohnian
+translation of the Pentateuch, against which a ban had been hurled.
+These were but rumors, however, and the better class of Hebrews paid no
+attention to them.
+
+The passage under consideration was the beautiful legend concerning the
+necessity of understanding the Law, and the Rabbi undertook to elucidate
+its somewhat difficult construction. According to the wise scribes of
+the Talmud, each soul after death enters into the presence of its maker,
+and is asked to give a reason for not having studied the _Torah_. If
+poverty is offered as an excuse, he is reminded of Hillel, who though
+poor deprived himself of life's comforts that he might enjoy God's word.
+If the burdens and cares of wealth are advanced in palliation, he is
+reminded of Eleazer, who abandoned his lands and possessions to seek the
+consolation of knowledge. If a man pleads temptations and weakness to
+excuse a life of evil, he is told of Joseph's constancy. In short, it is
+incumbent on all to understand God's commandments and to obey them, for
+"the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord."
+
+Silence reigned in the class-room, while the Rabbi, in explanation of
+his subject, related incidents that had occurred to him during his
+eventful career. The interest was intense, numerous questions were asked
+and graciously answered, and the _mishna_ was again taken up.
+
+At length the lesson came to an end and the school was dismissed. The
+pupils, glad to be released from their duties, bade their teacher
+good-by and tripped out into the inviting sunlight. Mendel alone
+remained.
+
+"Well, my boy, what is it?" asked the Rabbi, as Mendel gazed wistfully
+at him.
+
+"Rabbi, are you going out for your walk?" he asked, timidly.
+
+"Yes," answered the other, surprised at the question.
+
+"May I accompany you? I have so much to ask of you."
+
+The Rabbi gladly acquiesced. Although Mendel had been but six months
+under his tuition, he had already become his favorite pupil. His quick
+perception and wonderful originality of thought attracted the teacher.
+
+The teacher and pupil walked through the miserable streets of the
+quarter until they reached the open fields. Here the Rabbi stopped and
+drew a long breath.
+
+"How different this is," he said, "from the contaminated air one
+breathes in the narrow lanes of our quarter."
+
+"You have travelled much, Rabbi," said the boy. "Tell me, are the Jews
+treated as cruelly all over the world as they are in Russia?"
+
+"Unfortunately they are, in some other countries. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because I think--Rabbi, are we not ourselves to blame for our wretched
+existence?"
+
+Jeiteles looked at the boy in surprise.
+
+"That is a very grave question for a boy of your age," he said. "What
+gave you such an idea?"
+
+"I have been thinking very much of late that if we were more like other
+people we might be made to suffer less."
+
+"God forbid that we should become like them," answered the Rabbi,
+hastily. "Israel's greatest calamities have been caused by aping the
+fashions of other nations. Our only salvation lies in clinging to our
+customs and faith. Do not attempt to judge your elders until you are
+more conversant with your own religion. Obey the Law and do not trouble
+yourself concerning the religious observances of your people."
+
+The boy took the rebuke meekly and the two walked on in silent
+meditation. After a pause, Mendel again took up the conversation.
+
+"In to-day's lesson," he said, "we learned that the fear of God is the
+beginning of wisdom; that study is God's special command. A wise Rabbi
+furthermore said upon this subject: 'He gains wisdom who is willing to
+receive from all sources.' Am I right?"
+
+"You have quoted correctly. Go on!"
+
+"Is there any passage in the Talmud which forbids the learning of a
+foreign language or the reading of a book not written in Hebrew?"
+
+The Rabbi gazed thoughtfully upon the ground but could not recollect
+such a passage.
+
+"Last week," continued Mendel, "while in the city, I saw a book in
+Russian characters. I bought it and took it home to study. My uncle tore
+the book from my hands and threw it into the fire, all the time
+bewailing that anything so impure had been brought into the house. Then
+I was obliged to run to the house of worship and pray until sunset for
+forgiveness. Was there anything so very wrong in trying to learn
+something beside the Talmud?"
+
+The worthy Rabbi was sorely puzzled for a reply. His knowledge of the
+world had long ago opened his eyes to the narrow-minded bigotry which
+swayed the Russian Jewish people in their prejudices against anything
+foreign. He, too, deplored the fact that intellects so bright and alert
+should be content to linger in these musty catacombs. Full well he knew
+that the constant searching for hidden meanings in the Scriptures was
+the direct cause of many of the superstitions which had crept into
+Judaism. He, too, had in his youth yearned for more extended knowledge
+than that derived from the Talmud's folios, and had in secret studied
+the Russian and German languages at the risk of being discovered and
+branded as a heretic. He understood the boy's craving and sympathized
+with him; but could he conscientiously advise him to brave the
+opposition and prejudices of his people and pursue that knowledge to
+which he aspired?
+
+"Well, Rabbi," said the boy, eagerly, "you do not answer. Have I
+violated any law by asking such a question?"
+
+Rabbi Jeiteles wiping his perspiring brow with a large red handkerchief,
+sat down upon a moss-grown log and bade the boy sit at his side.
+
+"My dear Mendel," he began, "you are scarcely old or experienced enough
+to comprehend the gravity of your question. It is important for Israel
+the world over to remain unpolluted by the influence of gentile customs.
+The Messiah will surely come, nor can his arrival be far off, and a new
+kingdom, a united power will reward us for our past sufferings and
+present faith. Were Israel to become tainted with foreign ideas, she
+would in each country develop different propensities, learn different
+languages and her religion would become contaminated by all that is most
+obnoxious in other faiths. It is to preserve the unity of Israel, the
+similarity of thought, the purity of our religion, that we look with
+horror upon any foreign learning. Now, compare our mental condition with
+that of the Russian _moujiks_, or even nobles. What do they know? What
+have they studied? Very little, indeed! They know nothing of the great
+deeds of the past that are revealed to us through the Scriptures; they
+cannot enjoy the grand and majestic philosophy of our God-inspired
+rabbis. Brought up in utter ignorance, their life may be likened to a
+desert, barren of all that pleases the eye and elevates the mind."
+
+"But," interrupted the boy, "might we not hold on to our own, even while
+we are learning from the gentiles? Our language, for example, is, as I
+have heard you say, a terrible jargon. We have forgotten much of our
+Hebrew and use many strange words instead. We have but to open our
+mouths to be recognized at once as Jews and to be treated with contempt.
+If we were but to learn the Russian language, it might save us from many
+a cruel humiliation and the Hebrew tongue might still be preserved in
+our own circle."
+
+"You mistake, my boy; our humiliations do not proceed from any one
+fact, such as jargon or customs, but from a variety of circumstances
+combined, principal among which are envy of our domestic happiness,
+fanaticism because of our rejection of the Christian religion, and a
+cruel prejudice which has been handed down through generations from
+father to son. No amount of learning on our side can change this.
+Persecutions will continue, the gentiles will never learn that the Jew
+is made of flesh and blood and has sentiments and feelings the same as
+they. Our right to humane treatment will not be recognized any more than
+at present, and harder, unspeakably harder, will be the sting and pain
+of our degradation, if by deep study we rise mentally above our sphere.
+The ignorant man suffers less than the person with elevated
+susceptibilities. Learning, therefore, while it would not improve our
+treatment at the hands of the gentiles, would but serve to make us the
+more discontented with our own unfortunate condition."
+
+The Rabbi was right; he spoke from bitter experience, and Mendel slipped
+his hand into that of his teacher and gazed thoughtfully before him.
+
+"A great head," muttered the old man, looking fondly at the boy. "If his
+energies are directed into the proper channels, he will become a shining
+light in Israel."
+
+"Come, Mendel, let us go home," he said aloud, and they started silently
+for the town, both too much engrossed in thought to speak. Only once,
+Mendel asked:
+
+"Rabbi, you are not offended by my questions?" and the Rabbi replied:
+
+"No, my boy. On the contrary, I am glad that you are beginning to think
+for yourself. The world is but a group of thinkers and the best heads
+among them are usually leaders. This has been an agreeable walk to me.
+Let us repeat it soon."
+
+"Nothing would give me greater pleasure," cried Mendel, with undisguised
+delight. "And if you will be so kind, I should like to hear all about
+your travels."
+
+The Rabbi promised, and, having reached the Jewish quarter, pupil and
+teacher parted for their respective homes.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 6: Wallace, p. 179.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Foulke, "Slav or Saxon," p. 91.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Rabbi Chonan.]
+
+[Footnote 9: "Graetz's History of the Jews," vol. 4, p. 309.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE RETURN OF THE RENEGADE.
+
+
+It was just a week since Mendel and the Rabbi had walked out together.
+
+Hirsch Bensef rushed with gigantic strides up the street leading to his
+house, and long before he reached his door he shouted, at the top of his
+voice:
+
+"Miriam! Miriam! I have news for you!"
+
+Miriam had recovered her health, and was in the kitchen preparing meat
+for the following day. This was a most important operation, requiring
+the housewife's undivided attention. According to a Mosaic command blood
+was sacrificed upon the altar of the Temple, but was strictly forbidden
+as an article of diet. The animal is slaughtered in a manner which will
+drain off the greatest amount of the life-giving fluid, and great
+importance is attached to the processes for extracting every particle of
+blood from the meat which is brought upon the Jewish table. A thorough
+rubbing with salt and an hour's immersion in water are necessary to its
+preparation. Scientists who acknowledge that the blood is the general
+vehicle for conveying the parasites and germs of disease, recognize in
+this command of Moses a valuable sanitary measure, worthy of universal
+imitation.
+
+Miriam heard her husband's distant call and, with her hands full of
+salt, she ran to the door.
+
+Hirsch entered, completely out of breath.
+
+"Who do you think has arrived?" he gasped.
+
+"How should I know?"
+
+"Guess."
+
+"I might guess from now until the coming of _Meschiach_ and still not be
+right."
+
+"Pesach Harretzki, your cousin and old admirer."
+
+Miriam sank into a chair and a smile rippled over her pretty features.
+
+"Pesach Harretzki here? When did he arrive?"
+
+"To-day. This morning. Itzig Maier, who knows all the news in town, has
+just told me. He has come back from America to visit his old parents and
+take them with him across the ocean."
+
+"Has he changed much?" asked Miriam.
+
+"No doubt of it! Itzig says he is without a beard and looks more like a
+_goy_ (gentile) than like one of our own people. I suppose he has lost
+what religion he once possessed, which by the way was not much."
+
+"You will invite him to call on us, of course."
+
+Hirsch looked askance at his wife and frowned.
+
+"I don't know," he answered, reflectively; "we shall see."
+
+Hirsch Bensef, the _parnas_ of the chief congregation, and whose
+reputation for piety overtopped that of any other man of the community,
+might well pause before inviting the new arrival to his house. Pesach
+Harretzki was one of those perverse lads that one meets occasionally in
+a Hebrew community, who, feeling the wild impulse of youth in every
+vein, throws over the holy traditions of his forefathers and follows
+rather the promptings of his own heart than that happiness which can
+only be found in a firm adherence to the law and its precepts.
+Unrestrained by his parents' anxious pleadings, bound by no will save
+that of momentary caprice, he overstepped the boundary which separates
+the pious Jew from his profane surroundings and thereby forfeited the
+respect and good-will of the entire community. The young man had never
+been guilty of actual wrong-doing, but had in a thousand petty ways
+displayed his utter disregard of the customs that were so dear to the
+hearts of his co-religionists. The Sabbath found him strolling through
+the city instead of attending divine service at the synagogue. Of the
+Talmud he knew very little, having preferred to play with his gentile
+friends to wasting his hours in the _cheder_. He had been known to eat
+_trefa_ at the house of a _goy_, and with a fastidiousness that was
+without parallel in the annals of Kief, he had shaved off all of his
+beard, leaving only a jaunty little mustache. So it happened that his
+name became a terror to all pious Israelites. There was but one
+attraction in Judaism which still fascinated Pesach, and that was his
+charming cousin Miriam. She alone possessed the power of bringing him
+back when he had strayed too far from the fold and her bright eyes often
+recalled him to a sense of duty. He loved the girl, and had she shown
+him any encouragement he might still have reformed the evil of his ways.
+But even had Miriam favored his advances, her father, one of the most
+pious men of Kief, would have dispelled all hope of an alliance between
+the two. Old Reb Kohn, after endeavoring in vain to bring the reprobate
+to his senses, finally forbade him the house. Shortly after, the
+betrothal of Miriam Kohn with the learned and wealthy Hirsch Bensef was
+announced. Pesach became despondent and put the finishing touch to his
+ungodly career by becoming intoxicated with beer on the Passover. In
+consequence of this and former misdeeds, he was ostracized from good
+Jewish society, and finding himself shunned by his former associates he
+departed from Kief to seek his fortune in a foreign land.
+
+After wandering about Germany for a year or two, picking up a precarious
+living and a varied experience, he set sail for America, where he
+arrived without a penny. Fortune smiled upon the poor man at last. He
+drifted into an inland city, Americanized his name to Philip Harris, and
+succeeded, through honesty, thrift and perseverance, in building up a
+large business and accumulating a respectable fortune. It was only after
+success had been assured that he communicated with his parents in
+Russia, and in spite of his past record great was the rejoicing when the
+first letter was received. He whom his friends had mourned as dead was
+alive and thriving; he had moreover become rich and respected and had
+been the means of establishing a Jewish synagogue in the land of his
+adoption. The last two facts, coupled with the munificent gifts which he
+sent to the synagogue in Kief and to his parents, were sufficient to
+lift the ban which had so long rested upon his name and to re-establish
+him in the good graces of the community. Pesach, the _meshumed_,
+continued these contributions to the synagogue and to his parents, and
+the Jews of Kief, having forgotten his former escapades, referred to him
+thenceforth as "Pesach the Generous." He had now returned after an
+absence of twelve years, and the whole settlement was in a state of
+pardonable excitement.
+
+"Is he still a Jew? Has he remained true to the old faith?" was asked on
+every side.
+
+It being Friday, the Sabbath eve, the synagogue was crowded and
+curiosity to see the stranger was at its height. The men frequently
+looked up from their prayer-books, and the women from their seats in the
+gallery craned their necks to get a view of the sunburnt, closely-shaven
+American. Yes, he had changed; no one would have recognized him. Of all
+the pious men that filled the house of worship, he was the only one who
+was without a beard. It was against the Jewish custom to allow a razor
+to touch the beard, and had not Philip's benevolence paved the way it is
+doubtful whether his presence would have been tolerated within those
+sacred precincts. In all other respects, however, he bore himself like a
+devout Israelite. He stood by the side of his father, earnestly scanning
+the pages of his prayer-book, the greater part of whose contents were
+still familiar to him. His beardless face was in a measure atoned for.
+
+What a throng of visitors there was that evening at Harretzkis house!
+The little room could scarcely hold them all. Among them was Rabbi
+Jeiteles, who shook the suave and smiling stranger by the hand,
+congratulated him upon his appearance and asked him a hundred questions
+about his travels. Indeed, it seemed as though the worthy Rabbi intended
+to monopolize his company for the rest of the evening. Then came Hirsch
+Bensef and his charming wife, the latter trembling and blushing in
+recollection of the days when she and her cousin Pesach loved each
+other in secret. Philip recognized her immediately.
+
+"Why this is my dear cousin Miriam," he said. "How well you look! You
+seem scarcely a day older than when I left you. Is this your husband?
+Happy man! How I used to envy you your good fortune? But that is all
+over now!" and he turned with a sigh to meet other friends.
+
+He recollected every man and woman in Kief; moreover, he had a kind word
+and pretty compliment for each and the worthy people returned home more
+than ever impressed with the true excellence of Pesach Harretzki.
+
+"What a _medina_ (country) America must be to make such a finished
+product of the ungodly youth that Kief turned out of doors twelve years
+ago!" Such was Bensef's remark to his wife, as they wended their way
+homeward.
+
+On the Sabbath morn the capacity of the synagogue was again tested to
+the utmost. Those who had not yet seen Philip hastened to avail
+themselves of this opportunity. The man from America had become the
+greatest curiosity in the province. And to him, the great traveller,
+every incident, however trivial, served to recall a vision of the past.
+The devout men about him, wearing the fringed _tallis_, the venerable
+Rabbi at the _almemor_, the ark with the same musty hangings, the
+Pentateuch scrolls with the same faded covers which they bore in the
+years gone by, all appealed mightily to his heart and a tear forced
+itself unchecked through his lashes. Philip would have been unable to
+explain to himself the cause of his emotion. The past had not been
+particularly pleasant; there was nothing to regret. Perhaps some
+psychologist can account for that sweet and melancholy sentiment which
+the recollection of a dim and half-forgotten past brings in its train.
+
+It was delightful to Philip to find himself once more in the presence of
+all that had been dear to him. His mind reviewed the many vicissitudes
+he had undergone, the many changes he had witnessed, and he fervently
+thanked the God of Israel that he was permitted to revisit the scenes of
+his childhood, and that the people who had rejected him in his youth now
+received him with open arms. After prayers the _hazan_ (reader),
+assisted by the Rabbi, opened the Holy Ark and took therefrom one of the
+scrolls. To Philip, as a stranger, was accorded the honor of being one
+of those called up to say the blessing over the _Torah_ (Law). He
+touched the parchment with the fringes of his _tallis_, kissed them to
+signify his reverence for the holy words, and began with "_Bar'chu eth
+Adonai_."
+
+"He knows his _brocha_ yet, he is still a good Jew!" was the mental
+comment of the congregation.
+
+Then followed Rabbi Jeiteles in a short but pithy address, in which he
+laid great stress upon the fact that Jehovah never allows his lambs to
+stray far from the fold, and that charity and benevolence cover a
+multitude of sins. He incidentally announced the fact that Harretzki had
+offered the synagogue new hangings for the ark, covers for the scrolls
+and an entirely new metal roof for the _schul_ (synagogue) in place of
+the present one, which was sadly out of repair.
+
+Such generosity was unparalleled. In spite of the sanctity of the place,
+expressions of approval were loud and emphatic. For a time the services
+were interrupted and general congratulations took the place of the
+prayers. Philip's popularity was now assured. All opposition vanished
+and the American became a lion indeed. Bensef no longer hesitated as to
+the propriety of inviting the stranger to his house. As _parnas_ he must
+be the first to do him honor and after the services were at an end the
+invitation was extended and accepted.
+
+It was a pleasant assemblage that gathered at Bensef's house. Philip,
+his father and mother, Rabbi Jeiteles, Haim Goldheim (a banker and
+intimate friend of the host), and several other patriarchal gentlemen,
+pillars of the congregation, were of the company. Miriam was an
+excellent provider and on this occasion she fairly outdid herself.
+
+"Perhaps," thought Bensef, "there still lingers in her breast a spark of
+affection for the man who is now so greatly honored."
+
+But, no! Miriam loved her husband dearly, and if she was attentive to
+her cousin it was but the courtesy due to a man who had been so far and
+seen so much.
+
+Mendel, too, was at the table and could not take his eyes from the
+handsome stranger whose praises every mouth proclaimed. The boy regarded
+him as a superior being.
+
+Tales of adventure, stories of travel, were the topics of conversation
+during the evening. After the dessert the talk took a more serious turn.
+The liberty enjoyed by the Jews in America was a fruitful theme for
+discussion and many were the questions asked by the interested group.
+That Israelites were politically and socially placed upon the same
+footing with their Christian neighbors was a source of gratification,
+but that some religious observances were in many cases neglected or
+totally abolished, appeared to these pious listeners as very
+reprehensible.
+
+"You see," said Philip, in explanation, "where a number of Jewish
+families reside in one place it is still possible to obey the dietary
+laws, but in inland towns, where the number of Israelite families is
+limited, it becomes an impossibility to observe them. Nor do they deem
+it necessary that all the ceremonies that time has collected around the
+Jewish religion should be strictly observed. Those Israelites who
+soonest adopt the customs of their new country soonest enjoy the
+benefits which a free and liberty-loving nation offers."
+
+Hirsch Bensef shook his head, doubtingly.
+
+"Then you mean to imply that it becomes necessary to abolish those
+usages in which one's heart and soul are wrapped!" he said.
+
+"Not at all," answered the American. "There are thousands of Jews in
+America as observant of the ordinances as the most pious in Kief. Yet it
+seems to me that a Jew can remain a Jew even if he neglect some of those
+ceremonials which have very little to do with Judaism pure and simple.
+Some are remnants of an oriental symbolism, others comparatively recent
+additions to the creed, which ought to give way before civilization.
+What possible harm can it do you or your religion if you shave your
+beard or abandon your jargon for the language of the people among whom
+you live?"
+
+"It would make us undistinguishable from the _goyim_," answered Bensef.
+
+"The sooner such a distinction falls the better," said Philip. "You may
+recollect reading in history that in the time of Peter the Great the
+Russian nobility wore beards and the Czar's efforts to make them shave
+their faces provoked more animosity than did all the massacres of Ivan
+the Terrible. Now a nobleman would sooner go to prison than wear a
+beard."
+
+"We never read history," interposed the childish treble of Mendel. "If
+we did we should know more about the great world."
+
+"That is indeed a misfortune," said Philip, sadly. "Every effort to
+develop the Jewish mind is checked, not by the gentiles, but by the Jews
+themselves. Had I been allowed full liberty to study what and how I
+pleased, I should never have been guilty of the excesses which drove me
+from home. A knowledge of the history of the world, an insight into
+modern science, will teach us why and wherefore all our laws were given
+and how we can best obey, not the letter but the spirit of God's
+commands."
+
+The faces of the little group fell visibly. This was rank heresy. God
+forbid that it should ever take root in Israel. Mendel alone appeared
+satisfied. He was absorbed in all the stranger had to say. This new
+doctrine was a revelation to him. But Philip did not observe the
+impression he had created. He had warmed up to his subject and pursued
+it mercilessly.
+
+"The Israelites in America," he continued, "are free and respected. They
+enjoy equal rights with the citizens of other religious beliefs. They
+are at liberty to go wherever they please and to live as they desire,
+and are often chosen to positions of honor and responsibility. Such
+distinctions are only obtained, however, after one has become a citizen,
+and citizenship means adherence to the laws of the land and assimilation
+with its inhabitants. It was not long before I discovered, through
+constant friction with intelligent people about me, the absurdity of
+many of my ideas and prejudices. The more I associated with my
+fellow-men the more difficult I found it to retain the superstitions of
+by-gone days."
+
+"But in giving up what you call superstition," said the Rabbi, "are you
+not giving up a portion of your religion as well?"
+
+"By no means," said Philip, eagerly. "If Rabbi Jeiteles will pardon my
+speaking upon a subject concerning which he is better instructed and
+which he is better qualified to expound than myself, I will endeavor to
+tell why. You well know that until after the destruction of the second
+Temple the Jews had no Talmud. They then obeyed the laws of God in all
+their simplicity and as they understood them, and not one of you will
+assert that they were not good and pious Jews. Then came the writers of
+the Talmud with their explanations and commentaries, and the laws of
+Moses acquired a new meaning. Stress was laid upon words instead of upon
+ideas, upon conventionalities instead of upon the true spirit of God's
+word. After five centuries of Talmudists had exhausted all possible
+explanations of the Scriptures, the study of the Law eventually paved
+the way for the invention of the _Cabala_. A new bible was constructed.
+The pious were no longer content with a rational observance of the
+Mosaic command, but a hidden meaning must be found for every word and in
+many cases for the individual letters of the Pentateuch. The six hundred
+and thirteen precepts of Moses were so altered, so tortured to fit new
+constructions, that the great prophet would experience difficulty in
+recognizing any one of his beautiful laws from the rubbish under which
+it now lies buried. New laws and ceremonies, new beliefs and, worse than
+all, new superstitions were thrust upon the people already weakened by
+mental fatigue caused by their incessant delving into the mysteries of
+the Talmud. The free will of the people was suppressed. Instead of
+giving the healthy imagination and pure reason full power to act, the
+teachers of the _Cabala_ arrogated to themselves the power to decide
+what to do and how to do it, and as a result the Jewish observances, as
+they exist to-day in pious communities, are bound up in arbitrary rules
+and superstitious absurdities which are as unlike the primitive and
+rational religion of Israel as night is to day."
+
+This bold utterance produced a profound sensation in Bensef's little
+dining-room. Murmurs of disapproval and of indignation frequently
+interrupted the speaker, and long before he had finished, several of his
+listeners had sprung up and were pacing the room in great excitement.
+Never before had any one dared so to trample upon the time-honored
+beliefs of Israel. For infinitely less had the ban been hurled against
+hundreds of offenders and the renegades placed beyond the pale of
+Judaism.
+
+The Rabbi alone preserved his composure. Mendel lost not a word of the
+discussion. He sat motionless, with staring eyes and wide open mouth, as
+though the stranger's eloquence had changed him into stone.
+
+"No, this is too much!" at length stammered Hirsch Bensef. "Such a
+condemnation of our holy religion is blasphemy. Rabbi, can you sit by
+and remain silent?"
+
+The Rabbi moved uneasily upon his chair, but said nothing.
+
+Philip continued:
+
+"That your Rabbi should be of one mind with you is natural, but that
+does not in any way impair the force of what I have said. You will all
+admit that you place more weight upon your ceremonials than upon your
+faith. You deem it more important to preserve a certain position of the
+feet, a proper intonation of the voice during prayers than to fully
+understand the prayer itself, and in spite of your pretended belief in
+the greatness and goodness of God, you belittle Him by the thought that
+an omission of a single ceremony, the eating of meat and milk together,
+the tearing of a _tzitzith_ (fringe) will offend Him, or that a certain
+number of _mitzvoth_ (good acts) will propitiate Him. Do you understand
+now what I mean when I say that superstition is not religion?"
+
+"But," returned Goldheim, "the _Shulkan-aruch_ commands us to do certain
+things in certain ways. Is it not our duty as God-fearing Jews to obey
+the laws that have His sanction?"
+
+"Undoubtedly! If you were certain that this book contained His express
+commands it would be incumbent upon you to observe them, only, however,
+after having sought to understand their meaning. But you know, or ought
+to know, that the book was written by a man like yourselves, who was as
+liable to err as you are. Many of these commands were excellent at the
+time in which they were given, but change of circumstances has made them
+absurd."
+
+"What is godly at one time cannot become ungodly at another," said
+Bensef, with determined obstinacy.
+
+"No; but what is beautiful and appropriate in one land may become the
+reverse in a different country, or at another period. Let us take an
+example: It is an oriental custom to wear one's hat or turban as a mark
+of respect. In Palestine such a usage is proper and the man who keeps
+his head covered before his fellow-men certainly should keep it covered
+before God. In America, however, I am considered ill-bred if I keep my
+hat on when I am conversing with the humblest of my associates; should I
+therefore keep it on when I am addressing my God? Thus, many of your
+religious observances take their origin outside of religion and are
+appropriate only to the country in which they were conceived."
+
+"But to appear before God bareheaded is surely a sin!" stammered Hirsch
+Bensef, who would gladly have ended the conversation then and there.
+
+"Not a sin, simply a novelty," answered Philip.
+
+"But our proverb says: 'Novelty brings calamity.'"
+
+"Proverbs do not always speak the truth," replied the American. Then
+after a pause he continued, reflectively: "There is another class of
+ceremonials which find their origin in one or the other of the commands
+of Moses, and which through the eagerness of the people to observe them
+for fear of Divine wrath, have been given an importance out of all
+proportion to their original significance. For instance, Moses, for
+reasons purely humane, prohibited the cooking of a kid in its mother's
+milk, wisely teaching that what nature intended for the preservation of
+the animal should not be employed for its destruction. This law has been
+so distorted that the eating of meat and milk together was prohibited,
+and the severity of the resulting dietary laws makes it necessary to
+have two sets of dishes--one for meat, the other for all food prepared
+with milk. And so in a thousand cases the original intention of the
+command is lost in the mass of foreign matter that has been added to
+it."
+
+Philip paused and, toying with his massive watch-chain, tried hard not
+to see the indignant glances that threatened to consume him. Bensef
+arose from his chair in sheer desperation.
+
+"What would you have us do?" he asked, angrily. "Desert the ceremonies
+of our forefathers and surrender to the ungodly?"
+
+"Not by any means," was the quiet rejoinder. "Worship God as your
+conscience dictates, continue in your ancient fashion if it makes you
+happy, but be tolerant towards him who, feeling himself mentally and
+spiritually above superstition, seeks to emancipate himself from its
+bonds and to follow the dictates of his own good common-sense."
+
+With these concluding words, Philip arose and prepared to leave. The
+remaining guests also arose from their chairs and looked at each other
+in blank dismay. Rabbi Jeiteles stepped to the American and placed his
+hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"My dear Pesach," he began, "what you have just said sounds strange and
+very dangerous to these good people. To me it was nothing new, for
+during my early travels I heard such discussions again and again. Your
+arguments may or may not be correct. We will not discuss the matter. One
+thing you must not forget, however: the Jews in Russia and elsewhere are
+despised and rejected; they are degraded to the very scum of the earth.
+Social standing, pursuit of knowledge, means of amusement, everything is
+taken from them. What is left? Only the consolation which their sacred
+religion brings. The observance of the thousand ceremonials which you
+decry, is to them not only a religious necessity, a God-pleasing work;
+it is more, it is a source of domestic happiness, a means of genuine
+enjoyment, a comfort and a solace. Whether these observances are needed
+or are superfluous in a free country like America I shall not presume
+to say, but in Russia they are a moral and a physical necessity. You
+have spoken to-night as no man has ever spoken before in Kief. Were the
+congregation to hear of it, you would again find yourself an outcast
+from your native town, shunned and despised by all that now look upon
+you as a model of benevolence and piety. For your own sake, therefore,
+as well as for the peace of mind of those among whom your words might
+act as a firebrand, we hope that you will speak no more upon this
+subject and we on our part promise to keep our own counsel."
+
+Philip readily consented and with his aged parents he left for his home,
+at the other end of the quarter.
+
+The friends bade each other a hasty good-night, and not another word was
+spoken concerning the discussion.
+
+"Uncle," said Mendel, as he was about to retire, "is not Harretzki a
+very wise man?"
+
+"My boy," replied his uncle; "our rabbis say, 'Much speech--much
+folly.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+FORBIDDEN BOOKS.
+
+
+Philip remained in Kief about two weeks, during which time he was
+hospitably entertained by the leaders of the Jewish community. There was
+some difficulty in obtaining a passport for his parents, for, anxious as
+the Russians are to expel the Jews, by a remarkable contrariety of human
+nature they throw every obstacle in the way of a Jew who endeavors to
+emigrate.
+
+Mendel never missed an opportunity of passing Harretzki's house. It had
+a strange fascination for him, and if he but saw the American at the
+window and exchanged greetings with him, the boy returned home with a
+happy heart.
+
+Once--it was the day before Philip's departure--Mendel again passed the
+wretched abode in which the stranger dwelt. The door was open and Philip
+was busied with preparations for his coming voyage. Mendel gazed
+wistfully for some minutes and finally mustered up courage to enter and
+ask:
+
+"Can I be of any service to you, sir?"
+
+Philip, who had taken a decided fancy to the boy, said, kindly:
+
+"Yes; you may assist me. Here are my books. Pack them into this chest."
+
+With a reverence amounting almost to awe, Mendel took up the books one
+by one and arranged them as Philip directed. Now and then he opened a
+volume and endeavored to peer into the wondrous mysteries it contained,
+but the characters were new to him; they were neither Hebrew nor
+Russian, and the boy sighed as he piled the books upon each other.
+Philip observed him with growing interest.
+
+"Are you fond of books?" he asked, at length.
+
+"Oh, yes. If I could but study," answered the boy, eagerly, and big
+tears welled up into his eyes.
+
+"And why can't you?"
+
+"Because I have no books but our old Hebrew folios, and if I had they
+would be taken from me."
+
+"Continue to study the books you have," said Philip, "you will find much
+to learn from them."
+
+"But there are so many things to know that are not in our books. How I
+should like to be as wise as you are."
+
+Philip smiled, sorrowfully.
+
+"I know very little," he answered. "I am not regarded as a particularly
+well-educated person in my country. What good would learning do you in
+Kief?"
+
+"It would make me happy," answered the boy.
+
+"No, child; it would make you miserable by filling your little head with
+ideas which would bring down upon you the anathemas of your dearest
+friends."
+
+There was a pause, during which Mendel worked industriously. Suddenly he
+said:
+
+"Might I ask a favor, sir?"
+
+"Certainly, my boy; I shall be happy if I can grant it."
+
+"Let me take one of your books to keep in remembrance of you?"
+
+"You cannot read them; they are written in German and English."
+
+"That does not matter. Their presence would remind me of you. Besides I
+might learn to read them."
+
+"But if a strange book is found in your possession it will be taken from
+you."
+
+"I will conceal it."
+
+Philip reflected a moment; then carefully selecting two books, he
+presented them to the overjoyed boy.
+
+"Remember," he said, "that ignorance is frequently bliss. A Rabbi once
+said: 'Beware of the conceit of learning.' It is often well to say, 'I
+don't know.'"
+
+Then the American spoke of the difficulties he had experienced in
+acquiring an education, how he had worked at a trade by day and gone to
+school during the evening. Mendel had a thousand questions to ask, which
+Philip answered graciously; but the packing having come to an end, and
+Mendel having exhausted his inquiries and finding no further excuse to
+remain, the two bade each other an affectionate farewell. Mendel ran
+home with his sacred treasures carefully concealed under his blouse, and
+with great solicitude he locked them up in an old closet which served as
+his wardrobe. The following morning Philip and his parents were escorted
+to the limits of the city by the influential Jews of Kief, and the
+travellers started upon their long voyage to America.
+
+During the next few weeks Mendel was at his Talmudic studies in the
+_jeschiva_ as usual, but there was a decided change in his manner--a
+certain listlessness, a lack of interest, which were so apparent that
+Rabbi Jeiteles could not but observe them.
+
+"I fear that the boy has been studying too hard," he said to his wife
+one day. "We must induce him to take more exercise."
+
+After the close of the lesson, the teacher said:
+
+"Come, Mendel; it is quite a while since we have walked together. Let us
+go into the fields."
+
+Mendel, who adored his preceptor, was well pleased to have an
+opportunity of relieving his heart of its burden, and gladly accepted
+the invitation. For a while the two strolled in silence. The air was
+balmy and nature was in her most radiant dress.
+
+"Tell me," at length began the Rabbi; "tell me why you appear so
+dejected?"
+
+"You will reproach me if I confess the cause," answered the boy,
+tearfully.
+
+"You should know me better," answered the Rabbi. "You ought to be aware
+that I am interested in your welfare."
+
+"Well, then," sobbed Mendel, no longer able to repress his feelings, "I
+am unhappy because of my ignorance. I wish to become wise."
+
+"And then?" asked the Rabbi.
+
+The boy opened his eyes to their full extent. He did not comprehend the
+question.
+
+"After you have acquired great wisdom, what then?" repeated the Rabbi.
+
+"Then I shall be happy and content."
+
+The Rabbi stopped and pointed to a dilapidated bridge which crossed the
+Dnieper at a place to which their walk had led them. Sadly he called his
+pupil's attention to a sign which hung at the entrance of the structure
+and which bore the following legend: "Toll--For a horse, 15 kopecks; for
+a hog, 3 kopecks; for a Jew, 10 kopecks."
+
+"Read that," he said; "and see how futile must be the efforts of wisdom
+in a country whose rulers issue such decrees."
+
+"Perhaps you are right," said the boy, sorrowfully; "and yet I feel that
+God has not given me my intellect to keep it in ignorance and
+superstition. It must expand. Look, Rabbi, at this river. They have
+dammed it to keep its waters back; but further down, the stream leaps
+over the obstruction and forces its way onward. Its confinement makes it
+but sparkle the more after it has once acquired its freedom. Is not the
+mind of man like this river? Can you confine it and prevent its onward
+course?"
+
+The Rabbi gazed with looks of mingled astonishment and admiration upon
+the boy at his side.
+
+The boy continued:
+
+"I would become wise like you and Pesach Harretzki. I would acquire the
+art of reading other works besides our ancient folios. Rabbi, will you
+teach me?"
+
+"Has Harretzki been putting these new ideas into your head?" asked the
+old man.
+
+"No; they were there before he came. You yourself have often told me:
+'Study rather to fill your mind than your coffers.' I have some of
+Harretzki's books, however, and at night when I cannot sleep I take them
+out of my closet and look at them. But they are not in Hebrew and I
+cannot read them. Rabbi, I beg of you to teach me."
+
+Rabbi Jeiteles was in a quandary. He hated the bigotry and
+narrow-mindedness which forbade the study of any subject but the
+time-honored Talmud. He himself had been as anxious as was Mendel to
+strive after other knowledge. On the other hand, he bore in mind the
+prejudice which the Jews entertained against foreign learning, and he
+clearly foresaw the many difficulties which Mendel must encounter if his
+desire became known.
+
+"Well, Rabbi, you do not answer," said the boy, inquiringly.
+
+"Bring me your books to-morrow and I will decide."
+
+Mendel seized the preceptor's hand and kissed it rapturously.
+
+"Thanks," he murmured.
+
+Teacher and pupil turned their steps homeward, the one perplexed, the
+other overjoyed.
+
+The sun had not fully risen on the morrow, when Mendel, with his
+precious books carefully concealed, sought the Rabbi's presence, and the
+two withdrew into an inner room, beyond the reach of prying intruders.
+The teacher glanced at the titles. They were Mendelssohn's "Phædon," and
+Ludwig Philippson's "The Development of the Religious Idea," both
+written in German. Mendel did not take his eyes from his teacher; he
+could scarcely master his impatience.
+
+"Well, Rabbi," he asked, "of what do they speak?"
+
+"Of things beyond your comprehension," replied the teacher. "The writers
+of both these books were good and pious Jews, who, because of their
+learning, were branded and ostracized by many of their co-religionists.
+Their only sin lay in the use of classical German. You must know that
+many hundreds of years ago, our ancestors lived in Germany, and,
+mingling with men of other creeds, learned the language of their time.
+By and by, persecutions arose and gradually the Jews were driven into
+closer quarters and narrower communities. Many emigrated to Poland and
+Russia, carrying with them their foreign language, which was little
+changed except by the addition of Hebrew--and, in this country, of a few
+Russian words--so that what was once a language became a semi-sacred
+jargon in which the translations of our holy books were read. When
+Mendelssohn began to write in the ordinary German, he was thought to be
+ashamed of his fathers' speech and to have abandoned it for that of
+their oppressors. Pause before you choose a path which may estrange you
+from all you love best."
+
+"Did these men accomplish no good by their writings?"
+
+"Much good, my son; but through much travail."
+
+The more the teacher talked, the more gloomy the picture he drew, the
+greater became the enthusiasm of the pupil, the firmer his determination
+to emulate the example of the men of whom he now heard for the first
+time. The Rabbi at last consented to instruct the boy in the elements of
+the Russian and German languages.
+
+While the old man did not for a moment close his eyes to the perils
+which his pupil invited by his pursuit of knowledge; while he did not
+conceal from himself the fact that his own position would be endangered
+if the nature of his teachings was suspected, he was happy in the
+thought of having before him a youthful mind, brave to seek truth. Rabbi
+Jeiteles was a learned man; his youth had been spent in travel. He had
+seen much and read more, and even in the bigoted community in which he
+lived he kept abreast of the knowledge of the times.
+
+The first lesson was mastered then and there. It was a hard and tedious
+task and progress was necessarily slow, but Mendel possessed two great
+essentials to progress, indomitable perseverance and an active
+intellect, and his teacher displayed the painstaking care and patience
+with which love for his pupil inspired him.
+
+Day by day, Mendel added to his store of knowledge. He was still the
+most industrious Talmud scholar of the college; his remarkable aptitude
+and zeal for the studies of his fathers was in nowise diminished; but
+when the hours at the _jeschiva_ were at an end, instead of returning to
+his uncle's home, or of spending his time upon the streets with his
+boisterous playmates, he would walk with Rabbi Jeiteles in the fields,
+or remain closeted with him, pursuing his investigations in new fields
+of knowledge. Nor were his labors at an end when he had retired to his
+bed-room. In the still hours of the night, when every noise was hushed
+and he deemed himself safe from intrusion, he would rise, silently open
+his closet for his carefully concealed volume and creep back to bed.
+Then, by the aid of secretly purloined candle ends, he would read hour
+after hour, and often the dawn found him still at his books.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+PERSECUTIONS IN TOGAROG.
+
+
+The flight of time brings us to the year 1855--the epoch of the Crimean
+War.
+
+Ever since the days when Bonaparte was driven from burning Moscow, there
+was a popular belief that the Russian soldiery was superior to that of
+the western nations. The Emperor Nicholas was a thorough soldier as well
+as a tyrant, possessing an enormous and well-equipped army, which he
+deemed invincible. This boasted superiority was now to be tested. For
+years the Russians had been groaning under heavy taxes. During this
+period they had been finding fault with their central government in a
+mild, Siberia-fearing manner. To keep them from brooding on their
+oppressed condition, visions of glory and conquest were to be opened to
+them by a foreign war. As the patriotic enthusiasm and military fervor
+increased, the praises of Nicholas were sounded throughout the vast
+dominion. "The coming war was regarded by many as a kind of crusade, and
+the most exaggerated expectations were entertained of its results. The
+old Eastern question was at last to be solved in accordance with Russian
+ideals, and Nicholas was about to realize Catherine's grand scheme of
+driving the Turks out of Europe. That the enemy could prevent the
+accomplishment of these schemes was regarded as impossible. 'We have
+only to throw our hats at them,' became a favorite expression."[10]
+
+The greater portion of the army was concentrated at the Southern
+extremity of Russia, for it was here that the fleets of the allied
+powers would be encountered. Like devastating swarms of locusts the
+semi-barbarous warriors descended upon the fertile fields, destroying
+all that lay in their path. Great was the misery of the peasantry in
+that section of the Empire; greater still the hardships endured by the
+Jews, who were despoiled of their possessions and driven from their
+homes.
+
+In the village of Togarog the Jewish quarter was exactly as we last saw
+it--poverty-stricken and dilapidated. Nothing appeared to be changed in
+it except the miserable inhabitants. The Governor of Alexandrovsk
+continued to persecute the Jews with relentless ferocity, and the
+kidnapping of their children was followed by other acts almost as cruel.
+If a Jew was suspected of possessing money, he was forced by the gentle
+persuasion of the Governor's men to disgorge. Broken in fortune and in
+spirits, the Israelites were indeed in a pitiable plight.
+
+Mordecai Winenki was reduced to dire want. Deprived of the means of
+livelihood by the removal of his former pupils, despoiled of his meagre
+savings, the reward of years of toil, there was no occupation open to
+him but to peddle, the meagre income from which, added to the earnings
+of his wife by knitting and sewing for the neighboring peasantry, gave
+them a scanty subsistence.
+
+For six days of each week they toiled patiently, saving and scraping to
+provide for the holy Sabbath, the celebration of which alone compensated
+for days of misfortune and privation. On the Sabbath all work was laid
+aside; the dreary room blazed with the lights of many candles; white,
+unsullied linen adorned the table; a substantial meal was served, and
+joy returned to the oppressed and weary hearts. Then the father and
+mother spoke lovingly of the dear ones whom a cruel despotism had torn
+from them, and a prayer of thanks was sent to the God of Israel that one
+of the boys, at least, was alive and well; for Mendel since his arrival
+in Kief had regularly corresponded with his parents, and his progress
+and welfare were in a measure a compensation for the trials they had
+endured. Of Jacob they had never discovered a trace, and they had long
+since believed him dead.
+
+It was the Sabbath eve. Mordecai and his wife were seated in their
+humble little room, happy for the time being, in spite of their
+deplorable condition. A sudden noise in the street interrupted their
+conversation. The narrow Jewish quarter became animated, and a company
+of Russian soldiers, led by the Elder of the village and followed by a
+group of ragged urchins, marched with martial tread through the crooked
+lane.
+
+"Soldiers!" cried Mordecai and his wife, in one breath. "God help us,
+they will quarter them on us!"
+
+It was the advance guard of the great army that had entered Togarog.
+Before Mordecai and his wife could recover from their fright, the door
+opened and half a dozen soldiers entered the room.
+
+"Give us something to eat!" cried one of the men, boisterously, as he
+relieved himself of his gun and knapsack. His example was followed by
+his comrades.
+
+"We are hungry," said another of the men. "We have had nothing to eat
+since five o'clock this morning. Get us our supper!"
+
+"We have nothing to give you," replied Mordecai, trembling. "Why do you
+come to us?"
+
+"Not from choice, I can tell you," said a soldier, angrily. "Lots were
+cast and we were unlucky enough to be sent here. As we are here,
+however, let us make the best of it and see what your larder contains."
+
+"Bah!" said another, as Mordecai did not move; "you can't expect these
+people to wait upon us! We must help ourselves," and suiting the action
+to the word, he strode to the cupboard and pulled it open.
+
+The harvest was more plentiful than they had anticipated. Cooking, like
+all other work, being forbidden on the Sabbath, provisions sufficient
+for the holy day were prepared on Friday, and stood temptingly upon the
+shelves. In a twinkling the succulent viands were placed upon the table
+and quickly devoured by the half-famished soldiers. The repast, however,
+failed to satisfy the hunger of these sturdy warriors.
+
+"Come," cried one of them, "what else have you to eat?"
+
+"Nothing," answered Mordecai, sullenly.
+
+"You lie, Jew. Tell us where we may find something to eat."
+
+"You have just eaten all there was in the house," said Mordecai, gulping
+down a rising lump in his throat, as he thought of the fast he would
+have to endure on the morrow.
+
+"Then give us money that we may buy our own food!" shouted one of the
+soldiers.
+
+"I have no money; it is all gone, all gone," said the poor man, sadly.
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! that is a good joke!" retorted the soldier, while his
+companions laughed immoderately. "A Jew without money! I'll wager there
+is gold and silver in every closet. I know you Jews; you are sly dogs."
+
+"Look for yourselves," cried Mordecai, driven to desperation. "You are
+welcome to all the gold and silver you can find."
+
+The soldiers took him at his word and began to ransack the house, while
+Mordecai and Leah, paralyzed with fear, great beads of perspiration
+starting from their foreheads, sat idly by and watched the work of
+destruction. Not an article of furniture was left entire in the wild
+search for treasure, which, according to popular belief, every Jew was
+supposed to possess. Finding nothing, they bestowed a few resounding
+curses upon the inmates of the house, and in sheer desperation wended
+their way to the village inn and sought the solace of Basilivitch's
+vodka.
+
+Poor Mordecai! Poor Leah! For hours they sat just as the soldiers had
+left them, great tears streaming down their pale and haggard faces,
+viewing the destruction of their few earthly possessions, the loss of
+all they could still call their own. They knew not what course to
+pursue, whether to remain or to flee. The unexpected blow appeared to
+have robbed them of their faculties; all power of reflection seemed to
+have left them, and trembling and groaning they remained where they
+were, in fearful expectancy of what might follow.
+
+Towards midnight the soldiers returned. The liberal potations in which
+they had indulged had washed away the last semblance of humanity. Food
+and money had been the motives of their previous excesses, but on their
+return, hunger and cupidity had made way for lust. Mordecai's wife
+became the object of their insults, and in the resistance which she and
+her husband offered, both were beaten unmercifully. Finally, the
+soldiers, overpowered by the close quarters and by the fumes of the
+wretched liquor they had imbibed, dropped off, one by one, into a
+drunken sleep.
+
+"Let us take what we can, Leah," said the wretched man, after assuring
+himself that the soldiers were all fast asleep, "and let us flee."
+
+"We dare carry nothing--we dare not even travel, for this is the
+Sabbath," answered Leah, sadly.
+
+Poor Jews! In the midst of sorrow, as in the midst of joy, the behests
+of their holy religion are never forgotten.
+
+"Yes, we may travel," replied Mordecai. "It is a matter of more
+importance than life and death, and the Talmud authorizes the
+desecration of the Sabbath in time of great danger."
+
+"Then let us go at once," whispered Leah.
+
+Hand in hand they left the miserable hut, the place they had for so many
+years called home, and wandered out into the world, without a prospect
+to cheer them on their desolate way.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 10: Wallace.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A HAPPY PASSOVER.
+
+
+It is the eve of the Passover feast, the birthday of Israel's
+nationality. All is bustle and excitement in the Jewish quarter of Kief.
+Kitchen utensils and furniture have been removed from the houses and are
+piled up in the streets. Dust rises in clouds, water flows in torrents
+through the muddy gutters. Children, banished from the vacant rooms, are
+romping and playing, shouting and crying in the lanes. Feather beds and
+blankets, clothing and linen are being aired. Within the houses
+scourers and scrubbers are cleaning, dusting and white-washing. The
+great national house-cleaning is in progress. From closet and cupboard,
+dishes and cooking utensils are brought out for their eight days'
+service.
+
+To-morrow is _Pesach_ (Passover). An entire nation await with passionate
+longing the arrival of this festival and accord it a hospitable welcome.
+The man of wealth lavishly displays on this day his gold and silver, his
+finely wrought utensils and crystal dishes. The poor man has labored day
+and night to save enough to give the guest a worthy reception. The
+stranger and the homeless are made welcome at every table, that they,
+too, may enjoy, free from care and sorrow, the advent of the _Pesach_.
+
+What yearning, what hopes, what anticipations usher in this feast of
+feasts! Winter, with its manifold hardships, is past. Nature awakes from
+her frigid lethargy, and the balmy air gives promise of renewed life and
+happiness.
+
+The preparations are at length complete. Every nook and corner is
+scrupulously clean; all _chometz_ (leaven) has been banished from the
+house; even the children have carefully emptied their pockets of stray
+crumbs. The round and tempting _matzoth_ (Passover bread) have been
+baked--the guest is at the door!
+
+In the dining-room of Hirsch Bensef sat a goodly circle of friends at
+the _seder_ (services conducted on the eve of Passover). The lamps shone
+brightly, and the lights in the silver candelabra threw their sheen upon
+the sumptuously set table, with its white embroidered cloth and its
+artistic dishes and goblets. At the head of the table stood a sofa
+covered with rich hangings and soft pillows, a veritable throne, upon
+which sat the king of the family, clad in snow-white attire. In the
+midst of richly-robed guests, surrounded by an almost oriental luxury,
+the master of the house had donned his shroud. It is a custom akin to
+that of the ancient Egyptians, who brought the mummies of their
+ancestors to the festive board, that in the excess of carnal enjoyment
+they might not forget the grim reaper, Death. Upon the table stood a
+plate of _mitzvoth_ (a thicker kind of _matzoth_ prepared specially for
+the _seder_), covered with a napkin, and upon this were placed a number
+of tiny silver dishes containing an egg, horseradish, the bone of a
+lamb, lettuce and a mixture of raisins and spices--all symbolical of
+ancient rites. Before each guest there stood a silver wine cup, to be
+refilled three times in the course of the evening. In the centre of the
+table stood the goblet of wine for _Elijahu Hanovi_ (the Prophet
+Elijah), the hero of a thousand legends, and the fondly expected
+forerunner of the redemption of Israel and the coming of the Messiah. By
+each plate was a copy of _Hagada_, the order of service for the evening.
+It is a book of facts and fancies, containing a recital of Israel's
+trials in Egypt; of its deliverance from the house of bondage; of its
+wanderings in the desert, and the sayings of Israel's wise men--a
+mixture of Bible stories, myths and prayers.
+
+Contentment, peace and joy were plainly written upon the faces of the
+participants. The terrors of persecution were forgotten in the
+recollection of the miraculous deliverance of the Jews from their
+Egyptian task-masters. Reb Hirsch Bensef having pronounced a short
+blessing over the wine, pointed solemnly to the plate of unleavened
+bread before him.
+
+"See," he said, "this is the bread your fathers ate in _Mizraim_. He
+that hungers let him partake of it, he that is in need let him eat and
+be satisfied."
+
+As though in response to the hospitable invitation, there came a soft
+rap at the door. Mendel opened it and the bright light revealed a man
+and a woman, whose haggard faces and tattered garments presented the
+very picture of misery.
+
+"Father! Mother!" Mendel cried, joyfully. "God be praised!" and he threw
+himself into the arms of his father.
+
+With a single impulse the entire company arose and welcomed the
+unexpected guests. Mordecai and his wife had travelled on foot from
+Togarog to Kief, and, after terrible hardships, had arrived in time for
+the Passover. Great was the pleasure at their unlooked-for appearance,
+and as they hastened to tell the story of their sorrows and wanderings,
+sincere was the joy at their providential escape and the safe
+termination of their journey. All Israel is one family, and had the
+wanderers been in nowise related to Bensef, their reception would have
+been equally cordial and sincere.
+
+A short time sufficed to remove the last traces of their terrible
+journey and to clothe them in the best that the wardrobe of their hosts
+afforded. Two more plates were set, two more goblets of wine were served
+and the ceremonies were continued.
+
+So excited was Mendel over the arrival of his parents that he could
+scarcely compose himself sufficiently to follow the _seder_ and ask the
+conventional question concerning the significance of the _Pesach_
+festival. In reply, the head of the house recited from his _Hagada_ how
+the Lord punished Pharaoh for his obduracy, how the children of Israel
+were eventually led from captivity, how the Red Sea was divided that
+the chosen people might traverse its bed while the Egyptian perished
+miserably, and how the Lord conducted his people safely through the
+wilderness to the promised land. Then followed praise and thanksgiving,
+the _Hagadas_ were pushed aside and feasting followed, continuing far
+into the night.
+
+The woes and adventures of Mordecai and his wife elicited the hearty
+sympathy of their hearers, and the enjoyment of the evening was greatly
+enhanced by the knowledge that the dear ones were, for the present at
+least, safe from persecution.
+
+The quiet dignity which had distinguished Mendel since he had become a
+student vanished. He became a child again, embracing and caressing his
+parents, weeping at their sorrows, laughing over their deliverance, and
+asking a thousand questions without waiting for replies.
+
+It was decided that for the present the fugitives should remain with
+Bensef as his guests.
+
+At the conclusion of the meal, the _Hagadas_ were again taken up, and to
+the prayers of thanksgiving was added a prayer for the welfare of that
+little soul that was lost to Israel, the missing child Jacob.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+TWO LOVING HEARTS.
+
+
+The Crimean War had reached its disastrous conclusion. Russia had
+suffered ignominious defeat, the allies were successful in the Black
+Sea, and the despised Turks had shown a bold front along the Danube. It
+was evident that the military organization was as corrupt as the civil
+administration, that fraud and dishonesty were prevalent and neutralized
+the bravery of the troops.
+
+"Another year of war and the whole of Southern Russia will be ruined,"
+so wrote a patriot of 1855.
+
+Under this great humiliation, the people suddenly awoke from their
+lethargy. The system of Nicholas had been put to the test and found
+wanting. The Government believed that it could accomplish everything by
+its own inherent wisdom and superiority, and had shown itself wofully
+incompetent. Dissatisfaction was deep and widespread. Philippics and
+satires appeared, and reforms were so boldly demanded that the Czar
+could not close his ears to the universal clamor. In the midst of
+disasters abroad and dissatisfaction at home, Nicholas died, and was
+succeeded by his son, a man of very different type.
+
+The new monarch was well aware of the existing abuses, many of which had
+been carefully concealed from Nicholas by his obsequious counsellors. As
+heir-apparent he had held aloof from public affairs, and was therefore
+free from pledges of any kind; yet, while he allowed popular ideas and
+aspirations to find free utterance, he did not commit himself to any
+definite policy.
+
+To Alexander, the Russians, Jew and gentile, now looked for relief.
+There were many abuses to correct and oppressive laws to repeal, and the
+public heart beat high with hope at the prospect of reforms. He repealed
+the laws limiting the number of students at each university; he reduced
+the excessive fees for passports; he moderated the rigorous censorship
+of the press, and, in fact, the Czar's acts justified the hopes of his
+subjects. Hundreds of new journals sprang into existence. He introduced
+reforms into the civil and military administrations, and, best of all,
+he created the _semstvos_ or town assemblies of the people.
+
+To the Jews, Alexander was particularly gracious. He removed many of the
+restrictions imposed by his predecessor. The stringent laws limiting the
+number of marriages in a community were moderated. In some few instances
+their quarters were enlarged, and an order was issued restoring to their
+parents all children that had been forcibly taken from them during the
+reign of the old Czar.
+
+What rejoicing was there in Israel! How many families, separated by the
+inhuman decrees of Nicholas, were now reunited! Every home was gladdened
+either by the restoration of some beloved son, or in sympathy with the
+general rejoicing. One family in Kief waited in vain, however, for the
+return of a missing child. It was hoped by Mordecai that under the
+general amnesty Jacob, if indeed he were still living, would be allowed
+to return; but there were no tidings of him, and the conviction that he
+had met his death was strengthened.
+
+A new and promising era opened for the oppressed and persecuted Hebrews.
+It appeared as if their patient resignation under adverse circumstances
+would eventually be rewarded by the concession of equal rights with
+their fellow-men. To be sure, all persecution did not cease. The badge
+of disgrace was still worn by every male Jew, the owning of land and the
+following of many trades was still forbidden. The Jew was still the
+object of derision throughout the Empire; he was still judged by a
+severer code of justice than were his gentile neighbors; the entire race
+was still held responsible for the crime of the individual. But active
+hostilities ceased and the Hebrews rejoiced thereat.
+
+Mendel continued his studies, and in the course of a few years his fame
+spread from _jeschiva_ to _jeschiva_, from congregation to congregation.
+By the time that he was twenty-one years of age, he had published a book
+in Hebrew, which, while it respected the religious sentiment of his
+people, paved the way for assimilating the modern knowledge. The work
+created a profound impression. The chief synagogues of Moscow and of
+Warsaw invited him to take up his residence with them. His reply was
+that as his parents resided in Kief, he preferred to remain there.
+
+There was another attraction in Kief more powerful than that exercised
+by his parents, more potent to keep the young philosopher in the city of
+his adoption. Mendel was in love. His heart, schooled in the wisdom of
+many nations, had surrendered unconditionally to the charm of Recha, the
+beautiful dark-eyed daughter of Rabbi Jeiteles. Recha was rapidly
+nearing her seventeenth year and each month, nay each day, added to her
+charms. Like most girls of her ancient race, she was well developed for
+her years, and her symmetrical figure, lustrous eyes and raven tresses
+presented a picture of oriental beauty, whose peer did not exist among
+the Slavonic types that lived and loved round about her. So at least
+thought Mendel, and so thought a score of enamored youths beside.
+Recha's beauty was by no means her chief attraction. The graces of her
+mind and heart were in keeping with her lovely exterior. From her father
+she had acquired learning, wit and wisdom, and from her mother charm of
+manner and gentle ways.
+
+The student's affection for the girl into whose society he was daily
+thrown, exercised great influence in holding him to the path of duty. To
+become worthy of such a treasure was his one desire. All that was best
+and brightest in his soul was aroused when he thought of Recha. It was
+she that inspired him, and his mind appeared more active when he thought
+of her. She was the beacon that guided his steps through the difficult
+paths of learning. Nor was his love unrequited. Young, handsome,
+intelligent beyond the generality of Jewish youth, Mendel was to Recha
+the embodiment of all that was good and noble.
+
+No word of love had ever passed Mendel's lips, and yet there was a
+sympathetic understanding between them; they found a paradise in each
+other's society. Recha had not a few admirers. Go where she would, she
+found herself surrounded by willing slaves, who at the slightest
+encouragement would have thrown themselves at her feet. In vain were
+_schadchens_ employed by many of the wealthy and influential Jewish
+residents in Kief to seek the hand of Jeiteles' lovely daughter in
+marriage. But Recha had neither eyes nor ears for any of them.
+
+One evening Mendel entered the Rabbi's house in unusual haste, his face
+wearing an expression of mingled doubt and hope.
+
+The Rabbi and his wife were absent. Recha observing his perturbation,
+asked eagerly:
+
+"Has anything happened?"
+
+"Here, Recha, read this letter."
+
+Recha read the missive which Mendel handed to her. It was a flattering
+invitation from the congregation of Odessa. "Our Rabbi is old and
+infirm," stated the letter, "and desires a staff in his declining years.
+Your reputation as a scholar has reached our people and we would
+consider it an honor to have you with us."
+
+As Recha read, she turned deadly pale and the paper almost fell from her
+hands.
+
+"What will you do?" she faltered at length, while the great tears stood
+in her eyes.
+
+Mendel's heart throbbed with wild delight as he saw her evident emotion,
+and her eyes fell under his ardent gaze. Seizing her hand, he asked, in
+a low voice:
+
+"What would you have me do?"
+
+Recha gazed fondly into Mendel's eyes, and said:
+
+"I should be very unhappy if you left home. What would my father do
+without you? Think of the void it would create in the lives of your
+parents and of your uncle. What would the congregation do without you,
+whom they already regard as an oracle? Stay with us in Kief."
+
+"God bless you, my dear," replied the young man, fervently. "I will
+remain; I shall never leave this place unless you go with me as my
+wife."
+
+It was simple and unromantic.
+
+The lovers, happy and contented, sat side by side, discussing their
+roseate future, and when the Rabbi and his wife returned, the young
+folks advanced to meet them.
+
+"Rabbi," said the student, bravely, "Recha has promised to be my wife."
+
+"_Mazal tov_," ejaculated both Jeiteles and his wife. "May the Lord of
+Israel bless you."
+
+The messenger from Odessa was dismissed with a negative reply.
+
+There was a merry gathering the following Saturday afternoon to
+congratulate the betrothed couple. Sincere were the wishes for their
+future happiness that were showered upon them. It is a characteristic of
+Israelites the world over to feel a lively interest in whatever befalls
+their co-religionists, high or low. "Despised and rejected" by their
+gentile neighbors, they sought for consolation and found it in the
+society of their own kin, and thus arose this sympathy, this love for
+one another which has so strongly cemented the hearts of the Jews.
+
+"Clannish" has been hurled at them as a term of reproach. So are the
+frightened sheep clannish when they huddle together in the shelterless
+field, for protection against the blasts of the pitiless storm.
+
+The interval between the betrothal and the wedding is usually short, and
+the happy day that made Mendel and Recha man and wife was not long in
+coming.
+
+"I have a request to make," said the student to the Rabbi, a few days
+before the all-important event took place.
+
+"Name it, my son," replied the Rabbi.
+
+"I do not wish Recha to have her hair cut off. Her tresses are her
+crowning beauty, and it would grieve me to the heart to see her shorn of
+them."
+
+The Rabbi shrugged his shoulders and uttered a short ejaculation of
+surprise.
+
+"A breach of so old a custom," said he, "will be looked upon by the
+whole congregation as impiety."
+
+"I know," replied Mendel, "but in this instance, I must brave their
+displeasure."
+
+"But," said the Rabbi, still hesitating, "if--God forbid--your wife
+should meet with any misfortune, it would be attributed to the anger of
+God at this innovation."
+
+"I must do what I think is right," replied Mendel, "and if the example
+of Recha induces others to disobey an offensive and obnoxious
+injunction, the people will be the gainers."
+
+After much deliberation, the Rabbi and his wife at last consented. Not
+so easily, however, were the rest of the congregation reconciled.
+
+We will anticipate a little to remark that there was no calamity in the
+course of Mendel's conjugal experience, which could be traced to Recha's
+luxuriant hair.
+
+Great were the preparations with which the happy day was ushered in.
+
+The closely veiled bride, supported by her mother and aunt, was
+conducted into the room in a shower of barley, and was led to the
+supremely happy groom, who, arrayed in cap and gown and wearing a
+praying scarf, stood ready to receive her. Seven times the maiden
+encircled her future husband and then took her position at his side,
+after which the father of the _kalle_ (bride) began the important
+services. Holding a goblet of wine in his right hand, he invoked God's
+blessing with the tenderness of a loving father and the solemnity of a
+priest. Short and impressive was the chanted prayer. The couple sipped
+the wine, the ring was placed on the bride's finger, the words uttered,
+a glass broken into fragments under the heel of the groom, prayers were
+recited by the Rabbi, and the religious ceremony was at an end. Then
+followed the congratulations of the friends, the good-natured pushing of
+the assembled guests in their eagerness to kiss the bride or shake the
+radiant groom by the hand. A bounteous feast closed the festivities.
+Mendel and Recha were bound to each other by indissoluble ties.
+
+The newly wedded pair took up their residence with Rabbi Jeiteles, whose
+advanced age incapacitated him at times from attending to the onerous
+duties of his office. Mendel was ever at his side as a helper, until he
+grew into the office. Despite the honors showered upon him he remained
+the modest, unassuming, amiable young man, whom flattery could not
+affect nor pleasure lure from the course of strict duty.
+
+When at the end of a year Recha presented him with a little girl-baby,
+which they called Kathinka, he was the happiest man on the face of the
+earth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE CHOLERA AND ITS VICTIMS.
+
+
+A new danger threatened our friends. Scarcely had the fanatical Russian
+given the Jews a brief respite from persecution, when Nature seized the
+rod and wielded it with relentless hand, smiting Jew and gentile, the
+pious and the ungodly, with equal severity. The cholera had broken out
+in Central Russia and its devastations were terrible beyond description.
+The country from Kief to Odessa was as one vast charnel-house. As has
+always been the case during epidemics, the Jews suffered less from the
+ravages of the disease than did their gentile neighbors. The strict
+dietary laws which excluded everything not absolutely fresh and clean,
+the frequent ablutions which the religious rites demanded of the Jews
+and their freedom from all enervating excesses, bore excellent results
+in a diminished mortality. Nevertheless, many a victim was hurried to an
+untimely grave, many a family sat in sackcloth and ashes for a departed
+member.
+
+Amid the general consternation caused by the rapid spread of the plague,
+the _feldshers_ were unceremoniously relegated to the background. Their
+surgery was practically useless and their drugs proved powerless to
+stay the disease. The _snakharkas_, on the other hand, prospered
+greatly. Superstition flourished; prayers, sacrifices, incantations,
+magical rites, exorcisms, were invoked to allay the evil. The _moujiks_
+called frantically upon the saints for assistance, and then deliberately
+frustrated any relief these might have afforded by committing frightful
+excesses. Many a saint fell into temporary disfavor by his apparent
+indifference to the sufferings of his devotees.
+
+The priests invented new ceremonials and each village had its own
+peculiar method of appeasing divine wrath. In Kief, the disease had
+taken a particularly virulent form. The filthy Dnieper, contaminated by
+the reeking sewerage of the city, was in a great measure to blame for
+the rapid spread of the disorder, but to have advanced such a theory
+would have been useless; the ignorant inhabitants ascribed the scourge
+to any source but the true one. At one time the _feldshers_ were accused
+of having propagated the plague for their own pecuniary benefit, and the
+excited populace threw a number of doctors out of the windows of a
+hospital and otherwise maltreated the poor practitioners who fell into
+their clutches.
+
+In Kanief, the inhabitants, crazed with fear at the progress of the
+plague, adopted an original and ingenious method to check it. At
+midnight, according to a preconcerted plan, all the maidens of the
+village met on the outskirts of the place and formed in picturesque
+procession. At the head marched a girl bearing an icon of the Madonna,
+gaudily painted and bedecked with jewels. Behind her came her
+companions, dragging a rope to which was attached a plow. In this order
+they made the circuit of the village, and it was confidently believed
+that the cholera would disappear within the magical circle thus
+described.[11]
+
+Many and equally ingenious were the devices employed in Kief by the
+ignorant peasants. A wonder-working icon was brought from St.
+Petersburg, where, according to tradition, it had performed many
+miracles. Yet the plague continued, fed by the ignorance and
+intemperance of the people.
+
+Surrounded by such dense superstition, it is not strange that the Jews,
+too, should resort to absurd rites to rid themselves of the dreaded
+guest. The poorer classes, living in the lower portions of the quarter,
+were the chief sufferers. There, where a dozen half-starved wretches
+were crowded into one small room, the plague was at its height. A
+hundred souls had already succumbed and the list of victims was growing
+daily. Alas! the misery of the stricken families! Deprived of medical
+attendance, of drugs, of fresh air, there appeared little hope for the
+denizens of the infected district.
+
+The busiest man during these troublous times was Itzig Maier, the
+beadle, whose acquaintance we have already made as the messenger sent by
+Bensef to the _bal-shem_ at Tchernigof. The condition of Itzig and his
+family had not improved since we last saw him. The little fortune which,
+if gossip spoke truly, he had acquired by his adroit manoeuvring at
+that time, had been dissipated; his family had grown larger and was a
+constant drain upon his meagre resources, while his income appeared to
+diminish as his expenses increased. Besides, Itzig had a daughter who
+was now of a marriageable age, and he was obliged to toil and save to
+provide a dowry. Beile was unattractive and uninteresting, and Itzig did
+not conceal from himself the fact that without a dowry it might prove
+difficult to bring her under the _chuppe_.
+
+Of late Itzig had had little time to think of his family. In the house
+and in the hovel, wherever the cholera had knocked for admittance, there
+was Itzig Maier, performing his duties with an unfailing
+regularity--preparing the shrouds, attiring the dead and comforting the
+mourners--all unmindful that he might be the next victim. His services
+were in constant demand and money was actually pouring in upon him.
+
+The first to visit, aid and counsel the stricken community was Rabbi
+Jeiteles, whose unselfish devotion to duty led him from house to house,
+administering simple remedies to the suffering, closing the eyes of the
+dead and consoling the grieving survivors. He knew no fear, no
+hesitation. To his wife's anxious words of warning he had but one reply,
+"We are all in God's hands."
+
+Earnestly he went about his work, conscious of his danger, yet putting
+all thought of self aside until he, too, fell a victim to the dread
+destroyer.
+
+One day, while performing the last sad rites over a dead child, he was
+stricken, and before he could be removed to his home he had breathed his
+last.
+
+Great was the grief in the Jewish community in Kief. From one end of the
+quarter to the other the inhabitants mourned for thirty days, bewailing
+the death of their beloved Rabbi, as though each household had lost a
+revered parent.
+
+The plague continued its ravages, and the people in their wild terror
+resorted to the _bal-shem_ for amulets and talismans. On every door
+could be read the inscription, "Not at home." But the cholera would not
+be put off by so flimsy a device and entered unbidden. Even the death of
+a grave-digger did not stay the dread disease, although it had been
+prophesied that such an event would end the trouble. The cabalistic
+books were ransacked for charms and mystic signs with which to resist
+the power of the conqueror, but all in vain.
+
+One morning Itzig ran as fast as his shuffling legs would bear him, up
+the dirty lane that led to his abode, and fell rather than walked into
+the low door that led into his hut. His wife was engaged in washing a
+baby--the seventh--and Beile, an ill-favored, sallow-complexioned girl,
+sat at the window sewing.
+
+"Jentele," cried Itzig, sinking into a chair, "God has been good to us!"
+
+"Have you just found that out?" asked his wife, petulantly. "What is the
+matter? Have you come into a fortune?"
+
+"Beile, leave the room," said Itzig.
+
+"Why, father?"
+
+"Leave the room! I want to talk to your mother."
+
+Beile put away her work and walked out into the lane.
+
+"Rejoice with me, Jentele," said the delighted husband, as he rubbed his
+shrivelled hands. "Beile is a _kalle_; she will marry to-morrow."
+
+"Has anybody fallen in love with her?" asked the mother.
+
+"No; but she will marry all the same."
+
+"Well, speak out, man! You kill one with suspense."
+
+"Do you know Reb Bensef, our _parnas_?"
+
+"Yes; but what has he to do with our Beile?"
+
+"Reb Bensef being very much distressed by the death of Rabbi Jeiteles,
+went to Tchernigof to ask counsel of the _bal-shem_ and has just
+returned."
+
+"Well, what did the wise man advise?" asked Jentele, burning with
+impatience, while her partially washed baby lay kicking in her arms.
+
+"Listen, I am coming to that," answered Itzig, with provoking slowness.
+"He said that if a poor man would marry an equally poor girl, under a
+_chuppe_ erected in the cemetery between two newly made graves, God's
+anger would be appeased and the scourge would end. To-day Bensef sought
+me out. 'Itzig,' he said, 'you have a daughter. I know a husband for
+her. I will give an outfit to both bride and groom and provide them with
+money to last a year, if you will consent to their marrying in the
+cemetery.' What do you think of it?"
+
+"Who is the young man?" queried Jentele, her face expressing neither
+pleasure nor pain.
+
+"You know the _jeschiva_ student, Kahn?"
+
+"He is poor, very poor, indeed."
+
+"What is that to us? Reb Bensef will provide clothing and money for a
+whole year."
+
+"And when that is all gone?" queried his wife, resuming operations upon
+the baby.
+
+"Then God will provide. Did we have more when we married?"
+
+"It is an opportunity of a life-time," mused Jentele, looking at her
+parched and yellow better-half. "Do as you think best."
+
+Armed with the support of his wife and without consulting his daughter,
+whose voice in a matter of such minor importance seemed to him
+unnecessary, Itzig hastened to Bensef's house and expressed his consent
+to the arrangement. Together the worthies went to the synagogue, where
+the unsuspecting Kahn was engaged in prayer. A few words sufficed to
+explain the situation. Kahn looked timidly at Bensef, then upon the
+ground; finally, he shrugged his shoulders and signified his readiness
+to be led to the altar. It mattered not to him what disposition they
+made of him. He was poor and without prospects and could never hope to
+support a wife by his own exertions. The way was now made easy. Besides,
+in thus sacrificing himself for the extinction of the plague he was
+doing a _mitzva_ (a good deed) in the sight of the Lord. To refuse was
+out of the question. The young man was led in triumph to Itzig's house
+and introduced to his future wife, who heard of the arrangement for the
+first time and evinced neither pleasure nor dissatisfaction.
+
+The betrothal was duly announced and hasty preparations made for the
+coming ceremony, since delay meant new victims to the plague.
+
+Mendel strove with all his eloquence to prevent the carrying out of this
+monstrous purpose. Every fibre within him revolted at such folly, and he
+hurried from house to house, entreating the most influential members of
+the congregation to aid him in opposing it. But the scourge spoke more
+eloquently than did the young Rabbi--the people listened to him but
+shook their heads. Many who doubted the efficacy of the plan, lacked the
+moral courage to oppose an act which met with the approval of the
+greater portion of the community.
+
+"Every means should be employed to prevent the disease from doing
+further mischief," argued some. "We have vainly tried everything else,
+let us try this. God may at last listen to our prayers."
+
+"The _bal-shem_ has commanded it; it is sure to prove successful," said
+others.
+
+After a day spent in earnest but ineffectual arguments, Mendel saw that
+his endeavors in this direction were futile, and concluding that further
+interference would be useless, he sorrowfully wended his way homeward.
+
+The sun shone fiercely on the morrow upon a desolate landscape. All
+nature appeared to be under the ban of the plague. The leaves upon the
+trees were sere and withered, the brooks were dry and the birds had long
+since hushed their melody. The highways were deserted, save where at
+intervals a solemn funeral train carried the dead to a final
+resting-place.
+
+A strange procession wended its way to the Jewish cemetery. It was not a
+funeral, although from the tears and lamentations of those who took part
+in it, it might have been mistaken for one. Young and old, men and
+women, all in whom superstition still dwelt, followed the cortege to the
+field of death and accompanied the bride and bridegroom to the
+improvised altar. Thanks to the generosity of Bensef, Beile was richly
+attired, and the groom in spite of his poverty was neatly clad. They
+walked hand in hand, happy in the consciousness that they were
+performing a service to humanity. As the grotesque train entered the
+burial-ground the lamentations became louder at the sight of the scores
+of newly-made graves. The bride and groom lost their happy look, for a
+stern and terrible reality confronted them. The _chuppe_ had been
+erected between two freshly-dug graves. The people ceased their wailing
+and became as silent as the awful place in which they stood.
+
+Mendel, who had been requested to tie the solemn knot, had refused to do
+so and had absented himself. The ceremony was, therefore, performed by
+the Rabbi of another congregation, who hurried through the short service
+with almost eager haste. Jentele kissed the weeping bride, Itzig
+embraced his son-in-law.
+
+Suddenly the father tottered and with a moan fell to the ground. His
+face became livid, his eyes sank in their sockets, his blue lips
+frothed, and his whole body shook with agony.
+
+"The cholera! the cholera!" shouted those nearest him, and while many
+fled for their lives, a dozen willing hands lifted up the prostrate
+beadle and endeavored by every means in their power to restore him to
+consciousness. In vain were all their ministrations, in vain their
+prayers and exhortations. For a short while Itzig suffered intense
+agony, then his shrunken form became rigid, his head fell back, his
+homely and shrivelled features relaxed into a hideous grin, and the
+unfortunate beadle travelled the way of the hundreds he had in his time
+borne to this very spot.[12]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 11: Wallace, p. 78.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+COMMON-SENSE VS. SUPERSTITION.
+
+
+In spite of the sacrifice, in spite of the fanaticism of the gentiles
+and the equally great superstition of the Jews, the plague continued
+with unabated violence. But few families in Kief had been spared a visit
+from the dread reaper.
+
+On the Sabbath following the events just narrated, the Israelites went
+to their places of worship as usual, and ardent prayers for deliverance
+ascended to the Almighty. Mendel, notwithstanding his youth, officiated
+in the place of the departed Rabbi Jeiteles, and on this occasion he
+formally entered upon the duties of his honorable office.
+
+Sermons, as we understand them, were not in vogue among the Russian
+Jews, and lectures in the synagogue on topics unconnected with religion
+or morality had not been dreamed of. Jeiteles would at times discourse
+upon some knotty point in the _Torah_, and on the more important
+holidays expound the meaning of certain ceremonials. When Mendel
+ascended the pulpit, the stricken congregation, with hushed and eager
+expectation, awaited his words.
+
+Mendel began by alluding to the sad demise of the beloved Rabbi. He
+spoke of his great heart, of his benevolence and wisdom, and as his
+powerful and sympathetic voice rang through the vast synagogue, few were
+the eyes that were not suffused with tears.
+
+"Friends," he continued, "in an epidemic such as is at present raging in
+our midst, our thoughts are naturally directed to _Adonai_, and we
+implore His mercy. If such a misfortune tends to turn our prayers
+heavenward, to arouse our humanity towards our suffering fellow-men,
+then indeed the evil may become a blessing in disguise. But if you lay
+the blame of your misfortunes to God alone, and believe that He inflicts
+His creatures with disease because He is angry with the world, you
+degrade the Lord into an angry, revengeful Being of human type, instead
+of the grand and supreme _Adonai Echod_ whom our forefathers worshipped.
+
+"The many absurd observances of which you have been guilty, and which
+culminated in the marriage at the cemetery, are blasphemous. I will tell
+you why. If God has really sent this trouble, it is done for a wise
+purpose, and God will know when to remove the infliction without such
+barbaric ceremonies to propitiate Him. If, on the other hand, your own
+negligence of the laws of health is to blame, then absurd rites, even
+though sanctioned by a wonder-working Rabbi of some distant city, are of
+no avail; but the only effective way to terminate the trouble is to
+investigate our way of living, and to correct whatever we find
+prejudicial to our well-being."
+
+That this new and hitherto unheard-of doctrine should cause a profound
+sensation was but natural. A murmur through the audience showed plainly
+that sentiment was divided upon the subject. Mendel, disregarding the
+interruption, continued. In clear and concise terms he pointed out the
+historical fact that throughout all the epidemics of the past, Israel,
+by the perfection of her sanitary laws, enjoyed almost an immunity from
+disease. He hurriedly enumerated the many excellent Mosaic laws
+concerning diet and cleanliness, and endeavored to show that the ablest
+physicians of modern times could not improve upon these commands. Then
+he spoke of the recent discoveries by the German doctors, and the
+promulgation of the new theory that contagious diseases were due to the
+existence of germs which could only be exterminated by certain
+well-defined means, prominent among which was cleanliness. While he
+spoke his audience hung breathlessly upon his words, and, as they gazed
+upon the inspired countenance of the young man, they felt that he
+expounded the truth, and they believed in him.
+
+"And now, my friends," continued Mendel, "let us drop superstition and
+substitute common-sense. Let us show our gentile neighbors that we can
+combat this epidemic with intelligence. In the first place, let us
+determine upon some well-defined plan. Let us organize. With unity of
+purpose much can be accomplished. The greatest danger of the disease
+lies in its contagious nature. Our first duty, therefore, is to isolate
+those who are sick. In this way the spreading of the plague may be
+checked. There is nothing new in this plan. Moses commanded that all
+persons suffering with infectious diseases should be placed outside of
+the camp of Israel. That you have not already resorted to this means
+shows rather a kind heart than a quick wit.
+
+"You have doubtless observed that those living upon the swampy ground
+near the river mourn a greater number of departed than those dwelling
+further inland. That locality must, therefore, exercise a prejudicial
+influence upon the health of the people. It is here that the poor and
+destitute live. Let us care for them. Let the more wealthy and more
+fortunate families take into their houses those to whom Providence has
+been less bountiful. You whose daily business takes you to the hovels of
+the poor, know how wretched and filthy they are, how even the healthy
+can scarcely bear the foulness of their atmosphere. How great must be
+the power of such pest-holes to extend the plague when once it finds a
+foothold there! Let us tear down those hovels. There are enough rich men
+among you to build new and better houses. You have heard that many have
+become ill through drinking the water from the wells. Water you must
+drink; but a German doctor tells us that heat will kill the germs of
+disease. Let us, therefore, boil all the water we drink and diminish the
+tendency to sickness in that way. Finally, it is necessary to avoid all
+excesses, to live temperately, to observe strict cleanliness. Thus you
+may cheat the plague of a great number of victims. God sends the good,
+my friends, but we bring the evil upon ourselves. This evening I shall
+be pleased to see at my house all those who are willing to devote their
+time and money to the great cause, and we will there discuss the ways
+and means of driving out the cholera, and thus avenging the death of our
+beloved and regretted Rabbi Jeiteles."
+
+Such enthusiasm as greeted the speaker when he descended from the pulpit
+had never been known in the synagogue. His manner as well as his words,
+his beauty and imposing presence as well as his profound and magnetic
+intellect, had carried the hearts of his auditors. The men clasped him
+warmly by the hand and promised their co-operation, and the women in the
+gallery gave vent to their approval in a no less hearty manner. When the
+Sabbath service came to a close, the only sentiment among the members of
+the congregation was in favor of immediate action.
+
+The news of the sermon spread rapidly through the community, and the
+other congregations became interested and promised their support.
+
+The young Rabbi still lived with his mother-in-law, and a large company
+assembled at the house to carry out the plans suggested by him that
+morning. The meeting included all the wealthy and influential men of the
+quarter, and they entered into the spirit of the new ideas with as much
+enthusiasm as they had displayed in the superstitious observances of a
+few days before. Those willing to take an active part in the great
+hygienic work were divided by Mendel into committees, one of which was
+to undertake the arduous work of isolation and of providing willing and
+capable nurses to wait upon the sick; another to superintend the
+disinfection or removal of the wretched hovels in the lower portion of
+the Jewish quarter; a third to visit the families into which the scourge
+had already forced an entrance, and inculcate such lessons of
+cleanliness as would materially lessen the chances of further contagion.
+
+Mendel placed himself at the head of all these bodies, so that he might
+the better direct their actions. He then explained to them in detail the
+various theories that had been advanced throughout the civilized world
+as to the cause of the cholera and the methods employed in western
+countries to combat the disease. He had read much and his powerful
+memory had retained all that was useful and important, and he spoke with
+such decision that all those pious men, among whom any delving outside
+of the sacred limits of the Talmud was strictly prohibited, now
+listened, in open-mouthed wonder, to the instruction of their youthful
+sage without once demanding whence he had obtained his knowledge. It
+sufficed them to know that they now possessed a tangible weapon with
+which to fight their dreaded enemy, and they were ready to follow their
+leader wherever he chose to conduct them.
+
+The great work was begun without delay. Before undertaking it, however,
+it was necessary to obtain the Governor's consent to the improvements,
+and to Mendel fell the task of calling upon the mighty man at his
+palace.
+
+When Alexander II. ascended his father's throne, his first important act
+was to appoint new Governors of the various provinces, for it was a
+notorious fact that the heads of these departments were as a rule
+totally unfit to direct the affairs with which they were entrusted. He
+replaced the old and corrupt Governors by young and vigorous men,
+heartily in accord with his ideas of reform. General Pomeroff, a friend
+and stanch admirer of the Emperor while he was still Czarewitch, was
+selected to govern the influential province of Kief. Pomeroff was a
+strikingly handsome man, progressive in his views, humane in the
+treatment of his subordinates, quick to perceive merit where it existed
+and anxious to assist in any work which promised to redound to the
+credit of his province. With this man Mendel sought an interview. It was
+with difficulty that he gained admittance to the presence of the august
+ruler, into whose sanctum no Jew had yet entered, but after a long delay
+he succeeded in meeting the Governor face to face.
+
+"Your excellency," said Mendel, in a quiet and dignified manner,
+speaking in perfect Russian, "I come to seek your assistance in a matter
+of great importance to a large class of your subjects."
+
+The Governor, surprised as much by the purity of language as by the
+temerity of the Jew, looked at the young man, scrutinizingly, for some
+moments.
+
+"What do you wish?" he asked, at length. "Make your application short,
+for I have much to do."
+
+Mendel unfolded his views briefly to the astonished Governor. He
+expressed his desire to rid the Jewish quarter as far as practicable
+from the effects of the plague.
+
+"The cholera has almost run its course," he said, "and while our efforts
+might have been impotent to check its ravages during its early course,
+they may serve to prevent its further spread and to diminish the number
+of its victims. We are amply provided with willing hands and with the
+necessary money, but we desire your excellency's sanction, and your
+permission to remove those hovels from our quarter which are dangerous
+to the general health of its inhabitants."
+
+Governor Pomeroff had arisen and was striding up and down his apartment.
+When Mendel concluded, he stopped and held out his hand.
+
+"Give me your hand," he said; "you are a man after my own heart. Go on
+with your work, and I will give instructions that no one shall interfere
+with you. If you need assistance, call upon me and I will do what I can
+for you."
+
+"I thank your excellency," replied Mendel, overjoyed, "but your
+good-will is all we ask. The cholera is a frightful evil, and if we
+succeed in lessening its ravages we shall be well repaid for our
+trouble."
+
+"I expect you to come and report to me from time to time," said the
+Governor, so far forgetting his dignity as to accompany the Jew to the
+door.
+
+Mendel bowed and left the apartment. In the ante-room, a number of
+servants had collected, and no sooner did the young man appear than they
+began to banter and annoy him. It was perfectly legitimate for the serfs
+to derive as much amusement from the Jews as possible.
+
+"Here comes the Jew," cried one, "and by the Holy St. Peter he is still
+alive."
+
+"Well, Jew," said another, seizing Mendel by the beard; "by what charms
+did you force your way into the Governor's presence? Impudence is a
+great characteristic of your race."
+
+At that moment the door opened and Governor Pomeroff appeared at the
+threshold.
+
+He severely rebuked the astonished servants for their rude behavior,
+apologized to Mendel for the indignities he had been obliged to endure,
+and sent a guard with him to conduct him to his home.
+
+The Rabbi returned to his people with a light and happy heart. He had
+been more than successful, for he had gained a friend in the Governor,
+and his mind lost itself in visions of the good this powerful ally would
+enable him to effect.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 12: Herzberg-Fraenkel's "Polnische Juden" cites a similar
+incident.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE GOVERNOR'S PROJECT.
+
+
+Great were the energy and zeal which the Hebrew community of Kief
+displayed in carrying out the plans of their young Rabbi. Mendel himself
+led them on with an ardor that knew no abatement. He visited the most
+dangerous pest-holes, helped to move the sick, brought relief and
+consolation to the suffering and bereaved, while ever at his side was
+his wife, Recha. Her devotion to the cause was only second to the love
+she bore her husband. Undaunted by the awful fate that had befallen her
+father, she followed Mendel into the thickest of the danger and like a
+ministering angel brought comfort and relief. Their example was
+contagious. Young and old, male and female, vied with one another in
+doing good and in mitigating suffering. The superstitious dread with
+which they had formerly regarded the disease had disappeared and with it
+much of the danger which fear or an over-wrought imagination causes. A
+large building was secured and fitted up as a hospital. Thither the sick
+were conveyed and there kept in strict quarantine. It was not difficult
+to find nurses among those who had already had the disease, when told
+that they need not fear its recurrence.
+
+Many of the miserable dwellings of the poor were demolished and the
+ground cleansed and fumigated, their former inhabitants in the meanwhile
+finding ample accommodations in the synagogues or in the houses of the
+wealthy. There was not a family of well-to-do Jews that did not harbor a
+number of those who were thus summarily deprived of shelter. Every well
+which might have become contaminated was filled up with earth and stone,
+and strict injunctions were issued to use no water that had not been
+thoroughly boiled. The schools were temporarily closed to avoid the
+danger of infection, exercise in the fields was recommended, and so well
+were all these regulations observed that at the end of six weeks the
+Jewish quarter was practically free from the disease, while the grim
+monster still raged among the families of the less prudent gentiles.
+Then the work of reconstructing what had been demolished was taken up.
+Thanks to the offerings of Hirsch Bensef and his friends, money was not
+lacking and willing hands were found to supply the necessary manual
+labor. Where wretched huts and unpainted hovels had offended the eye,
+unpretentious but clean and comfortable dwellings now were seen. The
+lower portion of the town had been entirely remodelled and vied in point
+of neatness with the more aristocratic quarter. As home after home was
+completed, the former inmates took possession and great was the
+rejoicing. It was impossible, however, to do away with all the poor
+hovels that abounded in the Jewish quarter: such an undertaking would
+have required a vast amount of money and years of labor. It was only
+where the need was most pressing that the work of regeneration was
+carried on.
+
+The sad fact soon forced itself on Mendel that the portion of Kief
+allotted to the Jews was entirely inadequate for the fifteen thousand
+inhabitants who were condemned to dwell there. So overcrowded were some
+of the houses that it seemed a miracle that the death-rate had not been
+even greater; yet there seemed to be no remedy for the evil. The limits
+had been fixed by the government and against its decree who dared
+appeal? By _Rosh-Hashana_ (New Year's) there was not a single case of
+cholera in the Jewish quarter. One morning, several days after the New
+Year festival, Mendel sat in his snug parlor with his wife and her
+mother, speaking hopefully of the coming time.
+
+"How happy we would be," said Recha, "if father were alive to see all
+the good that has been accomplished. His only ambition was to improve
+the mental and physical condition of our people. He would have taken the
+greatest interest in your undertaking, and would have been the most
+zealous of your helpers."
+
+Mendel sighed.
+
+"I feel, Recha," he said, "that all this work was inspired by his death.
+Had it not been for the grief it caused me, I doubt whether I should
+have felt it my duty to open the eyes of our good people, but might have
+allowed them to continue in their accustomed way. Troubles, dear Recha,
+are frequently blessings in disguise, and under the rod of affliction we
+may recognize the loving hand of God. Our hearts groan under the heavy
+blows of misfortune, but in the end we will find ourselves the stronger,
+the better, the more perfect for the tribulations we have undergone."
+
+Recha felt the truth of her husband's words and dried her eyes.
+
+"I look into the year just begun with great hopes," continued Mendel.
+"Among our own people the greatest harmony prevails. The sorrows we have
+suffered in common have served to knit our souls more closely together,
+and the little quarrels and petty jealousies that formerly agitated our
+community have ceased. All is bright and beautiful without. The Emperor
+purposes to introduce various reforms and the Governor is favorably
+disposed towards us. Let us trust that those who have suffered losses
+through the merciless hand of death may find some consolation in the
+greater happiness and prosperity of the community."
+
+Mendel was interrupted by a knock at the door, and Recha upon opening it
+gave admittance to a soldier, whose uniform proclaimed him one of the
+Governor's body guard.
+
+"I seek Mendel Winenki," said the man, with military precision.
+
+Recha became pale as death; a terrible suspicion flashed through her
+mind. Mendel, too, was ill at ease.
+
+"What do you want of me?" he asked.
+
+"His excellency, the Governor, has instructed me to conduct you into his
+presence," answered the soldier.
+
+"For what purpose?" asked the Rabbi, anxiously.
+
+"I do not know. I am simply to take you with me."
+
+The greatest consternation prevailed among the little group. For a Jew
+to be summoned before the Governor betokened no good.
+
+"You would arrest my husband!" cried Recha, placing herself between the
+soldier and the Rabbi. "He has done no wrong. You shall not take him!"
+
+"Calm yourself, Recha," said the Rabbi, gently. "There is no need of
+borrowing trouble. The soldier has not intimated that I am to be
+punished. The Governor was at one time very friendly to me; perhaps it
+is upon a friendly matter that he now wishes to see me."
+
+Kissing his wife and mother-in-law and bidding them be of good cheer,
+Mendel accompanied the guide to the Governor's residence. It was a long
+walk through a number of densely populated streets to the animated
+_podol_, or business centre. Hundreds of shops lined the streets, but
+they were empty and deserted. The cholera had deprived them of their
+customers and in many cases of their proprietors. Business was
+practically suspended during the continuance of the plague. On leaving
+the _podol_, the road led up a steep incline to the Petcherskoi. This
+was the official portion of the town. Here stood the vast Petcherskoi
+convent, a mass of old buildings, formerly a fine specimen of Byzantine
+architecture, but now gradually yielding to the ravages of time. Here,
+too, were the barracks, and the martial tread of the exercising
+regiments rang out clearly in the September air. Beyond the barracks,
+and by its high position commanding a fine view of the city, stood the
+Governor's palace, an imposing pile of Russian architecture, which, when
+Kief was still the capital of the Empire, was the scene of regal
+festivities and despotic cruelty.
+
+The ante-room of the Governor was filled with a motley crowd of
+petitioners. There were deputations from the provincial towns, haughty
+noblemen attired in lace coats and bedecked with badges, officers,
+soldiers and _gendarmes_ in gorgeous uniforms. Mendel's courage sank
+when he saw the formidable group before him.
+
+"Remain here," commanded the guard who had accompanied him, "and I will
+announce your presence to his excellency."
+
+A moment later he returned and, to the surprise of the waiting
+petitioners, beckoned Mendel to follow him into the private cabinet.
+That a Jew should be shown such favor was scarcely calculated to put the
+rest in a good humor, and loud murmurs of discontent arose from all
+parts of the room.
+
+If Mendel had any fears of the reception which awaited him, they were at
+once dispelled by the Governor's cordial greeting:
+
+"Well, Rabbi," he exclaimed, smilingly, extending his hand, "I have
+waited in vain for you to bring me the promised tidings and have sent
+for you in sheer despair. Why did you not come to see me?"
+
+"Your excellency," replied Mendel, "I have been busy day and night, but
+had I thought that you took an interest in our work I would have
+hastened to inform you of our progress. Thank God, the result has
+exceeded our fondest expectations."
+
+"I have heard of it," replied Pomeroff. "It has been the subject of a
+hundred discussions at court and at the exchanges, and there is nought
+but praise for the man who was the first to fight the cholera here in
+Russia with the weapons science has furnished mankind."
+
+Mendel blushed and said, modestly:
+
+"That man is a Jew, your excellency. It is not usual for one of our race
+to be the recipient of compliments at the hands of the gentiles."
+
+The Governor's brow darkened and he remained silent for a moment.
+Finally he replied:
+
+"Such praise would be more plentiful if all Jews were like you."
+
+"They are, your excellency," answered Mendel, warmly. "Oh, if you but
+knew how brave, how noble a heart beats beneath the rough exterior of
+the Jew; if you but knew how passionately he yearns for an opportunity
+to show himself in his true character, you would pity him more and judge
+him less harshly."
+
+"It is upon that very topic that I wish to converse with you," said the
+Governor, motioning Mendel to a seat, while he threw himself upon a
+comfortable lounge. Lighting a cigarette, he settled himself for a long
+conversation, apparently unmindful of the dignitaries who awaited an
+audience without. "I would give the Jew an opportunity to become not
+only a useful but a respected citizen."
+
+"Your excellency is too good," said Mendel, joyously, as bright visions
+of emancipation flashed through his brain.
+
+"I am told that you have great influence with your people," continued
+the Governor. "Am I correctly informed?"
+
+"I am too young to influence them, but I believe I have their esteem and
+respect."
+
+"They, at all events, place confidence in you," answered Pomeroff. "Now
+listen to me patiently. I have always been a friend of the Hebrews. As a
+boy, I associated with Jews of my own age and found them congenial
+companions. When I had arrived at the age of manhood I awoke one day to
+find myself in grave financial difficulties. There is no need of going
+into details. Suffice it to say that in my dilemma I went to one of the
+companions of my youth, a Jew, who had in the meantime acquired a
+fortune, and appealed to his generosity. My confidence was not misplaced
+and his timely aid saved my reputation and my honor. I am therefore
+favorably disposed toward your people and would help them if it were in
+my power to do so."
+
+"Your excellency can do much," exclaimed Mendel.
+
+"Let me finish what I have to say before you indulge in vain hopes,"
+answered the Governor. "Let us discuss the situation fearlessly and
+without prejudice and try to find the root of the difficulty. Why are
+your people despised? Firstly, because they are not Christians and the
+gentile can never forget that it was your race that was directly
+responsible for the death of our Saviour; secondly, were the gentile to
+forget it, the religious and social observances of your race are so
+thoroughly at variance with his own that he does not understand you and
+therefore looks down upon you. Under usual conditions, however, the Jew
+and the non-Jew live side by side in peace and harmony. It is only in
+time of unusual religious or political excitement that race prejudice
+comes into play and then the Hebrews suffer. Were your people to adopt
+the Christian religion and change their oriental customs for our own,
+race prejudice and persecution would cease, they would be placed
+socially upon a footing of equality with the gentiles and the entire
+human race would be benefited thereby. Do I make my meaning clear?"
+
+"I do not quite grasp it," answered Mendel.
+
+"Briefly, then, my idea is this: You have great influence over your
+co-religionists. Use that influence to their lasting advantage. Persuade
+them to accept the Christian faith. Induce them to be baptized and with
+that solemn rite will end the unnumbered persecutions, the untold misery
+which has unfortunately been the lot of Israel. His majesty Alexander is
+most graciously disposed towards reform. Now, at the beginning of his
+career, he is eager to accept any innovation which will reflect renown
+upon his rule. He has already considered plans for freeing the serfs and
+would gladly include in that emancipation the three million Jews that
+reside in the Empire. I speak with his august authority when I say that
+as soon as the Jews embrace the holy Catholic faith not only will their
+troubles end, but they will find themselves raised to an enviable
+condition and the fittest among them will fill positions of rank and
+honor."
+
+Mendel had arisen and with a pitying smile waited for the Governor to
+conclude his remarks.
+
+"Your excellency does me too much honor," he said, quietly. "The man was
+never born, nor will he ever be, who can wean the Jews from their faith.
+Your excellency would find it easier to turn the waters of the Dnieper
+into the Arctic Ocean than to change the handful of Jews in Kief into
+Christians."
+
+"But there are many who have already deserted the ranks of Israel," said
+the Governor.
+
+"There are some renegades, it is true, but they do not in reality desert
+the faith of their people. They merely seek to escape some of the
+observances with which they are not in accord. Such people do not become
+Christians--they remain Jews to the end of their days."
+
+"But, consider," said the Governor, earnestly, for he had set his heart
+upon this project. "At present you are despised and hated. You are
+forced to vegetate, rather than live, within the narrow confines of an
+uninviting and unhealthy quarter. Your natural capabilities are dwarfed.
+Your property and even your lives are at the mercy of the ignorant
+people that surround you. An acknowledgment of the faith that already
+counts many millions of adherents, a mere profession of belief in the
+great Saviour who came from heaven to save mankind, will change all this
+and you will at once enter into a life of peace and honor and social
+equality with the noblest of the land. Is it not worth considering?"
+
+"No, your excellency," answered Mendel, boldly. "As I have already told
+you, it is impossible."
+
+"Your reasons, Rabbi," said the Governor, with a shade of irritation in
+his voice. "Will not the new avenues for pleasure and happiness
+compensate for your ancient ceremonials and superstitions? The theatre,
+the lecture, the school will be opened to you. We will bid you enter and
+partake of all those delights which are in store for the best of us. Is
+that no inducement?"
+
+Mendel sighed deeply, as he answered:
+
+"Your excellency invites me to speak and I will do so frankly, even at
+the risk of incurring your displeasure. Think you that the prejudice
+which the Christian has felt against the Jew for over eighteen centuries
+can be eradicated in a moment by the apostasy of our race? The Russian
+nobility, accustomed to regard the Hebrews as accursed in the sight of
+God, as a nation of usurers and ungodly fanatics, is not in a fit
+condition of mind to forego its prejudices and welcome these same Jews
+as equals. The lower classes of Russians who have at the the mother's
+breast imbibed hatred and contempt for the despised and helpless Jew,
+who have from time immemorial considered the Jews as their just and
+legitimate prey, will scarcely condescend to offer the rejected race the
+hand of brotherly love simply because the Governor or even the Emperor
+commands it. It has been tried, your excellency, at various times;
+notably in Spain. Terrified by threats of torture on the one hand or
+seduced by promises of great reward on the other, many an Israelite
+accepted the Catholic faith. Alas! how bitterly was the error regretted.
+Instead of being admitted to that fellowship with which the gentiles had
+tempted them, greater humiliations, greater persecutions followed, until
+the horrors of the inquisition chamber and death at the stake were
+welcomed by the poor wretches as a relief from mental torment still more
+terrible."
+
+So they talked, the mighty ruler and the humble Rabbi, while those in
+the ante-room waited impatiently for an audience.
+
+Finally the Governor arose.
+
+"I will not exact a definite answer at present," he said. "Discuss the
+matter with your friends and come to see me again in the course of a
+week or two. Perhaps you will then think better of it."
+
+Mendel shook his head.
+
+"In a few days we shall have _Yom-Kipur_, our Day of Atonement," he
+said. "If you would know how tenaciously the Israelites cling to their
+faith and to their God, visit the synagogue on that day; behold them in
+fasting and prayer, renewing their covenant with the Lord and relying
+upon his divine protection and assistance. You will find it an
+impressive sight, one that will speak more eloquently than my weak
+words."
+
+"I may come," answered the Governor, half in jest and half in earnest,
+while Mendel bowed himself out through the crowd of angry people in the
+waiting-room.
+
+We shall not attempt to analyze the thoughts of the young Rabbi, as he
+retraced his steps towards his dwelling. On his arrival there, he found
+his wife and her mother greatly alarmed as to his safety. The strange
+and sudden summons and his long absence had aroused terrible fears in
+Recha's breast that he had been thrown into prison by the Governor, and
+her eyes were red with weeping. It was with a bounding heart, therefore,
+that she heard her husband's step on the threshold, and with a joyous
+cry she rushed to embrace him.
+
+"God be praised, my Mendel has returned," she exclaimed, and smiling
+through her tears she led him into the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+YOM-KIPUR.
+
+
+It is _Yom-Kipur_, the Day of Atonement.
+
+Long before nightfall the shops and booths of the Israelites are closed.
+The merchant has silenced his cravings for gain, the pedler and the
+wanderer have returned to their families, travelling leagues upon
+leagues to reach home in time for the holy day. The beggar has cast
+aside his rags and attired himself in a manner more befitting the solemn
+occasion. The God-fearing man has closed his heart to all but pious
+thoughts, and, yielding to the holy influence, even the impious cannot
+but think of God and of a future beyond the grave.
+
+The holy night is approaching. A river of light streams through the
+arched windows of the houses of prayer, flooding the streets and
+penetrating into the hearts of the inhabitants. Young and old slowly
+wend their way to the synagogues, there to bow down before the Lord who
+delivered their ancestors from Egyptian bondage and who on this day will
+sit in judgment upon their actions; will grant them mercy or pronounce
+their doom; will inscribe them in the book of life or in that of
+eternal death. The women are robed in white, the men wear shrouds over
+their black _caftans_ and carry huge prayer-books. At the door of the
+Lord's House, and before entering its sacred precincts, they ask pardon
+of each other for any sins or shortcomings, for the envy, the malice,
+the calumny of which they may have been guilty.
+
+"Forgive me whatever wrong I may have done thee!"
+
+The phrase is repeated from man to man, for none may enter the holy
+temple unless he be at peace with mankind.
+
+Let us enter the synagogue. Hundreds of candles fill the sacred hall
+with their light and the whitened walls and ceiling appear to glow with
+glory. Rows of men in ghastly attire, constant reminder of the
+inevitable end of mundane greatness, stand with covered heads and with
+their faces turned towards the orient, fervently praying. Screened by
+the lattice-work of the galleries are the women, who, with their treble
+voices, augment the solemn chant that vibrates on the air.
+
+Repentance, fear, self-reproach have blanched the cheeks and dimmed the
+eyes of the devotees. Fervent and sincere are the prayers that rise to
+the throne of God; contrite and remorseful are the blows with which the
+men beat their breasts and with which they seek to chasten their
+sin-encrusted hearts.
+
+Fearfully and tearfully they make the sorrowful avowal: "We have
+sinned!" Down into the depths of his soul does each one search to render
+to himself and to God a truthful account of the deeds and thoughts that
+lie hidden there. And above the din, the voice of the reader is heard,
+beseeching forgiveness for the repentant congregation, pleading for the
+grace of the Lord and asking to be enrolled in the book of life and
+happiness. It is a solemn, heart-stirring spectacle, moving the soul of
+the sinner with a mighty force. An observer, who for the first time
+attends the _Yom-Kipur_ services, can arrive at but one verdict
+concerning the beauty of the religion which has instituted this holy
+day.
+
+The heathen is impressed with the fact that in doing wrong he has
+offended a god whom, by means of sacrifice, he seeks to propitiate. The
+Christian proclaims that he sins by compulsion in consequence of the
+original fall of Adam, and, as he is not a free agent in the matter of
+right or wrong, he can expect grace only through the mediation of his
+Saviour. The Jew recognizes the fact that he is entirely free to sin or
+to remain pure, and that, having erred, he can only hope for forgiveness
+by acknowledging his error, by purifying himself from all that is vile
+and by a sincere resolution to do better. Mere faith has never played
+the important part in the Jewish religion that is assigned it in that of
+the gentiles. The Israelite believes that if he has done wrong and
+sincerely repents and by his subsequent actions seeks to repair the
+injury, divine forgiveness will not be withheld; but the dogma that
+belief independent of good deeds purifies the heart has never found
+favor in his eyes.
+
+The worshippers stayed until a late hour, and many of them remained in
+the synagogue all night. Early dawn found the congregation again at its
+post, as devout, as fervent as before. The candles were burning low in
+their sockets, casting a fitful glare upon the pale faces of the
+worshippers, reminding them of the flight of time, of the brevity of
+life, of the inevitable moment when repentance will come too late, when
+the account of one's good and evil deeds will be closed.
+
+The synagogue was filled to overflowing with fasting men and women. Not
+a morsel of food, not a drop of water was permitted to pass their lips
+for twenty-four hours. "As the body can abstain from food," said the
+wise rabbis, "so shall the soul abstain from sin."
+
+The terrible plague that had left its sad impress upon the community
+greatly increased the solemnity of the occasion. To the expressions of
+repentance were added the prayers of gratitude of those who had escaped
+its fatal breath and the lamentations of those whose hearts still
+smarted under recent bereavement. It was Rabbi Mendel's custom to
+combine instruction with devotion whenever an occasion presented itself,
+and to do this in such homely logic as his congregation could easily
+comprehend, taking especial pains to impress them with the spirit of the
+rites they observed. Being a great favorite with them, they listened
+attentively to his melodious voice and persuasive arguments, and found
+themselves the better for his teaching. On the Day of Atonement he had
+hardly begun to speak when his attention was attracted by a stranger who
+had entered and quietly taken a seat in the rear of the synagogue. With
+the exception of Mendel not one of the assembled worshippers recognized
+the unpretentious looking man.
+
+It was Governor Pomeroff who had come in response to his invitation.
+Mendel's face flushed with emotion when he saw the Governor enter the
+synagogue. After that he paid no further attention to his distinguished
+guest, but took up the thread of his discourse.
+
+He spoke of the effect of sin upon our earthly life and upon our
+possible existence after death, expounded the doctrine of punishment in
+the hereafter as given in the _Midrash_, and spoke of the infinite
+mercy of the Father in Heaven.
+
+"Not in idle protestations," he said, "lies the road to forgiveness, but
+in a thorough avowal of sins committed and in a sincere determination to
+avoid the iniquities of the past."
+
+Mendel's inspired words fell upon eager ears and contrite hearts. After
+the sermon the _hazan_ again intoned the prayers, assisted by the
+fervent responses of the congregation.
+
+The Governor remained a long time an interested observer of the
+impressive scene, until the lateness of the hour admonished him of other
+duties, and he left as unceremoniously as he had come.
+
+"The Rabbi is right," he murmured, as he wended his way out of the
+deserted quarter; "it will be a herculean task to alienate the Jews from
+their faith and bring them into the fold of the Russian church; but I
+shall not yet abandon my project!"
+
+The people prayed and fasted until the stars shone out in Heaven and the
+_shofar_ (ram's horn) blast announced the death of the solemn day. Then,
+with cheerful hearts and smiling faces they returned to their dwellings,
+purified in spirit, cleansed and purged of the dross that had defiled
+their souls, more thoroughly in unison with the Lord, who, though the
+sins of His people be as scarlet, will make them white as snow.
+
+Rabbi Mendel was not surprised next morning when a message came from the
+Governor, requesting his immediate presence at the palace. The summons
+did not create the consternation which had been caused by the
+unceremonious call of a few days before. On the contrary, Recha felt
+proud of the distinction accorded her husband in being thus made the
+confidant of the mighty ruler of Kief. She had implicit faith in her
+husband's ability to hold his ground even in the Governor's august
+presence.
+
+"Have you thought over our recent conversation?" asked Pomeroff, as soon
+as Mendel entered.
+
+"Yes, your excellency."
+
+"And to what conclusion have you come?"
+
+"Simply to thank your excellency for your kind interest in our behalf
+and to express the conviction that the Israelites of Kief would rather
+endure a thousand persecutions than abandon a jot of their holy faith."
+
+"Have you laid the matter before the people?" queried the Governor.
+
+"I have not, your excellency. It would have been worse than useless. You
+have doubtless observed how thoroughly sincere the Jews were in their
+devotions on _Yom-Kipur_ day: such men die for their religion, they do
+not abandon it. If your excellency can assist us in obtaining greater
+liberty of action, if you can gain for our children admittance into the
+schools of the Empire and open for us the various avenues of trade from
+which we have hitherto been shut out, we will hail you as our
+benefactor; but if we can only buy freedom and honors at the cost of our
+ancient and revered religion, we will be content to follow the example
+of our ancestors and suffer."
+
+A long discussion followed, in which Mendel proved that the Jews, in
+spite of persecution, were really happier than the unlettered and
+uncultured Russians and morally far superior to them.
+
+Finally the Governor arose.
+
+"Your hand, Rabbi," he said, heartily, "you have carried the day. I
+shall not revert to the subject of baptism again."
+
+"I hope your excellency will not renounce the desire to befriend us,"
+answered Mendel. "There is such a large field for improvement in our
+community. I wish you could see the crowded condition of our streets,
+the wretched abodes of our poor. If you knew the secret persecutions
+which the petty officers of the crown visit upon us, outrages which
+never reach the ears of the higher authorities, your excellency would be
+surprised that our moral and physical condition is no worse."
+
+"Poor Jews," said the Governor, sadly.
+
+"O, sir," continued Mendel, earnestly; "visit the Jewish quarter!
+Investigate the official abuses on every hand. Extend the limits of our
+homes. Remove the antiquated restrictions that enslave our daily
+actions. Give the Jew an opportunity to develop his great capabilities
+and he will become a desirable citizen and a stanch patriot."
+
+The kind-hearted Governor was visibly affected by Mendel's words.
+
+"I will reflect upon what you have said," he replied. "You are a brave
+champion and your people should feel proud of you."
+
+Governor Pomeroff, who recognized the young Rabbi's cleverness and
+learning, was loath to let him depart. Long after they had exhausted the
+topic that first engaged them, he detained him, conversing upon every
+conceivable subject, and listening with pleasure to the original
+thoughts and eloquent words of the young man. At length Mendel arose and
+prepared to leave.
+
+"Your excellency must pardon me," he said, "but my poor wife will be in
+despair at my late return and I must hasten to reassure her."
+
+"Go," answered the Governor; "but come again to-morrow or the day after.
+I have much to talk over with you."
+
+As Mendel bowed himself out, Pomeroff muttered to himself:
+
+"Strange man! He thinks more of allaying the anxiety of his wife than of
+currying favor with his ruler. He is right; such a people as he
+represents cannot be forced into baptism. They place their moral law and
+their ancient faith above temporal advantage."
+
+As Mendel had anticipated, Recha was a prey to the liveliest fears at
+the protracted absence of her husband. It seemed incredible to her that
+the busy Governor should have kept him so long. With Mendel, however,
+smiles and contentment returned.
+
+That evening the Rabbi called Hirsch Bensef and the elders of the
+congregation into his house and told them all about the Governor and his
+schemes. Great was the surprise of these worthy men and unanimous their
+approval of Mendel's course in the matter.
+
+"I believe," said the Rabbi, in conclusion, "that we have gained a
+friend in the Governor, and I see rising above the horizon a new era of
+security and prosperity for Israel."
+
+"God grant it," cried the listeners, fervently.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+NEEDED REFORMS.
+
+
+If Governor Pomeroff abandoned his original plan of Christianizing the
+Jews, he did not relinquish his friendship for Mendel. The Rabbi was
+frequently summoned to appear before him, professedly for the purpose
+of giving an account of this or that good work which he had undertaken,
+but in reality to entertain the Governor by his brilliant conversation.
+So frequent had these visits become that the guards about the palace
+were no longer surprised at the strange companionship and the term
+"Jew," with which they were wont to designate Mendel, gave place to the
+more respectful appellation of "The Rabbi."
+
+As Mendel became better acquainted with his powerful friend, his
+appreciation of his noble qualities steadily increased and they became
+warmly attached to each other.
+
+"Would that all the Jews were like you," Pomeroff occasionally remarked,
+to which Mendel would reply: "How fortunate would be our lot if all
+Christians possessed your nobility of character."
+
+Then came the glorious year 1861, the year in which Russia freed
+millions of serfs and removed the shackles of slavery from a debased
+people.
+
+While much praise should be accorded to the liberality and humanity of
+Alexander, the main cause of the emancipation act was the
+unprofitableness of serf labor. Public opinion, too, had demanded the
+change. What "Uncle Tom's Cabin" accomplished in this country Gogol's
+"Dead Souls" and Tourgenieff's "Recollections of a Sportsman" did for
+the Russian slaves. The disasters of the Crimean War were attributed to
+the corrupt condition of all classes, caused, it was claimed, by this
+pernicious institution of serfdom. By the edict of 1861, in the same
+year in which our own struggle for the emancipation of our Southern
+slaves began, the peasants were made free and were granted the right to
+purchase the lands occupied by them at the time. "Enfranchisement was
+effected in Russia in a manner far more skilful than in our own country,
+where it was accomplished through the terrible agency of a civil war.
+Yet the Russian people have been, perhaps, less satisfied with its
+results. Since then the serfs have been compelled to work harder than
+ever to pay for the land they had always cultivated and regarded as
+their own. The complete ignorance of the _moujiks_ has laid them open to
+greater vices than serfdom possessed and drunkenness has greatly
+increased since the emancipation."[13]
+
+At the time of which we speak, however, there was nought but rejoicing
+in Russia. Freedom had unfurled her banner, and the sanguine prophets
+foresaw in the near future a complete cessation of despotism and a
+constitutional government such as the people had demanded since the
+beginning of Nicholas' reign in 1825. Amidst the general joy, the
+Governor of Kief found an opportunity for materially improving the
+condition of the Jews of his province.
+
+Mendel would have been less than human had he not endeavored to turn
+this condition of affairs and Pomeroff's friendship to practical
+account. For himself he desired nothing. When the Governor, in order to
+have him constantly at his side, tendered him an honorable office in the
+palace, Mendel gently but firmly declined the proffered honor. All his
+energies were directed towards ameliorating the lot of his
+co-religionists.
+
+He one day induced the Governor to stroll with him through the Jewish
+quarter, and with tact and eloquence called his attention to the crowded
+condition of the houses and streets, explaining how difficult it was to
+preserve health where the hygienic laws were of necessity utterly
+disregarded. He showed how the streets, at first ample for all
+requirements, had in the course of years become overcrowded; how hut had
+been built against hut and story erected upon story, until the lack of
+room deprived many a dwelling of light and air. He led the surprised
+Governor through the squalid lanes near the river and demonstrated how
+difficult it would be to master an epidemic when once it had taken root
+there, and how the welfare of the entire town of Kief depended upon the
+sanitary condition of each of its parts.
+
+With the financial acumen of his race, he appealed to the economic
+aspect of the case, demonstrated how many houses, large and small, were
+standing idle in the city proper, bringing neither rent to their owners
+nor taxes to the province, and depicted the benefits that would be
+gained by granting the Jews the privilege of occupying such dwellings.
+
+The Governor, who had never before visited the haunts of poverty, felt a
+positive repugnance to the system, or rather lack of system, that could
+countenance such a condition of affairs. He hurried away from the
+uninviting neighborhood, and, having again reached a spot where the air
+was fit to breathe, he promised to exert his influence with the Czar to
+have the boundaries of the Jewish quarter extended.
+
+Nobly did he keep his word. He journeyed to St. Petersburg and sought an
+audience with Alexander. What happened at the interview the Jews of Kief
+never discovered, but the result was extremely gratifying. At the end of
+a fortnight there came a ukase extending indefinitely the limits of the
+Jewish quarters of all large cities, granting permission to all Jewish
+merchants who had been established in some branch of trade for
+twenty-five years or over, and to all rabbis and teachers, to reside in
+the city proper, in such streets as they might select, and permitting
+merchants of ten years' standing to dwell on certain streets carefully
+specified in the proclamation. It also made it lawful for Jews and
+Christians to live in the same building, a privilege hitherto withheld.
+
+Many were the Jews who availed themselves of their new privileges.
+Bensef was among the first. His house, since the arrival of Mendel's
+parents, had been too small for comfort and the wealthy man desired a
+dwelling befitting his means. Haim Goldheim, the banker, found that
+there was not enough room in his house for the works of art it
+contained. He took a house in the fashionable Vladimir quarter, where,
+to the intense disgust of the aristocrats, he established himself in
+princely magnificence. A hundred families, at least, followed the
+example thus set, leaving the crowded streets, in order to breathe the
+purer air of the more select quarters of Kief. To their credit be it
+said, however, few went far from their old homes; the synagogue still
+formed the rallying centre of their community. About it revolved their
+daily thoughts and actions and the greatest recommendation a new home
+could have was that it was near the _schul_.
+
+Upon Mendel, who had brought about this change, the greatest honors were
+showered. His congregation almost worshipped him. There were envious
+detractors, however, who contended that it did not behoove a Jew to
+become so intimate with a _goy_, and a Governor at that. They claimed
+that the Rabbi labored only to promote his own private ends; but, as
+these malcontents were among the first to seize the opportunity of
+bettering their condition, Mendel could afford to shrug his shoulders
+and smile at their insinuations.
+
+The principal class to benefit by the new order of things were the poor,
+who now found abundant room and greedily availed themselves of it. To
+them Mendel was a saviour in the practical sense of the word, and many a
+grateful woman whose hovel had been exchanged for a more commodious
+dwelling would kiss the Rabbi's hand as he passed through the quarter on
+his errands of mercy.
+
+But the young Rabbi's zeal did not end here. He convinced the Governor
+that the taxes exacted from the Jews were not only excessive, but
+disproportionate, and, as a result, they were lowered to a level with
+those paid by the gentiles.
+
+Hitherto the Jews had been forbidden to cultivate land on their own
+account. Mendel, in presenting this subject to the Governor, laid stress
+upon the fact that vast tracts were lying fallow for want of
+agriculturists, and that the crown was thereby losing much revenue which
+could easily be raised by a judicious distribution of these fields among
+the thrifty and industrious Hebrews. Pomeroff saw the justice of the
+argument and a proclamation resulted, removing the restrictions placed
+upon the cultivation of land by the Jews.
+
+The Jews of Kief and the surrounding provinces felt that a day of
+prosperity and happiness had dawned for them. In a measure they enjoyed
+the same liberty and privileges as did the lower classes of Russians.
+They were free to come and go, to live where they pleased and to engage
+in a score of occupations which had hitherto been forbidden, and Mendel
+was justly honored as the author of these changes. His fame spread at
+home and was heralded abroad. During his frequent visits to the Governor
+he came in contact with many of the great and brilliant men of the
+Empire. Dignitaries who at first met the Jew with a feeling of
+repugnance gradually yielded to the charm of his personal influence and
+vied with each other in honoring him, and through him Judaism was
+honored and respected. His character, his benevolence, his patriotism
+and his great mental gifts did more to convince those gentiles of what
+the Jew could be than the keenest arguments could have done.
+
+A great general one day asked him:
+
+"Why are you so different from the Jews one usually meets?"
+
+"Your excellency is in error," Mendel replied. "I am not unlike my
+fellow-men. In disposition and feeling I am the same, but I have had an
+opportunity for mental improvement of which most of my brethren have
+been deprived. Give them the privilege of attending your universities,
+open to them the avenues of knowledge and you will create for Russia an
+intellectual element which will eventually place her in the front ranks
+of the nations."
+
+The general shrugged his shoulders and smiled. The idea seemed
+preposterous.
+
+"You have certainly an exalted opinion of your co-religionists," he
+said.
+
+"I have, your excellency, and it is borne out by history. Your
+excellency has doubtless read of the intellectual supremacy of Spain
+when the Jews were in the ascendant."
+
+His excellency had not read of it. In fighting but not in reading lay
+his strength and, not wishing to display his ignorance, he wisely
+changed the subject.
+
+As might have been expected, violent objections were raised by the
+gentiles to the enlarged privileges granted the Jews. The priests were
+particularly virulent in their denunciation of the new liberties
+conferred, in which they saw but the beginning of the gradual
+emancipation of the Hebrews. Attacks were made against them from press
+and from pulpit, and all of these Mendel answered calmly and
+convincingly. His logic finally silenced the ravings of the unlettered
+and fanatical Jew-haters and the privileges once accorded were not
+repealed.
+
+Had Mendel's zeal ended here he would have avoided much subsequent
+difficulty, but he was well aware that the Jews had not attained to the
+ideal he had formed, that much ignorance, fanaticism and superstition
+still prevailed. He desired to imitate the example of his great
+prototype, Moses Mendelssohn, and spread the light of learning
+throughout the Jewish world. He did not lose sight of the vastness of
+the undertaking, of the dangers he was incurring, or of the animosity he
+was inviting, for the Jews of Russia still regarded all learning not
+found in the folios of the Talmud as sacrilegious and unholy. To
+overcome this antagonism to secular knowledge now became Mendel's
+self-imposed task.
+
+Consulting no one but his friend the Governor, and armed with a letter
+of introduction from this powerful ally, Mendel set out for St.
+Petersburg, to visit the Czar in person. It was an unheard-of experiment
+on the part of a Jew, but Mendel felt the inspiration of right and
+undertook his new mission fearlessly. What nothing else could accomplish
+was done by the Governor's letter of recommendation. After a little
+delay he was admitted into the august presence of the Czar Alexander
+and presented his petition.
+
+Alexander was not a little surprised at the temerity of a Jew in thus
+appearing before him, but the very strangeness of the proceeding
+enlisted the ruler's interest in the demands of the Rabbi. After a long
+conference, during which Mendel eloquently pleaded his cause, he was
+dismissed with the assurance that the educational disabilities of the
+Hebrews would be in a measure removed, and shortly after his return to
+Kief a proclamation was issued admitting Jewish youth into the Russian
+schools upon terms of equality with the gentiles.
+
+Then arose a storm of indignation among the pious Israelites. Those who
+had antagonized Mendel from the first, now were furious at his attempt
+to force intelligence upon them. They prophesied that these were but the
+stepping-stones to more radical changes and stubbornly refused to yield
+an inch, lest the proverbial ell might be seized.
+
+"Never," they cried, "shall our children be taught the wisdom of the
+_goyim_. The Law and the Talmud are sufficient for our needs.
+Instruction in the public schools will force rabbinical studies into the
+background and will gradually estrange our children from the religion of
+their fathers. We want no new-fangled education. We are Jews and we will
+remain Jews."
+
+So hostile was the greater part of the community to the idea of
+extending educational facilities, that the friends of Mendel, and there
+were many of them, advised him to make an effort to have the obnoxious
+privileges repealed.
+
+This Mendel positively refused to do.
+
+"It is but a privilege," he answered, "and not at all obligatory. You
+can do as you like about sending your children to the public schools.
+As for myself, however, I shall never cease to uphold the necessity of
+education in order to obtain the rights that belong to our race."
+
+The battle thus commenced raged fiercely. Hirsch Bensef was one of the
+ablest supporters of the young Rabbi. Haim Goldheim was another; his
+wealth had procured him the friendship of several aristocratic but
+impoverished families in the neighborhood of his new home, and he never
+forgot that the blessings he now enjoyed were due to Mendel's past
+labors.
+
+The young men were all on Mendel's side. They chafed under the restraint
+that had been put upon them and yearned for instruction in keeping with
+the enlarged sphere of activity now opened to them.
+
+Thus a schism arose in Kief. The progressive Israelites siding with
+Mendel founded a congregation of their own, leaving the more
+conservative to work out their salvation in their old accustomed way. It
+must not be supposed that Mendel observed this break in the ranks of
+Judaism without a pang. He spent many a sleepless night in planning how
+to avert further differences and to appease existing animosities. Balzac
+truly says: "Every great man has paid heavily for his greatness. Genius
+waters all its work with its own tears. He who would raise himself above
+the average level of humanity, must prepare himself for long struggles,
+for trying difficulties. A great thinker is a self-devoted martyr to
+immortality."
+
+In spite of the anathemas of the narrow-minded, in spite of the cry that
+the Messiah could never come as long as such sacrilege was tolerated in
+the household of Israel, the good work went steadily forward, to the
+manifest advantage of the entire body of Jews.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 13: Foulke.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+A DEN OF NIHILISTS.
+
+
+Let us open the records of Kief for the year 1879.
+
+Fifteen years have elapsed since the events last narrated; fifteen years
+of peace and plenty, of security and prosperity for Jew and gentile.
+
+What sudden change do we behold! Is this the country whose future looked
+so hopeful in the early days of Alexander's reign? Is this the people
+who saw the golden promise of a constitutional government? Alas, for the
+instability of human purpose! The reforms then instituted have been
+revoked, the men who were the leaders in these reforms have been exiled
+to Siberia. A period of reaction has set in: Despotism and Nihilism meet
+face to face. The entire nation is in chains.
+
+Russia during these troublous times presents a dreary picture. At a
+period when the intellectual activity of Europe is at its height, she
+still groans under the unrestricted despotism of an autocrat. Here the
+effects of progress that obtain elsewhere seem inverted. Such advance as
+is made in civilization and knowledge is used to buttress imperial
+tyranny and the knout is wielded more cruelly than ever before. We
+behold liberal institutions overthrown and a whole people held in
+bondage worse than slavery. We hear of families torn asunder, of
+innocent men condemned to life-long exile in Siberia, simply because
+they have aroused the suspicion or incurred the ill-will of those in
+authority. Force in its most brutal form holds sway throughout the
+Empire.
+
+What wonder then that the discontented masses writhe in their despair
+and seek redress! What wonder that Nihilism should flourish and the
+service of dynamite be enlisted to accomplish what moral suasion failed
+to achieve! The years beginning with 1879 were disastrous for Russia.
+They marked the decadence of those reforms which ten years before had
+given promise of such glorious results.
+
+In one of the most populous portions of Kief, in the shadow of the
+Petcherskoi convent, stood a large, modern house. As is the case with
+the generality of Russian dwellings, it was tenanted by a number of
+families who came and went, beat their children, ill-treated their
+servants and transacted their daily affairs, rarely becoming acquainted
+with each other.
+
+It was a many-storied building, of plain exterior. The lower floor was
+occupied by the worthy family of Pavel Kodasky, a clerk in the employ of
+the government. His wife filled the responsible position of _concierge_
+to the immense house. The third and fourth floors were the abode of
+families equally worthy but unimportant to our story, while the upper
+floors were inhabited by a vast number of students and officers who, in
+consideration of cheap rent and convenient proximity to the university
+and the barracks, had here furnished themselves with comfortable
+bachelors' quarters.
+
+The second floor still remains to be spoken of. It was occupied by a
+young officer of prepossessing appearance, who was widely known in the
+aristocratic circles of Kief. The dark-eyed Russian beauties adored him
+for his handsome bearing, his flashing eyes, his gallant and fearless
+demeanor; the gay young officers and dandies that hovered about the
+Governor's court admired him for his reckless habits, his daring
+escapades and his lavish expenditure of a fortune which seemed
+inexhaustible.
+
+Loris Drentell, the young lieutenant of the Seventh Cossack Regiment,
+might well be thankful to Fortuna for the gifts she had lavished upon
+him. The reader will remember having met the young man before, when he
+was but a baby in his nurse's arms at the Drentell villa at Lubny. The
+promise he then gave of becoming a spoiled child was fully realized.
+Indulged by his father and neglected by his mother, his every wish
+gratified as soon as expressed, enjoying unlimited freedom in the use of
+a vast fortune, Loris developed a disposition in which indolence,
+recklessness and unprincipled ambition contended for the mastery. The
+young man was unscrupulous and vindictive and he obeyed no law save that
+of his own unbridled will. He was a type of a class of Russian
+aristocrats whose social position and wealth enable them to tyrannize
+over their associates and dependants.
+
+Reckless and fearless as Loris was known to be, none suspected that this
+gay and pampered youth, this officer of the Imperial troops, was the
+acknowledged head of a Nihilist club. None but a chosen few knew that
+this apparently peaceful dwelling, with its many stories and
+multitudinous inhabitants, was the meeting-place of a powerful band of
+would-be patriots, whose mission it was to inaugurate a constitutional
+government by the aid of dynamite. Here was the unsuspected centre from
+which thousands of Nihilist documents were scattered to the ends of
+Russia. Here were concealed papers which if discovered would have
+consigned many of the greatest in Russia to Siberia or the scaffold, and
+here it was that the frightful engine of destruction--Nihilism--had its
+cradle. So great was the caution observed by the members of the secret
+organization that the wary and vigilant police did not dream of its
+existence.
+
+Loris was walking impatiently up and down his parlor, now looking at the
+clock, now gazing expectantly through his window up and down the street.
+
+"He is late," exclaimed the young man, anxiously. "I wonder what detains
+him."
+
+He began nervously to roll a cigarette, without however leaving his
+watch at the window. Finally he smiled with satisfaction.
+
+"At last," he cried, as he perceived his belated friend turn a corner
+and hurry towards the house. "We shall soon have news from the
+Governor."
+
+There was a hasty knock at the door and a tall young fellow entered,
+carefully locking the door behind him.
+
+"Well, Paulowitch, I began to feel uneasy," said Loris. "What kept you
+so late?"
+
+"I have just arrived from Pomeroff's," whispered Paulowitch. "He had a
+very large audience and it was some time before I could gain his ear."
+
+"What was the result?" asked Loris, eagerly.
+
+"He will come to-night. I told him that there would be a meeting of
+officers in honor of your birthday and that we would like to have him
+with us."
+
+"Does he suspect anything?"
+
+"How should he?"
+
+"He will find out soon enough."
+
+"You are mistaken, Loris, if you think he will join us. I know Pomeroff
+too well. Although he has had much to suffer from the arbitrary rulings
+of the Czar, the recollection of former favors will not permit him to
+desert his Emperor."
+
+"Mere sentimentality," answered Loris. "Do you forget how the Czar, in a
+proclamation, publicly reprimanded him for allowing the Jews too many
+liberties, and of harboring treasonable sympathy with them? I know that
+Pomeroff has been smarting under the insult ever since. He will be glad
+to have an opportunity of avenging himself."
+
+Paulowitch shook his head, in doubt.
+
+"And if, after having learned our secrets, he should refuse to join us?"
+he asked.
+
+"If he does not affiliate with us, we must render him harmless. We dare
+not give him an opportunity to betray us."
+
+"But what is to prevent him from informing the police of our plans and
+having us all sent to Siberia?"
+
+"We have foreseen such a possibility. Moleska, his secretary, who has
+access to his desks and closets, and who is one of us, has full
+instructions how to act in such an emergency."
+
+"Poor Pomeroff," murmured Paulowitch. "I am sorry for him."
+
+"Nonsense!" exclaimed Loris; "we need him to insure our success. While
+his police are prying about to discover something new, we are in
+constant danger of detection and can accomplish little. If, however, he
+declines to join us, we dare run no risk. He must be removed."
+
+"In that event, who do you suppose will take his place?"
+
+"I cannot say. But the arrest and execution or exile of the Governor
+will cause such a disturbance in the affairs of the province that
+several months must elapse before order is again restored. In the
+meantime our association will flourish unimpeded. We will be able to
+scatter our pamphlets and manifestoes broadcast, and to prepare
+everything necessary for the final stroke, which shall rid us of the
+imperial tyrant and pave the way for liberty."
+
+There was a peculiar knock at the door and a man, in the garb of a
+student and possessing a countenance that displayed rare intellect, was
+admitted. The new-comer was about twenty-three years of age. In fact,
+Martinski was one of the leaders of the order and most of its master
+moves were conceived by him.
+
+"Well," asked Loris, addressing him, "have the papers been forwarded?"
+
+"Yes; both Myra Sergeitch and Paulovna Tschorgini left for St.
+Petersburg at noon. The documents were concealed in secret compartments
+of their trunks. There is no danger of detection."
+
+"But if they should be found in spite of all precautions?" asked
+Paulowitch.
+
+"Bah! Who will suspect two inoffensive-looking women? Besides, the
+messages were written in cipher which no one can read. Should the worst
+happen, however, both ladies are devoted to the cause and would rather
+die than betray us."
+
+"Noble hearts," said Paulowitch, reflectively. "A cause like ours makes
+heroes."
+
+"Come," said Loris; "it is growing late. Let us take a stroll while our
+landlady prepares the feast for to-night."
+
+It was a large and heterogeneous assembly that partook of the cheer of
+Loris' table that evening. There were a few army officers, some
+students, two or three political writers and half-a-dozen young
+noblemen, who, as a rule, possessed more money than brains. Supper was
+already begun, and the expected guest, Governor Pomeroff, had not yet
+made his appearance. The suspense was great, for it was felt that much
+depended upon securing Pomeroff as an ally. Few doubted that he would
+join them, for he, if any one, had just cause to detest the Czar, and
+the arrangements made to prevent disclosures would not be needed.
+
+After a long wait, during which the conspirators conversed in an
+undertone, the door was opened and the Governor entered in company with
+Paulowitch. He appeared surprised to find himself in so large a company,
+when he had expected to meet but a few intimate friends, but he greeted
+all cordially and sat down in the place of honor accorded him.
+
+The conversation was comparatively uninteresting during the progress of
+the repast. There was none of that conviviality which one is accustomed
+to find at a friendly banquet; each member of the circle appeared
+constrained and nervous in the presence of his comrades and an undefined
+suspicion that he had been decoyed into a trap of some kind flashed
+through Pomeroff's brain. Drinking, rather than eating, formed the chief
+part of the entertainment and the spirits of the party rose as the
+bottles were emptied.
+
+Suddenly Loris sprang to his feet and lifting his glass proposed the
+toast:
+
+"To his excellency, the Governor of Kief, the champion of liberty, the
+enemy of the autocrat at St. Petersburg!"
+
+"Long may he live!" shouted his associates.
+
+Pomeroff sat in his chair as if thunderstruck. The suspicion which up to
+this moment had but faintly suggested itself had become a terrible
+certainty. As soon as he could master his excitement he arose.
+
+"Gentlemen," he began, endeavoring to smile, "what jest is this? You
+are certainly in error. Allow me to correct it. I drink to the health
+and long life of his majesty the Czar!"
+
+A storm of hisses greeted this toast and Pomeroff, after trying in vain
+to make himself heard above the din, sat down. His face was pale and his
+frame shook with suppressed anger.
+
+Quiet was finally restored and Martinski rose and addressed the meeting,
+speaking more directly to the Governor. He rehearsed the outrages
+committed upon submissive Russians by the Czar Nicholas, whose despotic
+government had finally driven the country into the disastrous Crimean
+War. He spoke in terms of praise of the noble aims and ambitions of
+Alexander during the early years of his reign, only to denounce in
+unmeasured terms the reaction which had destroyed the little good that
+had been accomplished. He depicted the cruelty and the tyranny practised
+by the Czar upon those who had incurred his displeasure, the utter lack
+of educational facilities and the consequent ignorance of the masses,
+the rigorous censorship of the press and the arbitrary rule of the men
+in power. He pictured in vivid colors the cruelties of Siberian exile
+and the sufferings of the prisoners in those distant mines, from which
+there was no escape but through the valley of death.
+
+"But," continued he, warming up to a genuine outburst of eloquence,
+"there is still a lower depth; a dungeon, a human slaughter-house
+rather, has recently been contrived, the horrors of which surpass
+anything hitherto conceived by man. It is the Troubetzkoi Ravelin, where
+convicts condemned upon the most trivial charges are confined for life;
+a hell for those for whom the mines of Siberia are not considered
+severe enough. Compared to this prison, the Bastile of France was a
+palace of luxury. Woe to him who is obliged to enter this frightful
+place: hardships, hunger, disease and insanity await him.
+
+"The convicts of Siberia cry to us for help. The scurvy-stricken
+prisoners of the Troubetzkoi Ravelin appeal to us to avenge their wrongs
+upon the author of their misfortunes. The French destroyed their
+Bastile. Why should we not also demolish our dungeons before we
+ourselves are called upon to fill them. O, Russia, how pitiable is your
+condition! 'Despotism has blasted the high hopes to which the splendid
+awakening of the first half of the century gave birth. The living forces
+of later generations have been buried by the Government in the Siberian
+snows or Esquimaux villages. It is worse than the plague, for that comes
+and goes, but the Government has oppressed the country for years and
+will continue to do so. The plague strikes blindly but the present
+régime chooses its victims from the flower of the nation, taking all
+upon whom depend the fortune and glory of Russia. It is not a political
+party that they crush, it is a nation of a hundred millions that they
+stifle. That is what the Czar has done.'[14] Down with such despotism!
+Down with its instigator, the Czar!"
+
+At these concluding words, the whole party arose and, holding out their
+right hands in token of allegiance to their cause, they repeated the
+cry:
+
+"Down with the Czar!"
+
+For a few moments absolute silence reigned. Then Governor Pomeroff
+struggled to his feet.
+
+"I fear I am out of place here," he began. "You will do me the favor to
+remember that I came here ignorant of your purposes. Whatever cause you
+may have for complaint, you have taken the wrong means for correcting
+your grievances. Rest assured, gentlemen, that I sympathize with your
+troubles, even though I cannot agree with your method of changing the
+condition of things. I promise, moreover, to forget what I have heard
+and beg of you to excuse me from further attendance." And bowing
+politely, the Governor moved towards the door.
+
+"Stop!" cried Loris, excitedly, barring the passage and leading the
+Governor back to his seat. "Do you for a moment imagine that after
+having heard our deliberations and learned our secrets you will be
+allowed to leave here and denounce us? It is too late for you to
+retreat. You have cast your fortunes with us and must share our dangers
+and our glory."
+
+"You mistake," answered the Governor, proudly. "I came to a feast, not
+to a conspiracy. Your motive for bringing me here is not known to me,
+but if it is to make me a traitor to my country and my Czar you do not
+know me. A Pomeroff has never yet stooped to treason. Again I say, let
+me go!"
+
+"Governor, hear me," now said Martinski, in a tone of persuasion. "We
+need your assistance. Without your sympathy we are in constant fear of
+detection from your officers; with you on our side we can continue our
+noble work without fear of molestation. The work will go on, the
+glorious end will be achieved in spite of all difficulties, and our
+labors will only end when the Czar lies buried with his ancestors. Ours
+is not a society for wilful destruction of life or property. Our aims
+are just. We demand a general amnesty for political offenders and a
+convocation of the people for the framing of a liberal constitution, and
+meanwhile we demand as provisional concessions freedom of the press,
+freedom of speech and freedom of public meetings. These are the only
+means by which Russia can enter upon the path of peaceful and regular
+development. We will be content with nothing less. We will turn to
+dynamite, only when all else fails. Governor Pomeroff, will you join us
+in the attainment of these rights, which every civilized nation already
+possesses?"
+
+"No!" thundered the Governor, his eyes flashing.
+
+"Then I beg to call your excellency's attention to the fact that a trip
+to Siberia or to the gallows as a condemned Nihilist awaits you."
+
+The Governor turned pale, but remained silent.
+
+"Think not that we have rushed blindly into this danger," continued
+Martinski. "It was necessary to have you on our side or out of the way.
+Therefore, we brought you here this evening. We have carefully weighed
+our chances. Having made you our confidant we dare not jeopardize our
+lives by allowing you your liberty. By to-morrow you would have us all
+in chains. We therefore offer you the alternative of joining our
+fraternity or of being denounced to-morrow as an enemy of the Czar."
+
+"I refuse to identify myself with a band of assassins," answered
+Pomeroff, boldly. "Throughout my life I have ever striven to be on the
+side of right and justice, have ever protected the oppressed and
+assisted those who came to me for help. I have been loyal to my Czar and
+to my country. I will not now be frightened into doing that which my
+nature loathes and against which every fibre of my body revolts. I defy
+your power and laugh at your threats. You leave me no alternative but
+to inform his majesty of this diabolical plot upon his life."
+
+"And you leave us no alternative but to render you harmless," replied
+Martinski. At these words, all arose and silently surrounded the
+Governor.
+
+Pomeroff had by this time forced his way to the door which he tried to
+open. It was locked. Pale with anger, he turned upon the Nihilists.
+
+"Cowards!" he hissed, "you would force me to join your fraternity. Then
+I give you my brotherly greeting," and, drawing his pistol, he fired
+into the group.
+
+Loris was wounded in the side, but the ball striking a rib glanced off.
+A dozen men threw themselves upon the Governor, who defended himself
+with the strength of despair; but superior numbers quickly gained the
+mastery, and after a short struggle Pomeroff lay helpless upon the
+floor.
+
+Then one of the students took a vial of chloroform from his pocket.
+Seizing a napkin he saturated it with the liquid and applied it to the
+nostrils of the prostrated man. In a few minutes the victim was
+insensible.
+
+"Flee for your lives!" ordered Martinski, "we have not a moment to lose.
+It is fortunate that the shot has not already brought the police down
+upon us. We must carry the Governor at once to his palace. Drentell, you
+will pass the night with me."
+
+Under cover of a dark and cloudy night Pomeroff was carried to his home,
+and with the assistance of his secretary, Moleska, was carefully placed
+upon the couch in his private cabinet.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 14: Stepniak.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A MODERN BRUTUS.
+
+
+When Pomeroff awoke next morning, he rubbed his eyes sleepily and looked
+about him.
+
+"By St. Nicholas, I have had a horrible dream," he muttered. "I must
+have slept on this couch all night."
+
+On attempting to rise, however, he felt a soreness in every limb and the
+events of the preceding night flashed through his mind. Instantly his
+face became grave.
+
+"Can it be that I have not been dreaming after all; that I was really in
+the lair of the Nihilists? Bah, it must be a mistake!"
+
+He arose with difficulty and opened the window. It was a glorious day.
+The birds were chirping merrily in the trees that shaded the courtyard,
+but though the sun was high there were no signs of the usual activity
+below.
+
+"It must be early," mused the Governor; "no one is stirring. What!" he
+cried, looking at his watch, "ten o'clock! There is something wrong."
+
+He crossed the room and tried to open the door leading to the
+ante-chamber. It was locked. He tried a smaller door leading to the rear
+of the palace. It, too, was locked and resisted his efforts to open it.
+
+With a cry of anger and surprise, Pomeroff exclaimed:
+
+"This is carrying the farce to extremes. So I am a prisoner in my own
+house! Can it be that they will carry out their diabolical threats and
+have me tried as a suspect? Nonsense! I will subvert their plans and
+turn the tables on them."
+
+He rang the bell violently, but there was no response. As a last resort
+he hurled his whole weight against the oaken door, but it remained
+immovable.
+
+It appeared probable to him that his enemies would carry out their
+threat of accusing him, and he carefully mapped out his line of defence.
+He would prove that he had innocently walked into a trap, set for him by
+a band of conspirators, who had planned to assassinate the Czar, and
+that he had used every argument to dissuade them from their murderous
+project. He would prove that he had firmly refused to join their ranks,
+and that he had been obliged to use his pistol in his effort to escape
+from their midst.
+
+Prove it? How? A little reflection showed him that he had no proofs
+whatever and that he was absolutely powerless to defend himself against
+any charges that they might bring. Wearied with his vain exertions and
+furious at his helplessness, he threw himself upon the sofa. As he
+became calmer he began to reflect upon his situation.
+
+Slowly the hours passed without affording relief. About noon Pomeroff
+heard the key turn in the lock and an instant later the apartment was
+filled with officers of the _gendarmerie_.
+
+The Chief of Police, Polatschek, was the first to break the silence.
+
+"I regret, your excellency," he said, sadly, "that I am obliged to take
+this step against one who has been my friend and benefactor, but the
+Czar's orders are imperative. You will consider yourself my prisoner."
+
+"Of what am I accused?" asked the Governor.
+
+"You are accused of associating with Nihilists and of being at the
+present time involved in a plot to take the Czar's life."
+
+"It is false," cried Pomeroff.
+
+"We will hear your defence in due time," answered Polatschek. "In the
+meantime it becomes my unpleasant duty to search your desk and closets
+for Nihilistic papers, which the deposition accuses you of having in
+your possession."
+
+Pomeroff smiled bitterly.
+
+"Search, gentlemen. The absence of such documents will, I hope, convince
+you that I am innocent of this outrageous charge."
+
+"Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to see you vindicated," said
+the Chief, politely, as he gave orders to ransack the drawers and
+receptacles of the Governor's writing-desk.
+
+Alas, poor Pomeroff! Almost the first roll of papers examined proved of
+a most damaging nature, being the rules of an association of Nihilists
+in St. Petersburg. A further search revealed plans of a dynamite mine to
+be laid beneath the imperial palace at the capital.
+
+In vain were all the Governor's denials. Never was proof of guilt more
+complete and convincing, and Polatschek, who was almost as much unnerved
+by the discovery as the prisoner, reluctantly gave orders to seize and
+secure the unfortunate man, and Pomeroff was hurried away to the house
+of detention, to await his trial.
+
+Since the beginning of the so-called terrorist period, and the first
+attack upon the life of the Czar, a short time before the occurrence of
+the above events, the trial of political offenders had been taken from
+the civil tribunals and transferred to the military. Even counsel for
+the prisoner must be an army officer. The court to try Governor Pomeroff
+was hastily convened next morning. Instructions concerning the judgment
+to be rendered were telegraphed from St. Petersburg and the military
+judges had but to obey their imperial mandate. Under such conditions
+the trial was a mere form. The evidence against the prisoner was
+positive. Within an hour Pomeroff, who had no opportunity of saying a
+word in his defence, was sentenced to death.
+
+"The secret 'council of ten' that once terrorized Venice, and which,
+without process of law, condemned men to punishment upon secret charges,
+preferred by unknown accusers, often where no crime had been committed,
+has long been regarded as the most odious form of injustice. Yet the
+Russian system of to-day is quite as repugnant to every idea of justice.
+Men who have never been tried, nor perhaps even accused, but who are
+simply suspected by the police, are often without the slightest
+investigation hurried into exile or death."[15]
+
+On the following morning, Governor Pomeroff, the just and merciful, the
+friend and protector of the Jews, was secretly executed in the fortress
+of Kief.
+
+Excitement was at fever heat. The Governor was beloved by all. Never had
+the province been so well governed as during his administration.
+
+Among the Jews whom Pomeroff had especially befriended the grief was
+deep and sincere. Rabbi Mendel Winenki, in an address to his
+congregation, fearlessly denounced a system by which an innocent man
+could be put to death. In the synagogues the _kaddish_ (prayer for the
+dead) was recited as for a beloved parent. In consequence of these
+demonstrations the authorities warned the Jews that any further
+expressions of disapproval of the Government's course would be severely
+punished.
+
+Well might the Jews mourn their friend and protector. With his death
+their bright hopes and dreams, their prospects of emancipation, were
+rudely dispelled.
+
+Within a week of Pomeroff's execution Count Dimitri Drentell, our old
+acquaintance whom we left at Lubny and whom the Crimean War had made a
+General, arrived in Kief as its future Governor.
+
+While the majority of the inhabitants of the province were indifferent
+as to which creature of the imperial autocrat oppressed them, there were
+two classes who viewed the change with great misgivings: the Jews and
+the band of agitators to which Loris Drentell, the new Governor's son,
+belonged. The Jews had learned from their co-religionists in Poltava of
+the implacable hatred Dimitri bore their race. They had for fifteen
+years basked in the sunshine of Pomeroff's favor, but now trembled at
+the dismal prospect before them.
+
+The Nihilists had equal cause for fear. Their safety required a Governor
+who could be controlled or hoodwinked by them. But they well knew that
+this man was unapproachable, that neither bribes nor threats would avail
+to win him over. Besides, Loris felt that by remaining the leader of the
+Nihilist Club he would come in conflict with his father. The elder
+Drentell was not merely the civil Governor of Kief--he was also one of
+the Generals appointed by the Czar with unlimited power to punish the
+guilty; with the right to exile all persons whose stay he might consider
+prejudicial to public welfare; to imprison at discretion; to suppress or
+suspend any journal, and to take all measures that he might deem
+necessary for public safety. With a man of such vast powers, it was
+dangerous for even a beloved son to trifle. For the time being,
+therefore, the Nihilists were doomed to inactivity.
+
+General Drentell began his administration with a careful examination of
+the evidence which had caused the condemnation of his predecessor. He
+had a strong conviction that Pomeroff was innocent, but if guilty he
+felt it his duty to ferret out the conspiracy and discover Pomeroff's
+accomplices. He owed it to his own safety to purge the palace of such as
+might be there.
+
+With the skill of a trained detective, and with the utmost secrecy, he
+began the work. His first investigations were made in the palace which
+he was henceforth to occupy. Drentell soon discovered that Moleska,
+Pomeroff's secretary, had duplicate keys to the desk and closets in the
+private cabinet. If Pomeroff was innocent, this would explain the
+presence of the incriminating papers in the Governor's desk. Acting
+entirely upon this suspicion, he ordered the arrest of Moleska, who,
+overcome by terror, confessed the entire plot.
+
+On the following day, Loris was hastily summoned into the Governor's
+presence. He found his father striding up and down the apartment, a prey
+to the most violent agitation.
+
+"You have sent for me, father?" said the young man.
+
+"Yes; sit down," answered Drentell, curtly. "Have you ever read the
+history of Rome?"
+
+Loris opened his eyes wide at the unexpected question.
+
+"Why do you ask?"
+
+"Answer my question. Have you ever read the history of Rome?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Do you remember the story of Brutus, whose son was engaged in a
+conspiracy against the republic?"
+
+Loris became very pale and stammered an indistinct reply.
+
+"You do; I see it in your face! Tell me how did Brutus act towards his
+son?"
+
+"He condemned him to death," faltered Loris.
+
+"Right! He condemned him to death. The malefactor paid the penalty with
+his life."
+
+The General arose and again paced up and down the room, in a vain
+attempt to control his agitation.
+
+"What have these questions to do with me?" asked Loris, nervously.
+
+"Simply this," answered the Governor, coming to a sudden stop before his
+son, while his eyes flashed and big blue veins stood out upon his
+forehead: "I have proofs that my predecessor died an innocent man. I
+have also the names of those Nihilists who should have suffered in his
+stead. Shall I tell you whose name is at the head? My duty is clear. I
+should follow the example of Brutus and deliver my son into the hands of
+the law."
+
+Loris, a thorough coward at heart, sank into a chair.
+
+"Father," he stammered; "you would not condemn me to death; me, your
+only child?"
+
+"Coward!" cried the General, looking scornfully at his son, whom terror
+had robbed of strength to stand. "You have the courage to plan
+cold-blooded murder, but when the time comes to face your own death you
+show yourself a miserable poltroon. Fear nothing: you shall not die. I
+have passed a sleepless night, struggling between duty and parental
+affection. But were it known in St. Petersburg that I had shown you
+mercy, I would answer for it with my life."
+
+"Father!" exclaimed the young man, remorsefully, hiding his face in his
+hands.
+
+"Don't interrupt me," said the General, savagely. "I have already
+requested the immediate removal of your regiment to the frontier. The
+Turks are aggressive, and our forces in that neighborhood should be
+increased. By to-morrow you will receive your order to march. It is
+absolutely necessary that you should leave Kief. Of your misguided
+companions, Moleska, who revealed the conspiracy, is already in the
+fortress, and the others will soon follow. For your own safety, you must
+leave Kief before the arrests are made, or I will not answer for the
+consequences."
+
+"But, father, you will be lenient towards them," cried the young man.
+"You will not condemn them to death. Remember that whatever may have
+been their guilt, had it not been for the death of Pomeroff, you would
+not now be Governor of Kief."
+
+"For shame, Loris!" cried the General, red with anger. "Are you so lost
+to all sense of honor that you must remind me that I stepped into office
+over the corpse of my predecessor and my friend, murdered by my own son?
+Do not provoke me too far! Your associates have been guilty of the most
+grievous of crimes. They must die. Besides, were they to live they would
+denounce you as their leader and even I could not save your life. Go!
+Arrange your affairs, avoid further intercourse with your companions. By
+this time to-morrow you must be on the way to the frontier while they
+will mount the scaffold."
+
+Loris shuddered and for the first time a sentiment of humanity moved
+within him.
+
+"I will not go," he said, resolutely. "I have lived and plotted with
+them and I shall die with them."
+
+"No, Loris, no," replied his father, softened. "You must depart. There
+is no other course. A Drentell must not die a traitor's death. It would
+break my heart and kill your mother, who dotes upon you. It will be
+better not to see her before your departure. Questionings and
+explanations are dangerous. After all this is forgotten, you may return
+and work out the career I had hoped for you."
+
+Loris, sorrowful and conscience-stricken, kissed his father's hand and
+slowly left the room.
+
+On the morrow, the Seventh Cossack Regiment received orders from St.
+Petersburg to proceed to Kothim without delay, and long before nightfall
+it was on the march. Next morning twelve conspirators were arrested at
+their homes and dragged before the tribunal of judicial inquiry. Their
+trial, like that of Pomeroff, was a mockery, for their fate had already
+been decided. Defence was useless. The incriminating papers found in the
+places designated by the informer Moleska sealed their doom. Governor
+Drentell himself pronounced their sentence. Two days afterward they were
+secretly executed.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 15: Foulke.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+LOUISE'S PRACTICAL ADVICE.
+
+
+Tyranny, which for a brief period had slept, was now wide-awake and
+aggressively active. Throughout the entire Empire despotism stalked
+unimpeded. The recent attempt upon the Czar's life had increased the
+vigilance of the police, and the most frightful atrocities were
+committed in the holy name of Justice. The blood curdles with horror
+when reading of the indignities and the injustice visited upon the
+people.
+
+"When the police deem it best," says one writer,[16] in portraying the
+condition of that period, "they steal noiselessly through the streets
+and alleys, surround a private dwelling in the dead of the night, and
+under some false pretence, invade every room in the house, waking the
+sleeping occupants. Each member of the household is given in charge of a
+policeman, everything is turned topsy-turvy, books, papers, private
+letters are carefully inspected--nothing is secret. It is not necessary
+that the police should have any evidence for these searches. An
+anonymous charge, a mere suspicion is enough. Houses have sometimes been
+inspected seven times in a single day. If anything is discovered to
+excite the suspicions of the police an arrest follows and the supposed
+culprit is sent to the house of Preventive Detention. There he awaits
+his trial for weeks and months and sometimes for years. He is brought
+out occasionally for examination. If he confesses nothing he is sent
+back to reflect. Sometimes the wrong man is arrested and confined a year
+or two before the mistake is discovered."
+
+The solitary confinement to which prisoners were doomed in this house of
+detention was often fatal. The hardships to which they were subjected
+frequently led to consumption, insanity or suicide. The examination of
+prisoners and witnesses was dragged out to an interminable length. In
+one celebrated case it lasted four years and over seven hundred
+witnesses were kept in jail during that time. The prosecutor admitted
+that only twenty persons deserved punishment, yet there were
+seventy-three who died from suicide or the effects of confinement.
+
+Louder and louder grew the clamor of the masses and the threats against
+the imperial autocrat. Wholesale arrests could not quell the popular
+voice. A prisoner wrote from his living tomb in the Troubetzkoi Ravelin:
+"Fight on till the victory is won! The more they torment me in prison,
+the better it is for the struggle!"
+
+Governor Drentell entered upon his new duties at a trying time. His
+existence was embittered by political strife and tumult, and by
+complications with which he found it difficult to cope.
+
+Let us seek him in his palace, by the side of his wife, Louise.
+
+When we first met Louise, she was young and frivolous; now she is old
+and frivolous. The years have dealt gently with her, however, for she is
+still quite handsome and as vivacious, as capricious, as kind-hearted
+and as religious as when we last parted from her, twenty-seven years
+ago.
+
+"Poor Dimitri," she said, dolefully, after her husband had recounted the
+events of the day. "Eighteen persons exiled to Siberia and two sentenced
+to death. How hard you toil! You will kill yourself with overwork!"
+
+The General sighed.
+
+"I should think," continued Louise, "that Loris could be of service to
+you in these difficult affairs of State. Why don't you recall our boy?"
+
+The General's brow clouded.
+
+"He must remain at his post for the present," he answered. "After he has
+achieved military glory, it will be time enough to initiate him in civil
+affairs."
+
+"But you need an adviser, an assistant who can take some of your work
+off your hands."
+
+"You are right! But who shall it be? There are so many Nihilists about,
+that I cannot be too careful whom I take into my confidence."
+
+Louise rocked herself awhile in silence. Suddenly she said, impetuously:
+
+"I wish we were back in St. Petersburg, or even at Lubny. Do you know,
+Dimitri, our days at Lubny were pleasant, after all?"
+
+"Perhaps," answered Drentell, sarcastically, "that accounts for your
+incessant desire to leave the place."
+
+"I never know when I am happy," said Louise, truthfully.
+
+For some minutes she again rocked herself vigorously. It was her way of
+stimulating her mental faculties. Suddenly she cried:
+
+"Ah, if you had only brought Mikail along. He might assist you."
+
+"You appear too fond of Mikail's society," answered the Governor,
+sharply; "and that is just why I left him in St. Petersburg."
+
+"Fool," replied Louise, half in jest, half in earnest. "Why, he is only
+my father confessor. You surely would not be jealous of a priest?"
+
+"Yes, even of a priest, especially when he is as handsome and
+fascinating as our Mikail."
+
+Louise broke into a merry laugh.
+
+"Then that is why you were so solicitous about placing him with the
+Minister of War in St. Petersburg. You were afraid to bring him along on
+my account?"
+
+"Candidly, yes. In spite of his priestly robes, I fancied he was too
+fond of your society and you of his, and I deemed it best for my peace
+of mind to leave him at the capital while we came here."
+
+For a time Louise's mirth appeared uncontrollable.
+
+"Why, you goose!" she said, after her laughter had subsided. "Mikail has
+never approached me but with the greatest respect. He knows that I have
+been his benefactress, and I am sure that, while he thinks me awfully
+ignorant, he respects me as he would an aged relative."
+
+"And what are your feelings towards him?"
+
+"I know what he was in the past; and, while I have unbounded admiration
+for his wisdom, I can never forget how he first came into our house."
+
+"Then there is no danger of your falling in love with him?"
+
+"None, whatever. I am old enough to be his mother."
+
+"But his beauty--his charms?"
+
+"They do not compare with those of my dear husband," replied Louise, as
+she twined her arms about Dimitri's neck, with all the coquetry of
+twenty-seven years ago.
+
+There was no reason to doubt Louise's sincerity, and the General felt a
+little ashamed of his unfounded suspicions.
+
+"Have you heard from the Minister since our departure from St.
+Petersburg?" asked Louise.
+
+"Yes; he has written several times. He cannot sufficiently praise the
+keen intellect of our young priest."
+
+"He is the very man you want. Have him come to Kief at once. You need an
+assistant and Mikail is bound to you by ties of gratitude and
+affection."
+
+The General looked sharply at his wife. He still felt doubtful as to her
+feeling for Mikail. But Louise rocked away, unconscious of her husband's
+penetrating glance.
+
+"Perhaps it will be best to have him come," he reflected. "Yes, it must
+be so. After having had him educated, after having given him the
+opportunity of becoming what he now is, it would be folly not to employ
+him to my own advantage. I shall write for him to-morrow."
+
+"I shall see," he said, at length.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 16: Foulke.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+A DANIEL COME TO JUDGMENT.
+
+
+A week later Mikail arrived in Kief. He appeared to be about thirty
+years of age, was tall of stature, well built and sturdy. His complexion
+was dark, his features oriental, his face oval, framed by a coal black
+flowing beard, which gave him an appearance at once imposing and
+attractive. His large black eyes shone with the lustre of intelligence.
+A deep and melancholy calm seemed fixed in their commanding gaze. His
+quiet countenance and stately form, his black clerical garments, his
+sedate step and thoughtful mien added to the impressive effect of his
+appearance. His beauty, however, was marred by two serious defects. The
+lower half of his right ear had been torn away and his left arm was
+stiff at the elbow and almost useless.
+
+We find him in earnest conversation with Governor Drentell and a few of
+the counsellors of his court.
+
+"It is to be deplored," said the Governor, "that there seem to be no
+efficient means of quelling the popular discontent. Arrest and exile do
+not have the desired effect. Our prisons are filled to overflowing and
+there is scarcely a day that does not send its quota of criminals to
+Siberia. Here, in the southern part of Russia, the state of affairs is
+particularly threatening. It is becoming alarming."
+
+"Your excellency," remarked Mikail, in a deep, musical voice, "the
+object of exile is, or ought to be, corrective rather than vindictive.
+But, in my opinion, it exasperates the community and increases the
+discontent."
+
+"But," objected one of the counsellors, "to allow discontented persons
+to remain unmolested will make them dangerous to the State."
+
+"Undoubtedly," replied Mikail, "unless we remove the cause of their
+discontent."
+
+"Remove the cause?" interrupted Drentell, surprised. "To remove the
+cause would mean to grant them liberty of action, to grant them a
+constitutional government, to acquiesce in the thousand reforms they
+demand."
+
+"Let us not disguise from ourselves the fact that the people are
+entitled to all they ask," said Mikail, quietly; "that the inhabitants
+of other countries enjoy these rights and more, too, and that they only
+ask for what is the prerogative of every human being--liberty and
+happiness. But," continued he, emphasizing the little word; "while other
+nations may prosper under such a rule, Russia would not. Her people are
+not ready to enjoy the rights they demand. They would look into the full
+glare of the mid-day sun before having accustomed their eyes to
+candle-light. When I spoke of removing the cause, I did not mean to
+abolish the cause of their discontent, but to obviate the necessity of
+sending people into exile."
+
+The assembly, which had at first been appalled by the priest's
+unpatriotic sentiments, now breathed more freely.
+
+"How would you accomplish your purpose?" asked the Governor.
+
+"By directing the attention of the masses to something which will for
+the time divert their minds from their present projects."
+
+"It has been tried," replied the Governor. "We have begun quarrels with
+all the countries surrounding us without accomplishing our object."
+
+"Naturally enough. A war with Turkey or with Bulgaria is of very little
+interest to those living far from the scene of conflict. Beyond taking a
+few soldiers out of the country such quarrels are productive of no good.
+There must be some strong excitement in which every one can take a part
+and feel a personal interest, and then Nihilism will decline."
+
+"What do you propose?" asked the Governor, whose curiosity was now
+thoroughly aroused.
+
+"Nothing new," answered the priest, deliberately. "I have already had
+the honor of suggesting it to his excellency, the Minister of War, who
+graciously commended it. _We must attack the Jews_. They have enjoyed
+immunity long enough. For over twenty years they have lived in security,
+feeding upon the fat of the land, engaging in trades that are unlawful
+and amassing wealth which rightfully belongs to the faithful of the Holy
+Catholic Church." And Mikail crossed himself devoutly.
+
+The Governor and his counsellors looked at each other, significantly.
+
+The priest continued: "The Jews have entered every branch of trade and,
+worse still, have acquired lands. This is clearly against the laws of
+the Empire which forbid a Hebrew's owning land. They have crowded into
+our cities to the exclusion of our own people. Kief now contains over
+twenty thousand Jews, whereas I am confident that the ancient laws limit
+the population to less than one-half that number. They have
+systematically robbed and plundered the gentiles and by their wiles
+defrauded the poorer classes. They control the trade in intoxicants and
+the vast quantities drunk by the _moujiks_ pass through the hands of the
+Jews. Their wives are arrayed in satins and laces and wear the most
+elaborate jewelry, while our lower classes suffer poverty and misery. Is
+it right, gentlemen, that the Jews should have such advantages over the
+faithful? Something must be done to check their dangerous progress."
+
+"Your reverence evidently bears the race no great love," suggested one
+of the counsellors.
+
+"I have cause to hate them," answered Mikail, with darkening brow and
+heaving bosom.
+
+"You are right, Mikail," answered the Governor, eagerly; "they are a
+despicable, blood-thirsty race."
+
+"But how will a crusade against the Hebrews relieve the troubled
+condition of Russia?" inquired another of the gentlemen.
+
+"It will divert the attention of the masses from their present sinister
+projects. Once let them taste the blood of the Jews, give pillage and
+carnage unrestrained license, and they will forget their chimerical
+schemes, and, paradoxical as it may seem, domestic order will be
+re-established."
+
+"You are right," said Drentell, rising. "It is eminently proper that the
+Government should give its attention to the Jews and their relations
+with the rest of Russia's inhabitants. I do not believe, however, that
+this agitation can be brought about in a month or even in a year.
+Unfortunately, too many of our peasants live upon terms of friendship
+with them, absolutely blind to the fact that they are being preyed upon.
+We must open the eyes of these poor victims. We must point out to them
+that the Jew saves money and amasses wealth, while they toil in penury;
+that Jews fill our schools and colleges, while our people remain
+ignorant; that the Jew, base, deceitful, and avaricious, fattens on
+their misery."
+
+"The _moujiks_ once aroused," resumed the priest, "and the race struggle
+begun, the Czar may sleep in peace."
+
+"Will his majesty approve our plans?" inquired one of the counsellors.
+
+"There will be no interference from St. Petersburg," answered the
+priest. "I have already prepared the Minister of War for such a course
+and he is thoroughly in accord with us. We have but to notify him of our
+intentions, and he will order a similar movement in all parts of the
+Empire simultaneously."
+
+This course being decided on, the Council broke up, the Jews little
+dreaming of the sword that hung suspended over their heads.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+MIKAIL THE PRIEST.
+
+
+In Russia, the ecclesiastical administration is entirely in the hands of
+the monks belonging to the "Black Clergy," in contradistinction to the
+village priests, called "White Clergy." A black priest must be brought
+up in one of the five hundred rigorous monastic establishments of the
+Empire. The order is under the supervision of bishops, of whom there
+are a great number. The black priest looks upon the parish priest as a
+sort of ecclesiastical half-caste, who should obey blindly, sharing all
+the onerous duties but none of the honors of the calling.
+
+The history of monastic life in Russia does not differ materially from
+that in Western Europe. The early monks were mostly ascetics, living in
+colonies in a simple and primitive manner, subsisting on alms and
+charity. Their only aims in life were the glorification of God and to
+live as Christ commanded, in poverty, humility and self-denial. With the
+flight of time, this comfortless existence gave way to more luxurious
+customs. Money, lands and serfs were given to these simple monasteries,
+which gradually grew into a mighty power in the land, engaging in
+commerce, exercising jurisdiction over large domains, and moulding the
+religious sentiment of the Church and State. During this century,
+however, they grew less powerful. Secularization of church lands and the
+liberation of the serfs reduced many of them to poverty.
+
+The monks, nevertheless, hold a position in the church vastly superior
+to that of the village priest, or _batushka_, as he is called. These
+_batushkas_ belong to a hereditary caste, the members of which have been
+priests for generations. They are subject to the rulings of the district
+bishop; their livings, their distinctive names, even their wives--for
+they are allowed to marry--are provided for them by their religious
+superior. Their condition is not enviable. They are for the most part
+poor and ignorant, with no higher ambition than to perform the rites and
+ceremonies prescribed by their church. The parishioners are satisfied
+with very little, and the _batushkas_ have but little to give. They
+preach but rarely, and only after having submitted the sermon to the
+provincial _consistorium_. The moral influence they exercise over the
+people is necessarily small.
+
+It was to the "Black Clergy" that Mikail belonged. As far back as he
+could remember, his home had been in a monastery and his daily
+associates austere monks. He was taught that the Catholic faith is the
+only path to salvation. In so far, his education was similar to that of
+his brother priests, but while the Jew Jesus inculcated love of all men,
+Mikail was taught to hate the Jews. No occasion was permitted to pass,
+no opportunity neglected to instil the subtle poison into his young
+mind. The monks would point to his torn ear and palsied arm, and so
+vividly portray the tortures he had suffered, that Mikail clenched his
+little fists, his face became flushed and his bosom heaved at the
+recital of his wrongs. They took delight in repeating the tale, that
+they might witness his childish outbursts of passion and fury. This
+treatment had its desired effect; the boy developed into a rabid
+Jew-hater.
+
+As a child, Mikail was but a servant in the monastery, ill-treated and
+ill-fed. The only joyful episodes of this period of his existence were
+the occasional visits to the Count and Countess Drentell, at Lubny, to
+whom he believed himself distantly related. They received him with every
+appearance of cordiality, made inquiries about his progress, allowed him
+to revel in the companionship of Loris for a day or two, and finally
+sent him back to his dreary prison.
+
+As he grew up, his treatment at the hands of the Poltava monks improved.
+The Superior, Alexei, discovered a keen intellect in this reserved and
+sullen lad. It was astonishing with what avidity he read the limited
+number of books which the convent bookcase contained. His desire for
+learning appeared insatiable, and the few kopecks which he earned in
+showing strangers through the chapel and running errands for the monks,
+were invariably spent at the book shops for some bit of precious
+literature. By the time he was eighteen he had mastered all the learning
+that Alexei could impart, and the superior was by no means an illiterate
+or ignorant man. Mikail read Latin and German fluently, developed a
+talent for theology, and his shrewd arguments won the admiration of his
+fellow-priests.
+
+"He has a brilliant mind," said Alexei to himself one day. "Who knows,
+he may yet become a bishop."
+
+The Russian Catholic Church occupies a unique position as compared with
+the churches of Southern and Western Europe. She is now, as she was
+centuries ago, apparently oblivious of the world's advancement and
+impenetrable to new ideas. Her ancient traditions are still cherished.
+The theological discussions and quarrels, the reformations and schisms,
+which at various times shook the Roman Catholic Church to its centre,
+had no terrors for the church of Russia. Intellectual advancement,
+scientific research, inventive progress left her untouched and
+uninfluenced. Her theology remained precisely as it was in the days of
+Constantine and, like the self-sufficient snail, she withdrew into her
+shell, her convents, and allowed the world to wag as it saw fit.
+
+This apathy is easily explained. The Czar, the autocratic temporal
+ruler, is also the spiritual head of the church. Hence, she has had all
+her thinking done for her and has remained stationary. This trait has
+had its influence over the intellectual character of her priests, who
+are for the most part indolent and ignorant, content to believe whatever
+their religion requires, without question or debate. Theological
+discussions, such as we find in Protestant countries, are hardly known
+in Russia.
+
+To the monks of his convent, Mikail formed a noteworthy contrast. His
+mind, remarkably active for one so young, refused to accept the
+intricate mass of dogmas without endeavoring to analyze them and trace
+them back to their original sources. For years he had accepted the
+stories of miracles and revelations unquestioningly, but after he had
+begun a course of independent reading and reflection he discovered
+discrepancies and contradictions, which sowed the seed of grave doubts
+in his restive brain.
+
+He confided his doubts to Alexei, his superior. This worthy gave the
+matter very little consideration; he shrugged his shoulders, stroked his
+beard, now a venerable white, and answered:
+
+"I, too, had my doubts at your age, but I got bravely over them. The
+miracles of which the Bible speaks are undoubtedly true, for the people
+living in those times beheld them. That such things do not occur
+nowadays is no proof that they could not have happened then. Our duty is
+to believe what our ancient writings tell us, to see that the lamps are
+kept burning before the icons, and that our ceremonials are observed to
+the letter. A priest has no right to question what is sanctioned by
+tradition and belief."
+
+For a time, Mikail was content to accept this explanation and to keep
+his peace. But doubt was not so easily quieted. Ever and again he would
+seek the solitude of his cell and ponder over the grave and perplexing
+questions that disturbed him. He found no solution. He had been
+educated in an atmosphere of bigotry and superstition, had been brought
+up rigorously in the belief that God himself had descended from Heaven
+and adopted the form of man; had been daily taught that blind faith,
+independent of deed, would lead to salvation. These dogmas now appeared
+at variance with his conception of truth. Harassed by doubts, tormented
+by superstitious fears for the safety of his soul, Mikail led a wretched
+existence.
+
+Gradually, the monotonous, inactive life of the monastery began to pall
+upon him. He soon found, too, that many of his brethren believed as
+little as he did; that others were too indolent to reflect and believed
+as a matter of course. The thousand ceremonials, the carelessly recited
+prayers, the perfunctory invocations, the prescribed signs, crosses and
+genuflections before the rudely painted icons, appeared to him as hollow
+mockeries, and soon the place seemed redolent with deceit.
+
+It was a severe struggle for the young man, and the Superior, who
+observed the storm which was surging within the doubter's breast, did
+not hesitate to attribute it to the wiles of Satan.
+
+"Cast yourself at the feet of the Saviour, O thou of little faith!"
+exhorted Alexei. "He will help thee drive out the evil spirit! Fast,
+pray, torture thy body if necessary, but cleanse thy soul of its doubts,
+purge thy heart of the unholy thoughts which the Devil has planted
+there."
+
+Mikail fasted and prayed and scourged himself until his flesh was a mass
+of sores. In vain the torture! The doubts would not be driven out, Satan
+would not be exorcised.
+
+At the age of twenty-three, Mikail could endure it no longer.
+
+"I must go out into the world, father," he said one day to Alexei. "The
+convent is too small, too limited for me. I must work and toil with and
+for humanity. Let me go into the parish for a short time. The Bishop,
+who thinks well of me, may be able to procure me the position of
+_blagotchinny_.[17] I will have an opportunity of learning the world, of
+succoring the needy, of aiding the sick. Perhaps a life of activity will
+dispel the shadows which have darkened my soul."
+
+Alexei was quite willing to grant this request. He was anxious, in fact,
+to send Mikail from the cloister, for his doubts, which he took no pains
+to conceal, were beginning to affect the torpid intellects of the monks.
+A short conference was held with the Bishop, and Mikail obtained the
+coveted position.
+
+A new life of work and constant activity now opened for the young
+priest, but he still found what he had sought to escape, hypocrisy and
+deceit.
+
+The village priests with whom he came in daily contact were a pitiable
+set. He found among them many honest, respectable, well-meaning men,
+conscientiously fulfilling their humble tasks, striving hard to serve
+the religious needs of the community. There were, on the other hand,
+however, fanatics and rogues, men representing the worse elements of
+society. The people shunned the clergy, and held them up to ridicule.
+They formed a class apart, not in sympathy with the parishioners. They
+committed serious transgressions, were irreligious and transformed the
+service of God into a profitable trade.
+
+Could the people respect the clergy when they learned that one priest
+stole money from under the pillow of a dying man at the moment he was
+administering the sacrament, that another was publicly dragged out of a
+house of ill-fame, that a third christened a dog, that a fourth while
+officiating at the Easter service was dragged by the hair from the altar
+by the deacon? Was it possible for the people to venerate priests who
+spent their time in gin shops, wrote fraudulent petitions, fought with
+crosses as weapons and abused each other at the altar? Was it possible
+for them to have an exalted opinion of a God-inspired religion, when
+they saw everywhere about them simony, carelessness in performing
+religious rites, and disorder in administering the sacrament?[18]
+
+Mikail's heart turned sick. Nowhere could he find that truth which he
+sought. Even the better educated priests appeared to have given their
+creed no thought, no reflection.
+
+Still the young priest did valuable service in the field assigned to
+him. Through his indomitable will be corrected many of the abuses which
+existed in his district, and raised the parish clergy to a higher
+standard of efficiency and morality.
+
+So the years passed. The friendship between Mikail and General Drentell
+grew stronger as the nobleman learned to value the brilliant intellect
+of his _protégé_. His occasional visits to Lubny continued, and the
+General usually profited by the clear, good sense of the young man, who
+displayed as thorough a knowledge of agriculture as he did of theology.
+Mikail and Loris, on the other hand, could never agree. The priest had
+no patience with the hare-brained, pampered young aristocrat, and
+occasional differences were the result. For the sake of the General's
+friendship, however, as well as for the preservation of his own dignity,
+Mikail restrained his feelings. At the age of twenty, Loris entered the
+army, and for a while the growing animosity of the two was happily
+checked.
+
+The Bishop, greatly admiring his assistant's ability, offered him an
+important position in his consistorium. This Mikail firmly refused. He
+assigned as his reason that he found congenial work among the
+parishioners; but in reality the priest felt in his heart that his
+veneration for the Catholic creed was growing daily less, and that
+vexing doubts and difficulties had gradually crowded out the faith he
+had once possessed. It was at this time that General Drentell's
+influence obtained for him a desirable position with General Melikoff,
+the Minister of War. The priest gladly accepted the honor, happy to
+escape from the continual hypocrisy of his clerical duties.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 17: A _blagotchinny_ is a parish priest who is in direct
+relations with the consistorium of the province, and who is supposed to
+exercise a strict supervision over all the parish priests of his
+district.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Mr. Melnikof, in a secret report to Grand Duke
+Constantine. Wallace's "Russia," p. 58.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+A DAUGHTER OF ISRAEL.
+
+
+Rabbi Mendel Winenki sat in his study, reading. Before him and within
+easy reach stood a massive table covered with books and papers. There
+were strewn upon it in motley confusion ancient folios and modern
+volumes. It was a comprehensive library which the Rabbi had collected.
+There were works on comparative theology, on medicine, on jurisprudence
+and philosophy. The _Shulkan-aruch_ and a treatise on Buddhistic
+Occultism stood side by side. The Talmud and Kant's "Kritik der reinen
+Vernunft" were placed upon the same shelf, and Josephus and Renan's
+"Life of Jesus" were near neighbors.
+
+Time was when the Jew who would have exposed a single work printed in
+any characters but the ancient Hebrew letters would have been ostracized
+by his co-religionists. The Rabbi remembered with a smile how carefully
+he had concealed the precious volumes which Pesach Harretzki had given
+him, how furtively he had carried them into his bed that he might read
+them undetected.
+
+How different now was the condition of things! True, the greater portion
+of the Jews of Kief still held tenaciously to their prejudices,
+absolutely refusing to learn anything not taught at the _cheder_. In the
+eyes of these people Mendel was a renegade and a heretic. The only thing
+which prevented them from hurling the ban of excommunication against him
+was their recollection of the good he had accomplished.
+
+Mendel's greatest achievement was the introduction of secular education.
+Many years elapsed before his ideas took root, but with the spread of
+better instruction in the public schools, which were now open to Jewish
+youth, there came a desire for greater knowledge and the difficult
+problem worked out its own solution. At the time of which we speak many
+Jewish lads were pupils of the gymnasium and quite a number of them
+students at the University of Kief.
+
+Seated by the side of the Rabbi, and sewing, sat his wife and his
+daughter, Kathinka, now a girl of eighteen. Many changes had occurred
+in the interval since we last saw our friends. Mendel was now a man of
+about forty-five and in the full vigor of contented manhood. A wealth of
+coal-black hair shaded his massive forehead and a long but neatly
+trimmed beard set off his handsome face. Recha had become stouter and
+more matronly, but one would scarcely take her for the mother of the
+blooming girl by her side.
+
+Kathinka was a perfect specimen of Hebrew beauty. She had inherited the
+commanding form of her father and the regular features of her mother. To
+this perfection of body she united a sweetness of disposition which made
+her beloved by all who knew her.
+
+Women among the Eastern Jews, as indeed among all oriental nations,
+being considered intellectually inferior to their lords and masters,
+rarely aspire to learning. Occasionally one might find an example of a
+well-directed and thoroughly developed mind among the daughters of
+Israel, even though surrounded by the retarding influences of the
+_ghetto_. We have seen how well Recha had been educated and her daughter
+Kathinka was being brought up in the same way. She was independent in
+thought as well as in action, but never at the cost of maidenly
+sentiment. Piety and purity shone in her lustrous eyes. Superior to her
+position, she possessed the faculty of adapting herself to her
+surroundings. There was no pride in her breast save that which might
+arise from the consciousness of doing right. The poor had a
+commiserating friend in her and the sick a tender nurse. The children
+that played in the squalid lanes of the old quarter ceased their romping
+when she passed and lovingly kissed her hand. She desired no better lot
+than to do good in her own sphere, and to deserve the approbation of
+her own conscience. Such was Kathinka, a girl of many graces and
+sterling worth--in heart and soul a Jewess.
+
+Rabbi Mendel looked up from his books and gazed fondly at his daughter,
+who, seated with the full light of the window falling upon her face,
+appeared the embodiment of loveliness. Then turning to his wife, he
+asked:
+
+"Recha, have you spoken to Kathinka about young Goldheim?"
+
+"No," replied Recha; "I left it for you to tell."
+
+"Briefly then, my dear," said the Rabbi, addressing his daughter, who
+looked up from her work in surprise; "Reb Wolf, the _schadchen_, has
+been here for the third time, to induce us to give him a favorable reply
+for Samuel Goldheim. I told him that I feared my intervention would be
+useless."
+
+Kathinka blushed deeply.
+
+"You did right, father," she answered.
+
+"But, my dear child," said the Rabbi, thoughtfully; "tell me why you
+refuse Goldheim? He is a fine-looking young man, of a rich and respected
+family, and will make you a good husband."
+
+Kathinka arose and, crossing to her father, put her arms lovingly about
+his neck.
+
+"Dear papa," she said, softly and caressingly, "I know you love me too
+well to insist upon my doing a thing which will make me unhappy for
+life. You have often told me how you and mamma first found one another,
+how heart went out to heart, so that there was scarcely any need to tell
+each other that you loved. That is an ideal affection, and the only one
+that my heart could recognize. I abhor the notion of a marriage brought
+about by the efforts of a third party, who has no other interest in the
+matter than the fee he receives for his labors. There is to me something
+repugnant in the idea of uniting two beings to each other for life,
+without consulting their inclinations or their tastes."
+
+"I agree with you, Kathinka," answered the Rabbi, stroking his
+daughter's long curls, "and it is far from my thoughts to see you united
+to any man you do not truly love. In former days the system of marrying
+through the agency of a match-maker undoubtedly possessed great
+advantages. It is incumbent upon every good Israelite to marry, but
+originally the villages were sparsely settled, in many places there was
+a lack of marriageable men, in others the maidens were in the minority,
+and as facilities for travelling were limited, and often entirely
+absent, a _schadchen_, who made it a business to bring eligible couples
+together, was a great convenience. The necessity for such a mediator is
+constantly growing less."
+
+"But there can be no romance, no pleasant anticipation in such a union."
+
+"My dear child, Israel has never had time for romance. Your youth has
+fortunately been spared the dreadful persecutions which have from time
+to time been visited upon our people; but, if you can picture the
+constant dread of outrage and the incessant fear of persecution, which
+have been our portion; if you can conceive the miserable existence in
+wretched hovels and the weary struggle for the barest necessities of
+life, you will understand why the Jews have had little of that spirit of
+chivalry and romance of which modern books give us so fascinating a
+picture. But tell me, Kathinka," continued the Rabbi, looking intently
+at his daughter, "is there not another reason for your refusal of
+Samuel's hand?"
+
+Kathinka became very red, and looked pleadingly at her mother.
+
+"My dear," said Recha, "you had better confess all to your father. He
+has a right to know."
+
+Still the girl remained silent.
+
+"Well, my child; who has stolen your heart?" asked the Rabbi, kindly.
+
+"Father, I love Joseph Kierson," said Kathinka, faintly, hiding her
+blushing face upon the Rabbi's shoulder.
+
+"What, my former pupil?" asked the Rabbi, astonished. "I must have been
+blind not to have observed it. And does he love you?"
+
+"I think he does," she archly answered.
+
+"But Joseph is poor," returned her father. "He has nothing and has as
+yet no profession. He is merely a student at the University."
+
+"But he has a brilliant intellect," retorted Kathinka, proudly. "I have
+heard you say a dozen times that he will achieve renown. It is one of
+your favorite maxims that a man must rise by his own exertions. Joseph
+is destined to rise."
+
+"How long has this understanding existed?" asked Mendel.
+
+"We were fond of each other as children, when he first began his lessons
+at _cheder_," replied the girl, earnestly; "but it was only recently
+that he declared his love."
+
+"He found that you were surrounded by admiring youths and feared that
+you might be taken from him," added her mother.
+
+"And did you promise to be his wife?" asked the Rabbi.
+
+"Oh, no, father. I could not do that without your consent. He did not
+even ask me. He simply told me that he deplored his ignorance and
+poverty and that it was his intention to study medicine and become a
+learned doctor that he might be worthy of obtaining my hand. That was
+all."
+
+"He could not have made it plainer. And what did you answer?"
+
+"I encouraged him in his determination and told him I would wait."
+
+"And that is why he requested me to speak to his parents and obtain
+their consent to his pursuing a course of study, and that is why you
+took such an interest in his welfare and were so pleased when I told you
+that he had been admitted to the University."
+
+"Yes," answered Kathinka, with radiant face.
+
+"Do you know how long it will take before he has finished his course? He
+cannot expect to obtain his diploma in less than six years."
+
+"I know it," replied Kathinka.
+
+"And then it will be some time before his profession will enable him to
+support a wife."
+
+"I know it. I will wait."
+
+"Brave girl," said Mendel, fondly. "You are doing right and may he prove
+worthy of you."
+
+"Will it take so long?" asked the mother. "You will then be twenty-four
+years old, Kathinka, and will be obliged to marry a poor man. Had you
+not better consider before refusing Goldheim? He is wealthy and quite
+learned."
+
+"I do not care for him," replied the girl, quietly but with decision.
+"You married father for love, did you not?"
+
+"Yes," said Mendel, replying for his wife. "She took me although I was
+but a poor Talmud scholar without a kopeck that I could call my own.
+Joseph will succeed. He has ambition and talent."
+
+Kathinka kissed her father, affectionately.
+
+"Then you are satisfied with my choice?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, my dear, I am content. When Reb Wolf, the _schadchen_, comes for
+his answer we will know just what to tell him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+AT THE RABBI'S AND AT THE GOVERNOR'S.
+
+
+Joseph Kierson was a fine manly fellow of twenty-two, not particularly
+handsome, but possessing what in Kathinka's eyes outweighed mere
+personal appearance, a fine mind, great courage and indomitable zeal.
+His youth had been uneventful. His father was a hard-working butcher,
+who in spite of his industry found it difficult to provide food for his
+family of half-a-dozen. Until recently Joseph had assisted his father in
+his business, but felt an irresistible desire to achieve something
+higher than was possible in that humble calling. Recognizing the need of
+skilled physicians in the Jewish community, he conceived the idea of
+taking up the profession of medicine. We have seen that his ambition was
+strengthened by his desire to obtain the hand of Kathinka, in whom all
+his hopes were centred.
+
+Old Jacob Kierson was bitterly opposed to his son's project. His
+objections were in a measure selfish, for he could not reconcile himself
+to the thought of hiring an assistant while Joseph spent his time in
+idleness. Moreover, he belonged to the old school and sincerely abhorred
+all learning that savored of the gentiles. He therefore peremptorily
+forbade his son's entertaining such an impious purpose. In this
+emergency Rabbi Winenki's eloquence was brought into requisition. He
+skilfully argued away the old man's prejudices and painted in such
+glowing colors the possibilities of Joseph's future as a physician, that
+Kierson's scruples were gradually quieted and he gave a reluctant
+consent. Joseph, having passed a brilliant examination and being
+recommended by Rabbi Winenki--a name that still carried great weight
+with it in Kief--was admitted into the University.
+
+It was Friday evening. Without, the snow was falling hard and fast; a
+fierce wind, from the northern steppes, howled through the streets, and
+dismal was the sound of the storm. In the houses of the Jews, however,
+there was peace and comfort. The pious Hebrews, who had toiled
+industriously during six days of the week to provide for the seventh,
+had ceased from their labors, had cast aside their cares and sorrows,
+and rejoiced in the presence of their God.
+
+Around Rabbi Mendel's hospitable board there was assembled a goodly
+company. The table was unusually attractive on this Sabbath eve and the
+company uncommonly joyous, for it was the first family gathering since
+the announcement of Kathinka's betrothal with the young student. There
+was much surprise that this bright maiden should have bestowed her
+affections upon the poorest of her suitors, but Kathinka gazed in happy
+contentment at the man by her side, to whom in her heart she had erected
+a holy altar of love.
+
+The goblets with their sparkling contents, the snow-white linen and the
+dainty dishes spoke a cheery welcome to the merry guests, and the
+seven-armed lamp hanging from the ceiling and the silver candlesticks
+upon the table threw their friendly glow over the scene. Happiness and
+pleasure, contentment and gratitude, beamed in every countenance.
+
+There were present Mendel's father and mother, old and venerable but
+still active, Hirsch Bensef and his wife Miriam, Rabbi Winenki and his
+wife and daughter, (Recha's mother had died some time before,) and
+finally the happy Joseph Kierson with his delighted father and mother.
+
+Their conversation was animated and cheerful. Out in the streets the
+wind might blow and the snow descend; here there was naught but good
+cheer and comfort. The storm served, however, to recall many a dark and
+dreary day in the past, and, like soldiers sitting about a campfire, the
+men related the chief incidents of their eventful lives. There was a
+melancholy pleasure in recalling the trials they had experienced,
+contrasted with which their present security was all the more
+comforting.
+
+Mordecai Winenki related with tears in his eyes how he saved his wife's
+honor by a hasty flight from home, and how he arrived in Kief just in
+time for the _Pesach_ festival. "Yes, it was a marvellous escape from
+the soldiers; _Adonai_ be praised for it!" Old Kierson had a story of
+privation and suffering to relate, events which carried his hearers back
+to the days of Nicholas, the Iron Czar, and they smiled to think that
+those days were gone, never to return. The Rabbi told, for the hundredth
+time, of his memorable trip from Togarog to Kharkov; related how he and
+Jacob had been torn from their mother's fond embrace, how they had
+suffered, how they finally escaped from the guard that accompanied them,
+and how, after enduring the misery of hunger and thirst, Jacob
+disappeared to be seen no more.
+
+"Poor Jacob," sighed the bereaved mother; "nothing has been heard of him
+since. The poor lad must have perished under the rough treatment of the
+soldiers."
+
+"Peace to his soul!" said the Rabbi, reverently, and the company
+responded "Amen."
+
+These bitter-sweet memories were compensated for by the great
+improvement which had taken place in the condition of the Jews during
+the past twenty years. Mendel related how, on arriving in Kief, he found
+his uncle in a weather-beaten hovel, through the neglected roof of which
+the snow leaked in little rivulets. Hirsch Bensef now resided in a
+commodious dwelling in one of the best streets of the city.
+
+Would this state of affairs continue? Would Governor Drentell show the
+same leniency and magnanimity towards the Hebrews as did his
+predecessor? The new ruler had now been in power for nearly a year,
+during which time there had been no hostility, no curtailing of their
+liberties.
+
+"God grant that our condition will not grow worse," said the Rabbi. "The
+mental improvement of our people during these twenty years has been
+marvellous. If it continues at the same pace, there is no telling
+whither our progress will eventually lead us."
+
+Thus passed the Sabbath meal in pleasant conversation, during which
+plans were laid for future improvement. After supper, friends and
+relatives trooped in to congratulate the newly-betrothed couple.
+
+While this homely feast was going on at the Rabbi's house, an
+entertainment of a different nature was in progress in the Petcherskoi
+quarter.
+
+The Governor's palace was ablaze with light. The glare of a thousand
+lamps shone through the windows upon the falling snow, converting icy
+crystals into scintillating gems. Long lines of sleighs and covered
+carriages were drawn up before the entrance, and from them emerged
+richly uniformed officers and handsomely attired ladies. Within,
+liveried lackeys relieved the guests of their furs, and ushered them
+into the presence of the Governor and his wife, who, with smiling
+countenance, greeted each new arrival.
+
+It was a court ball, such as the Governors of the various provinces
+give; miniature reproductions of the magnificent entertainments in which
+the Imperial Court at St. Petersburg delights.
+
+Here all was beauty and refinement. The court circle of Kief was
+composed of officers attached to the provincial government, men who
+remained in the city only so long as their official duties demanded.
+They were accompanied by their wives and daughters, ladies who for the
+most part possessed every advantage of education, who had studied abroad
+and brought into Russia the choicest of French and German fashions.
+There were also many young army officers, always welcome guests at these
+affairs, in which young ladies were apt to predominate. It is not
+strange, therefore, that these balls should present the most fascinating
+aspects of Russian life, and form a charming contrast to the dark scenes
+of ignorance and misery which it has been our duty to depict.
+
+The ball at the Governor's was given to introduce into polite Russian
+society Loris Drentell, the Governor's son. Loris had returned after a
+short absence from Kief. There was no need of his remaining away any
+longer. No one suspected that a Drentell had been even remotely
+connected with the Nihilist plot, and there were none of the
+conspirators left to tell of his connection with it. The trouble in
+Turkey had subsided and there was no longer any necessity for keeping
+Loris' regiment on the frontier. The lieutenant was, therefore, recalled
+and a grand ball was given in his honor.
+
+Court balls in Russia do not differ materially from those of other
+countries, and we will leave the gay cavaliers and pretty women whirling
+through one of Strauss' waltzes, while we enter the Governor's private
+room.
+
+General Dimitri Drentell and his intimate advisers had withdrawn from
+the festivities and had sought the seclusion of the cabinet. Mikail the
+priest had just entered.
+
+"Ah! Mikail," said the Governor; "you are a late caller."
+
+"The train brought me from St. Petersburg but a few minutes ago, and I
+hastened to present myself to your excellency at once. Had I known that
+there was a ball this evening, I should have deferred my visit until
+to-morrow."
+
+"Make no apologies," answered Drentell. "We would have been disappointed
+had you not come to-night. What news do you bring us from the capital?"
+
+"The best, your excellency. I spoke to his imperial majesty in person.
+He desires to be commended to you, and approves of your energetic
+measures in bringing the suspected Nihilists to judgment. He counts your
+excellency among his stanchest supporters."
+
+The Governor flushed with pleasure. Bright visions of future advancement
+passed through his mind.
+
+"And our policy as regards the Jews?" he asked.
+
+"Has his sanction! In fact, any project which will divert the minds of
+the populace from political questions, meets with imperial favor. But
+the animosity towards the Jews must not appear too sudden and
+unwarranted. Convinced that they have in many cases assumed privileges
+not allowed them by law, and rendered themselves punishable by the
+statutes, the Minister of War has decided to appoint a commission of
+inquiry, which shall investigate the following questions." The priest
+took an official paper from his pocket and read:
+
+"_First_--In what trades do the Jews engage which are injurious to the
+well-being of the faithful inhabitants?
+
+"_Second_--Is it impracticable to put into force the ancient laws
+limiting the rights of the Jews in the matter of buying and farming
+land, and in the trade in intoxicants.
+
+"_Third_--How can these laws be strengthened so that they can no longer
+be evaded?
+
+"_Fourth_--To what extent is usury practised by the Jews in their
+dealings with the Christians.
+
+"_Fifth_--What is the number of public houses kept by the Jews, and what
+is the injury resulting to Christians by reason of the sale of
+intoxicants.
+
+"The commission is to report to the Minister of War as soon as
+practicable," continued Mikail, replacing the paper in his pocket. "I
+have the honor to be one of the commissioners, and as soon as we have
+obtained definite information upon these points--information which is
+sure to be damaging--we will be ready to proceed against the accursed
+race."
+
+"But if the reports are not damaging to the Jews?" asked one of the
+officials.
+
+"They will be," answered the priest; "the commission has been appointed
+for that purpose."
+
+"Then woe to the Jews!" answered the official.
+
+"Yes, woe to the Jews!" responded the priest, and the malignant
+expression of his countenance boded ill to his kindred.
+
+"Come! let us return to the ball room," said Drentell, taking the priest
+by the arm.
+
+"Your excellency must pardon me," answered Mikail, "My clothes are
+travel-stained, and I am neither in a condition nor in the humor to
+enjoy the festivities."
+
+"But Loris is here," continued the Governor.
+
+Mikail suppressed a grimace of displeasure.
+
+"There is no haste. I shall see him to-morrow," he answered, and bowed
+himself out of the room.
+
+"Strange man," muttered the Governor, when the door had closed upon the
+priest's retreating form. "I almost fear him when he is attacked by his
+fits of gloomy anger. Poor Jews! You will find Drentell a different man
+from your soft-hearted Pomeroff. Ah, if Mikail but knew; if he but
+knew!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE PRIEST IN THE SYNAGOGUE.
+
+
+Mikail did not allow the grass to grow beneath his feet. Stimulated by
+the approval of the Czar as well as by his own undying hatred, he lost
+no time in collecting the statistics that were required for his
+purpose.
+
+Hitherto he had been content to accept hearsay evidence in his estimate
+of Jewish life and character; he had never knowingly come in contact
+with one of the race. Convinced, however, that public opinion was not
+half severe enough, he determined to personally investigate their manner
+of life. For some days, therefore, he made periodical trips through the
+old Jewish quarter, sounded the Christians with whom the Jews
+occasionally associated, and with an acute but not impartial eye, made
+his observations.
+
+It was Saturday of the week following the events narrated in the last
+chapter. The snow that mantled the earth was frozen solid, and the bells
+tinkled merrily as the sleighs skimmed over the glistening road. A cold
+bracing air sent the blood surging through the veins of the pedestrians
+and brought the ruddy glow of health to their cheeks.
+
+The priest, bent upon new discoveries, walked rapidly in the direction
+of the Jewish quarter. Suddenly he stopped. He had almost run against a
+man who was hurriedly walking in the opposite direction.
+
+"What, Loris! is it you?" he cried, upon recognizing his protector's
+son. "What are you doing in this part of the town?"
+
+"I might repeat the question," answered Loris. "Why is a priest roaming
+about these streets, when he should be counting his beads up in the
+Petcherskoi convent?"
+
+Mikail frowned. Loris' sneering tone grated harshly upon him.
+
+"I owe you no explanation," he said, curtly; "but if it will give you
+any satisfaction to know, I am following up a subject of importance to
+the State."
+
+"And I," said Loris, confidingly, "am following up a far more
+interesting subject. You should see her, Mikail! Such a head, such eyes,
+such a form! To think that I have wasted so many months abroad while
+Kief held such a treasure!"
+
+"What do you mean?" asked the priest, dryly.
+
+"A young girl, of course. She must live about here somewhere. I saw her
+come up this street, but when I turned the corner she had mysteriously
+disappeared. I tell you, Mikail, she is a beauty. I shall not rest until
+I find her!"
+
+"You are seeking perdition," exclaimed the priest, wrathfully. "A pretty
+face is Satan's trap to lure a weak soul into his toils."
+
+"Convent talk!" answered Loris, disdainfully. "Why do I stand here and
+speak to a priest about a woman? When you take your vows of celibacy you
+pretend to dislike anything that wears petticoats. But I doubt whether
+even you could resist the temptation of a handsome face and voluptuous
+form."
+
+Mikail's eyes flashed. He was about to reply to Loris' sneer, but, by a
+severe effort, he checked his rising anger, and without another word
+turned on his heel and walked away.
+
+"Ill-natured cur!" muttered Loris. "They are all alike--hypocritical
+fools! With all their pretended virtue, I would not like to expose the
+best of them to even a moderate temptation."
+
+Mikail walked through a maze of lanes until he came to the street which
+had formed one of the boundaries of the "Jews' town." He now observed,
+for the first time, groups of Jewish men, women and children, dressed in
+their holiday attire, pass him and enter a large building not far away.
+
+"It is their Sabbath, and they are going to their barbarous worship,"
+thought the priest, as he crossed himself.
+
+He went further into the quarter, carefully avoiding the groups that he
+encountered, and finally entered the dwelling of a Christian woman, who
+sublet rooms to Jewish tenants. The information which awaited him here
+must have been important, for it was quite a while before he emerged
+into the street and retraced his steps towards the city. His path led
+directly past Mendel's synagogue. Through the window he heard the chant
+of the _hazan_, and he paused, reflectively.
+
+"After all," he murmured, "what harm can it do if I go in. I am in
+search of facts and where shall I be better able to find them than in
+the Jews' stronghold, their synagogue?"
+
+Crossing himself devoutly, he opened the door and entered.
+
+The _shamas_ (sexton), surprised to see a _gallach_ (priest) in the
+synagogue, stood for some moments in doubt, but finally shuffled up to
+the stranger and showed him a seat in the last row of benches.
+
+Mikail sat down passively. For a moment he seemed dazed and stupefied.
+Perhaps it was only the heat and the glare of the burning candles; but
+gradually a strange spell came over him, which he tried in vain to shake
+off.
+
+He could not remember ever having been in a synagogue, and yet the
+praying-desks, the pulpit and the ark for the holy scrolls seemed
+singularly familiar. He looked up. Yes, there was the latticed gallery
+filled with women, just as he had expected to find it!
+
+The _hazan_ was intoning a prayer. Between the words he interjected a
+number of strange trills and turns. How weird it all sounded, and yet
+how familiar to the wondering priest. Mikail found himself almost
+instinctively supplying the following word before it was uttered by the
+reader. Then the congregation arose and responded to the prayer, and
+Mikail arose, too, and it seemed as though the words of the responses
+were laid upon his tongue.
+
+It was strange, very strange, and yet it was fascinating.
+
+Again the congregation arose. The Rabbi went to the ark at the back of
+the pulpit and took out one of the scrolls, covered with a red velvet
+cloth curiously embroidered with golden letters. Mikail followed his
+every movement with intense interest. He scarcely breathed.
+
+"_Shema Israel,_" sang the Rabbi; "_Adonai Elohenu,_" and then he paused
+a moment to clear his throat of something he must have inhaled.
+
+"Why don't he continue," thought Mikail, impatient at the momentary
+interruption, and then in a voice loud enough to be heard over the
+entire synagogue, he ended the sentence by crying:
+
+"_Adonai Echod!_"
+
+All turned to look at the speaker, and they whispered among themselves
+in surprise at hearing a monk recite the _shema_ in a _schul_. The women
+looked down from the gallery in amazement.
+
+Mikail's face flushed. His first impulse was to flee, to get out of the
+accursed place, to break the spell of enchantment that bound him. With a
+muttered prayer he strode to the door, only to find it locked from
+without. It was customary to bolt the door during certain portions of
+the service, to prevent noise and consequent disturbance.
+
+The priest was therefore obliged to remain. Obeying a natural impulse,
+he made the sign of the cross, set his jaws firmly, and awaited further
+developments.
+
+The _hazan_ opened the Pentateuch and the _parnas_ of the congregation
+was called to the _Torah_. Every movement was anticipated by the priest.
+The parnas reverently lifted the fringes of his _tallis_, and with them
+touched the sacred Scroll; then, kissing them, he recited the customary
+blessing. Mikail repeated it with him. It sounded almost as familiar as
+his own liturgy. Suddenly a reaction came over the stern and haughty
+priest as the services continued. A strange storm broke within his
+bosom; undefined recollections, visions of a once happy home, a tangled
+revery of fanciful memories chased each other through his excited brain.
+Without knowing why, he felt the hot tears coursing down his cheeks,
+tears which not even the harsh treatment he had endured during his early
+years at the monastery could force from their reservoirs. One after
+another, seven men were called to the _Torah_, and their actions and
+prayers were a repetition of those of the _parnas_. The monotonous
+reading at length came to an end, Mikail heard the bolts withdrawn, and
+with hasty strides he cleared the passage into the street. On he sped
+through the city, looking neither to the right nor the left, scarcely
+knowing whither he went, until he finally reached the Petcherskoi
+convent, where he had taken up his temporary quarters. Without returning
+the greetings of the monks, apparently unconscious of his surroundings,
+he went straight to his cell and there gave way to a flood of passion.
+
+An hour afterwards a monk found him upon his knees before an icon, in
+fervent prayer.
+
+"I have been bewitched, Sergeitch," he said, with his wonted calmness.
+"Pray for me that the evil spirit may leave me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+LORIS FALLS IN LOVE.
+
+
+Kathinka, well wrapped in a heavy mantle, walked briskly along the
+darkening street. She had gone to the extreme end of the city to succor
+a sick and needy widow and was now hastening homeward with a light and
+happy heart. The world seemed bright and cheerful to the young girl
+whose every desire was gratified and every wish granted. As she neared
+her home, she became aware of the presence of a man some yards behind
+her, keeping pace with her own steps. Kathinka quickened her gait, but
+the man was evidently determined not to lose sight of her and hurried
+after her. The girl remembered that she had been followed by the same
+person some days before, and, while she attached no importance to the
+incident at that time, she now became frightened and glanced timidly
+about her. The street was deserted and there was no place of refuge in
+sight. With a little cry of alarm, she lifted her skirts and ran at full
+speed in the direction of her dwelling, but she had not proceeded far
+before the stranger caught up with her, and, grasping her by the arm,
+held her as in a vise. Kathinka stopped and, with flushed and angry
+look, faced the stranger.
+
+"Lovely creature," said the man, insinuatingly, when he had recovered
+his breath, "why do you flee from me? Can you not see that I am anxious
+to speak with you?"
+
+"Let me go!" cried the girl, indignantly. "You hurt me."
+
+Loris, for the stranger was no other than the Governor's son, released
+the girl's arm, but he barred her escape by placing himself directly
+before her. Kathinka tried in vain to pass him; then, pausing, with
+heaving bosom, she cried:
+
+"What do you mean, sir? Have you no manhood left, that you molest a
+defenceless woman?"
+
+"Listen to me but a moment," answered Loris, passionately; "and then go
+your way if you will. I have been following your footsteps for the last
+two weeks, desiring, yet fearing, to speak to you. From the day I first
+beheld you, I have thought of nothing else. I have sighed for you and
+dreamed of you. I was happy when I caught a glimpse of you and sad when
+you were out of my sight, sad until I saw your features again. Do not
+now repulse me. Take pity upon me."
+
+These sentences, expressed with all the passionate earnestness of which
+youth is capable, greatly terrified Kathinka.
+
+"Sir, I do not know you," she exclaimed; "and if I did I could have
+nothing in common with you. Let me go, and if you are a gentleman, you
+will in future avoid troubling me."
+
+"By God, you shall not leave me without giving me some encouragement.
+Kathinka, I love you! When you know who I am you will not treat me so
+cruelly."
+
+"If you were the Governor himself I should have but one answer for you,
+and that is that you have outraged every sentiment of honor," cried the
+girl, with growing indignation.
+
+Loris seized her hand.
+
+"No, do not despise me; hear me to the end!" he cried, passionately. "I
+am Loris Drentell, the son of your Governor. I know what I am risking in
+loving a Jewess, but I cannot help it. Kathinka, you have bewitched me.
+I love you! Do you understand me? I love you! I only ask you to think
+kindly of me, to see me of your own free will, and to give me the
+blessed hope that you will in time return my affection. Do not consign
+me to misery!"
+
+Kathinka struggled to free her hand from his grasp. Overcome by terror,
+it was some time before she could gain strength to reply.
+
+"Count Drentell," she said, at length; "you have spoken the truth. I am
+a Jewess, and any contact with me would dishonor you. Moreover, I am
+betrothed to one of my own race, and while I feel the honor you would
+bestow upon me in offering me your love, I have but one reply to make: I
+do not wish to see you again."
+
+"Don't drive me to despair, Kathinka; I cannot live without your
+friendship, without your love. Why should your betrothed stand in the
+way? I am rich and powerful. I can give you whatever your heart desires.
+You shall want for nothing, if you will only look upon me with favor."
+And he again seized her hand and covered it with kisses.
+
+This flattering speech filled Kathinka with loathing. Well she knew that
+it meant not love, but the basest of passions, and that a Jewess could
+never become more than the passing fancy of Count Drentell. With a
+disdainful glance at him, she turned to go.
+
+"Count Drentell," she answered, calmly; "this is disgraceful. You seem
+to forget your position, your birth. You forget that I belong to a
+proscribed race."
+
+"You are right," replied the young man, bitterly; "I forgot everything
+but my love for you."
+
+"Then try and forget that. And now, sir, enough of this farce. Let me
+pass, or I shall call for help."
+
+Loris bit his lips in vexation.
+
+"Do not decide so hastily," he said. "A terrible danger threatens the
+Jews. My father, who detests your people, is even now plotting their
+destruction. I may, perhaps, avert the calamity, may dissuade him from
+his terrible projects. Will you allow me to serve you? One word of
+encouragement and I will be your willing slave."
+
+Kathinka started. Was it true that a new danger menaced her people? She
+could not tell. Perhaps it was but an invention of the Count to further
+his own ends. In her opinion, he was base enough for anything.
+
+"The God of Israel has been our support in the past," she answered,
+firmly; "He will not desert us in the future. Come what will, I shall
+not endeavor to avoid it by the loss of my self-respect. Now, make way,
+sir; let me go."
+
+"And is this the end of all my dreams? Am I to abandon all hope of ever
+seeing you again?" asked Loris, gloomily.
+
+"Count Drentell," replied the girl, with a proud glance. "Do not
+persecute me with your attentions, which are extremely distasteful to
+me. I trust we shall never meet again."
+
+And with a haughty sweep of her beautiful head, she passed the
+astonished Loris and walked rapidly down the street.
+
+The young man looked after her for a moment in silence; then he stamped
+his foot in rage.
+
+"She refuses my attentions, the proud Jewess! But I will conquer her in
+spite of her pride."
+
+It was not until Kathinka reached home that her strong spirit gave way,
+and she threw herself into a chair and wept bitterly. Her mother and
+father, surprised at such an outburst of emotion, hastened to her side,
+but it was some time before the girl attempted an explanation. Then she
+told her parents of her encounter with the Governor's son.
+
+The Rabbi walked up and down the room in great perturbation. The affair
+promised no pleasant conclusion.
+
+"Alas, that your beauty should have attracted the young Count!" he said.
+"It is very unfortunate. Who knows to what extremes he may go to revenge
+himself upon you for having refused his advances."
+
+"Was there any other course for me to take?" asked Kathinka.
+
+"No, my child; you acted honorably. There was nothing else for you to
+do."
+
+"But the calamity which the man predicted would befall Israel?" said
+Recha.
+
+"It may have been an idle threat. There is no need of borrowing trouble.
+Misfortune has ever found the Jews steadfast and ready to bear the
+greatest hardships for their faith. If new troubles come, we will not be
+found wanting. In the meantime there is nothing to do but wait."
+
+"If I should meet him again and he should again force his attentions
+upon me, what could I do?" sighed Kathinka, nervously.
+
+"For the present do not venture out unless with me or Joseph. We must
+inform Kierson of this matter at once. He has doubtless frequent
+opportunities of seeing this young Count and can keep his eyes on him.
+Perhaps Drentell is honorable enough to desist if he sees that his
+advances are repelled."
+
+Kathinka shook her head, despondently.
+
+"I fear not, father. You should have seen his face and heard his words.
+Such passion is not subdued by neglect. I am afraid that he will become
+our implacable enemy and that we will eventually have more to fear from
+his hatred than from his love."
+
+The Rabbi did not reply, but his heart echoed his daughter's
+forebodings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+AN UNFORTUNATE ENCOUNTER.
+
+
+Kathinka now rarely went out, and never alone. On her way to the
+synagogue and upon her little errands of mercy, she was invariably
+attended by her devoted Joseph. The very danger to which the girl had
+been exposed served to cement their hearts more closely.
+
+For a time, nothing was seen of Loris. One day, however, Joseph and
+Kathinka had just left the Rabbi's house.
+
+"Look," whispered Kathinka, pressing Joseph's arm, "he is following us."
+
+Joseph turned rapidly and perceived the form of Loris at some distance
+behind them. The Count, seeing that he was observed, turned a corner and
+disappeared. For several months after, Kathinka saw nothing more of her
+persecutor, and the disagreeable episode gradually faded from her
+memory.
+
+One bright afternoon the girl sat at her window, reading. Her father was
+engaged in his duties at the school, and her mother had gone from home
+to take a bottle of wine to a sick neighbor and would probably remain
+away until evening. Kathinka was not alone, however, for she had the
+companionship of her books, more congenial entertainers than were the
+gossiping maidens of her intimate circle.
+
+Suddenly there was a knock at the door; before she could rise it was
+thrown open, and Loris Drentell stood before her. He deliberately closed
+the door again and placed his hat and coat upon a chair.
+
+Kathinka could not utter a word, so great was her consternation. Loris
+stood facing her for some moments in silence.
+
+"Kathinka," he said, at length, "I have come at the risk of offending
+you, to repeat the declaration I made some time ago; to tell you that I
+love you. Do you still bear me the ill-will that you evinced towards me
+then?"
+
+Kathinka rose from her chair and, drawing herself up to her full height,
+pointed to the door.
+
+"Go!" she said, "or I shall summon help."
+
+Loris smiled cynically.
+
+"Do not excite yourself unnecessarily," he said, coolly. "You are alone
+in the house. I know it, for I have been watching for some time and saw
+both your parents leave. It will be useless for you to call for
+assistance. Sit down and hear me out."
+
+Finding resistance useless, the girl fell back into her chair, and with
+a gesture of despair hid her face in her hands.
+
+"Miss Winenki," said Loris, quietly at first, but gradually becoming
+more passionate in his appeal, "do not judge me harshly for taking this
+means of seeing you. I knew of no other way of gaining your ear. I love
+you sincerely, madly. For the last two months I have been vainly
+struggling with this feeling, have been trying to conquer my
+infatuation, but I am ever haunted by the vision of your beauty. Do not
+turn from me as though I were unworthy of you. Think not of me as a
+cold, selfish man who lives but to satisfy the desires of a moment.
+Never had maiden so devoted a lover as I will be to you. I will grant
+your every wish, I will bestow upon you wealth and luxury. You shall be
+the envied of all the ladies of the land and I will have no other aim
+than to make you happy. Can you still doubt me when I, who might win the
+proudest in the Empire, now kneel at your feet and ask you to smile upon
+me?"
+
+Loris had fallen upon his knees and had seized the girl's hand, which he
+lifted passionately to his lips.
+
+Alone with this singular man, who seemed swayed only by his passions,
+Kathinka was overcome by a terror which robbed her of the power of
+speech. She could only gaze into Loris' upturned face in mute despair.
+
+Drentell interpreted her silence favorably, and with a joyful cry he
+arose and folded the astonished girl in his arms.
+
+"You will be mine, you will not reject my love? Turn your eyes upon me
+and make me happy with your smile. Do not struggle in my embrace, but
+tell me that you love me."
+
+By a violent effort Kathinka succeeded in freeing herself from his
+passionate clasp and now stood with her back to the wall. Her black eyes
+flashed with an angry fire, as she cried:
+
+"Count Drentell, you have taken advantage of my helplessness to intrude
+upon my privacy and have acted, not as befits a gentleman, but in a
+manner that one would scarcely expect from the meanest of your father's
+serfs. Let us understand one another. In spite of my repulses you still
+continue to assert that you love me."
+
+"To desperation," murmured the Count.
+
+"Were I to yield to your entreaties and accept your love, would you make
+me your wife? Would you present me to the world as the Countess
+Drentell? Answer me, sir!"
+
+Loris hesitated before replying.
+
+"I would surround you with all the luxury and pomp that money could
+command. I would make you the happiest of women."
+
+"I demand an unequivocal reply. Would you make me your wife?" insisted
+the girl.
+
+"Before God we would be man and wife."
+
+"Count Drentell, would you brave the anger of your father and the
+opinion of the entire court and present me, the Jewess, as your wife?"
+
+Loris looked for a moment at the flashing eyes of the indignant girl,
+and then his glance sought the floor.
+
+"I do not deny," he said, at length, "that there would be grave
+difficulties in the way of such a step. I fear the court would never
+recognize a Jewess as the Countess Drentell. But what of that? It is but
+an idle formality. Even though the world do not know of our
+relationship, we will be none the less man and wife."
+
+"In other words, you would make of me your puppet, your plaything, to be
+fondled to-day and cast aside to-morrow! You would have me renounce my
+family, my betrothed, my religion, my honor and my reputation, to
+become the creature of your pleasures until you weary of me! Vile
+wretch! you are a greater villain than I thought. Go, and never again
+darken my path with your presence."
+
+Loris uttered a cry of fury. He had counted upon an easy victory over
+the poor Jewess, and he saw his wicked dreams rudely disturbed. With one
+bound he was by the side of Kathinka and wound his arms about her.
+
+"So you think to brave me, poor fool!" he said, savagely. "You think to
+escape me! But I will have you yet; you shall be mine in spite of your
+petty scruples. If you will not come to my arms peaceably, I must use
+force; but come you shall!"
+
+He clasped the frail girl in both his arms, and lifting her up from the
+ground, he bore her towards the door. Anger and despair lent Kathinka
+tenfold strength. With a cry for help, she struggled in his embrace and
+by a mighty effort freed herself.
+
+Again, Loris, blinded by rage, seized her, and Kathinka, overcome by
+terror, uttered a piercing cry and fainted away.
+
+At that moment the door opened and Joseph Kierson entered the room. He
+was on his way to Kathinka's house and her cry of terror had lent wings
+to his feet. He rushed upon the Count and threw him to the floor. In an
+instant the two men were locked in each other's grasp, the hand of each
+upon the other's throat.
+
+The contest was almost equal. They were both of powerful physique and
+equally courageous and for some minutes the battle raged with varying
+success.
+
+Joseph was aware that upon his victory depended the honor of his
+betrothed and his own happiness; he believed that if the Count obtained
+the mastery, he would not scruple to kill him outright. He exerted all
+his strength and freed himself from the powerful clasp of his foe. Then
+he struck the Count so violent a blow as to render him senseless.
+
+Joseph paused for breath and for reflection. His first care was to
+restore Kathinka to consciousness, and he soon had the satisfaction of
+bringing her back to life. With a sigh she opened her eyes and turned
+them in gratitude upon her preserver. Then she gazed about her and, as
+her glance fell upon the prostrate form of the nobleman, she shuddered
+and stretched out her hands to Joseph. The young man helped her to her
+feet and led her to a sofa. In a few words she related all that had
+occurred previous to Joseph's arrival.
+
+A great difficulty now presented itself; how to dispose of the Count. A
+glance showed Kierson that he was not dead, yet it was almost half an
+hour before Loris regained his senses and with difficulty rose to his
+feet. His face was badly bruised and scratched, one eye being entirely
+closed. Kierson humanely went to his assistance, but Loris, with an
+oath, declined the proffered aid and moved slowly to the door.
+
+"You shall hear from me again," were his parting words; "my reckoning
+will come later on!"
+
+Passing out into the street, he entered the _droshka_ which was in
+waiting, and in which he had intended carrying off Kathinka, and was
+driven to his home.
+
+The Rabbi on his return was at once informed of the occurrence. While
+his daughter related her story, he walked up and down with clenched
+fists and heaving breast. He now realized, for the first time, the
+terrible danger which threatened his beloved child, and his indignation
+against the villain who had molested her found vent in vigorous
+language. At the same time he did not close his eyes to the fact that
+the rage of the baffled man would spend itself not only upon Kathinka
+but upon the whole Jewish population.
+
+"It is not likely," he said, after he had heard the end of the
+narrative, "that Drentell will allow the matter to rest. A man who is so
+unscrupulous as is this young tyrant, will go to extremes to carry out
+his purpose or to take vengeance upon those who have thwarted him. It is
+for your safety I fear most, Joseph, and I advise you to absent yourself
+from Kief for some time at least, until this affair has been forgotten."
+
+"Never!" cried Joseph, bravely, "I have but done my duty and I will
+abide the consequences. To leave Kief would be to abandon the promising
+career I have mapped out for myself; besides, Kathinka may again require
+my assistance. I shall remain."
+
+"You incur a great risk," admonished the Rabbi.
+
+"I will not seek to escape it by flight, but will remain here and meet
+the danger."
+
+Joseph returned to his parents' roof, but in spite of his courage he
+felt ill at ease. His parents heard him relate his adventures, and
+lifted their hearts in prayer to God to avert the catastrophe which they
+felt would in all probability follow the encounter between their boy and
+the Governor's son.
+
+Their fears were not unfounded. At eight o'clock that evening there was
+a rap at the door of old Kierson's dwelling, and two uniformed officers
+confronted the terror-stricken family.
+
+"We seek Joseph Kierson," said one of the soldiers.
+
+"I am he," answered the young man, with as much firmness as he could
+command.
+
+"I arrest you in the name of his majesty the Czar," continued the
+officer, placing a heavy hand upon the poor lad's shoulder.
+
+"Of what am I accused?" asked Joseph.
+
+"I do not know. Perhaps the warden of the prison can tell you."
+
+Joseph was well aware that resistance would make the matter worse.
+Kissing his weeping parents and offering them all the consolation in his
+power, he accompanied the officers to the prison, there to await the
+action of the Governor.
+
+Within an hour, the whole Jewish community knew the events of the day,
+and there were lamentations throughout the quarter, for the blow that
+had fallen upon the young man portended disaster to them all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+KIERSON'S ESCAPE.
+
+
+For weeks Joseph languished in prison, in total ignorance of the fate
+that awaited him. At first the Governor was too busy to attend to the
+case and it afterward slipped his memory entirely. For reasons of his
+own, Loris did not interfere. Although he had instigated the arrest of
+the Jew, he was careful not to inform his father of the true cause of
+the trouble. His injured eye and general appearance required some
+explanation and a drinking bout with some of the University students was
+given as the cause. For the preservation of order, however, he advocated
+the arrest of the offender and Kierson was taken into custody. Loris'
+course was not dictated by caprice. If his august father knew that he
+had sought an alliance with a daughter of the despised Hebrew race, he
+would vent his wrath upon Loris' head for compromising the honor of the
+noble family of Drentell.
+
+The punishment usually inflicted upon students for quarrelling among
+themselves was light and limited to a small fine. Kierson's was an
+aggravated offence, however. The dignity of the Governor's son had
+suffered, and as there was no precedent the case was allowed to drag on
+indefinitely. Loris used his influence with the authorities to keep
+Joseph in durance.
+
+Meanwhile, the Israelites were not idle. Convinced that Kierson had done
+nothing but his duty, they drew up a petition to the Governor, pleading
+for mercy. Rabbi Mendel himself carried the document to the palace,
+trusting to supplement the petition with his own eloquence.
+
+Alas! the time when Mendel Winenki was a power in the Governor's house
+had long since passed. There was a ruler now who knew not of the Rabbi
+and his deeds, and Mendel had not even the satisfaction of speaking to
+his excellency in person. He and his petition were referred to the Chief
+of Police, the official who was supposed to have the entire matter in
+charge.
+
+Sick at heart, Mendel sought that worthy functionary. He carefully read
+the petition, put it in his pocket and promised to look up the case and
+report it to the Governor as soon as possible.
+
+It was poor consolation that the Rabbi took to his people. Their
+petition had accomplished nothing. It was not even possible to discover
+where Joseph was concealed and whether he had already been sentenced or
+not. Kathinka was heart-broken. She knew not what to do. A praiseworthy
+impulse to go to the palace and throw herself at the Governor's feet was
+checked by the thought that Loris might be there to delight in her
+humiliation and to use his power to defeat her prayer.
+
+After several weeks of suspense, the poor girl received a letter. It was
+in a strange handwriting and she opened it with trembling hands. She
+glanced hastily at the signature and with a cry allowed the missive to
+fall to the ground.
+
+"What is it, Kathinka?" asked the Rabbi, who had been sitting near-by.
+
+"Read it, father; it is from Drentell!" cried his daughter.
+
+The Rabbi took the letter up anxiously and his eyes ran eagerly over its
+contents. Kathinka saw the deadly pallor that spread over his
+countenance, watched his quivering lip and darkening brow. He read to
+the end, and crumpling the letter in his hand, he threw himself upon the
+sofa in a paroxysm of grief. The girl who had never before seen her
+father so affected became seriously alarmed.
+
+"What is it, father? What does he write?" she asked.
+
+"Read it, my child; it is for you," sobbed the poor man. "Read it and
+decide," and he handed the letter to his daughter, while the tears ran
+down his cheeks.
+
+Kathinka, with varied emotions, opened out the paper and read the
+contents. The note was as follows:
+
+
+     BELOVED KATHINKA:--You will justly reproach me for having
+     remained silent so long, but do not attribute it to a waning of my
+     affection. I love you more devotedly, more tenderly than ever. Your
+     cruelty to me at our last interview has but served to fan the flame
+     of my passion. I have since thought only of you. I know your heart
+     is set against me on account of the arrest of your betrothed. Do
+     not blame me for having a hand in his incarceration. The law of the
+     land is severe, and although I exerted my influence, I was
+     powerless to stay its hand in the matter. Your friend is condemned
+     to a life-long exile in Siberia. It is a terrible fate, worse than
+     death itself. You alone can save him from it. Consent to come to
+     me, to share my heart, to make me the happiest of men, and I myself
+     will plead with the Governor and obtain his pardon. The day that
+     sees you at my side will restore your friend to liberty. Do not
+     deem me cruel. I would serve you if you but gave me the right to do
+     so. I await your reply. LORIS.
+
+
+When Kathinka had ceased reading, she dropped the letter and hid her
+burning head in her hands, while her body rocked with grief and despair.
+
+Her father gazed at her in silence, with a look of intense commiseration
+on his face.
+
+"What can I do?" she moaned, at length. "What would Joseph have me do?
+He would rather die a thousand deaths than owe his liberty to my
+degradation. Father, my duty is clear! Joseph is innocent of any crime
+and the God of Israel will protect him."
+
+"God bless you, my daughter," replied the Rabbi. "You have spoken well.
+Will you answer this letter?"
+
+"No, father; I shall treat it with contempt. The writer can draw his own
+conclusions from my silence."
+
+It was a sad day for both the Rabbi's and Kierson's families. The
+latter, much as they loved their only son, sincerely approved of
+Kathinka's decision.
+
+"If he must go to Siberia," they sobbed; "he will go without a sin upon
+his soul. We are all in the hands of the Almighty."
+
+Old Kierson thenceforth went daily to the police headquarters,
+endeavoring in vain to obtain information about his son. He found no
+one that could enlighten him as to his present condition or future fate,
+and he trudged homeward, feeling daily more sick at heart, more
+depressed in spirit.
+
+At the end of a week, Kathinka received a second letter from her
+persecutor. It was more offensive than the first. It stated that Joseph
+was still a prisoner; that owing to his (Loris') influence the sentence
+had not yet been carried out. There was still time to save him from
+ignominious exile. He hinted, moreover, at a movement to drive the Jews
+out of Kief and promised to avert the catastrophe if Kathinka yielded to
+his persuasions. There were passion and insult in every line.
+
+The poor girl was almost distracted with grief and mortification, the
+more so as it became necessary to take the entire Jewish community into
+the secret.
+
+Rabbi Mendel hastily summoned a meeting of the influential men of his
+congregation and laid the matter before them. There was great
+consternation when it was learned that a new danger threatened the race,
+but there was not one among them who would not have suffered the
+cruelest persecution rather than allow the Rabbi's daughter to sacrifice
+her honor for their salvation. It was impossible to form a plan of
+action, for as yet the peril that menaced them was too indefinite, but
+Mendel exhorted them to do nothing that might throw the slightest
+reproach upon Israel.
+
+The Governor's animosity towards the Jews now became manifest. The acts
+of intolerance were in themselves insignificant, but they were like the
+distant rumblings of thunder that precede the storm and were not easily
+mistaken by the poor Hebrews.
+
+Because of Kierson's thrashing the ruler's son, an edict was issued
+expelling Jewish students from the University of Kief. Some time after,
+a Jew who, through Mendel's influence during Pomeroff's palmy days had
+obtained the office of under-secretary to a police magistrate, was
+summarily dismissed "because he was a Hebrew." Then followed an edict
+restricting the attendance of Jewish children at the public schools, and
+expelling all children whose parents had not resided in the city for at
+least ten years, retaining the others only upon the payment of an
+exorbitant tax which none but the wealthy could afford. These and many
+other petty acts of intolerance caused the Jews no little uneasiness.
+
+One day Rabbi Winenki was sitting in his study. It was raining in
+torrents without, and the landscape appeared deluged and desolate. The
+Rabbi gazed out at the dismal scene and sighed regretfully as he thought
+of those whose occupations compelled them to remain out of doors in such
+miserable weather.
+
+Suddenly the door was thrown open and Joseph came, or rather rushed,
+into the room. His face was pale as death; his garments, torn and
+tattered, were soaked with rain. He had become thin through long
+confinement and every line of his features betokened abject misery.
+
+The Rabbi started as though he beheld a spectre, but seeing that the
+young man was about to sink to the floor exhausted, he sprang to his
+feet and helped him to a chair.
+
+"What, Joseph! God be praised! Kathinka, Recha, come quickly," he cried,
+running to the door leading to an adjoining apartment. "Bring some
+brandy."
+
+Kathinka was not long in coming, and unmindful of his appearance, with a
+cry of joy, she fell upon Joseph's bosom and kissed him rapturously.
+
+"Oh, Joseph, I am so happy!" murmured the girl. "Are you free, entirely
+free?"
+
+Joseph gasped for breath. He could not speak. The Rabbi hastily poured
+some liquor into a glass which Recha had brought and held it to the
+young man's lips. The draught seemed to revive him.
+
+"Hurry," he whispered, looking about him, anxiously; "hide me somewhere
+before the officers come after me."
+
+A look of disappointment passed over the Rabbi's face.
+
+"Then you are not acquitted?" he asked.
+
+"No! I escaped. I'll tell you all about it, but not here. They might
+come and find me. Let us go upstairs, anywhere out of sight. Send for my
+parents! It would be dangerous for me to visit them, but I must see them
+before I leave."
+
+"You are not going away again!" cried Kathinka.
+
+"I must. It is death to remain here!"
+
+The Rabbi supported the young man while he went to an upper floor, and
+leaving him to the ministrations of his wife and daughter, he despatched
+a messenger to the Kiersons to inform them of the arrival of the
+unexpected guest.
+
+By the time they were all assembled, Joseph had, in a measure revived
+and recovered his cheerful spirits.
+
+"But where have you been and what have you been doing?" asked the Rabbi,
+after the first loving greetings had been exchanged.
+
+"I have been in a terrible place," sighed the student, shuddering at the
+mere recollection of his experience. "When I was taken from home I was
+led to the jail near the barracks, up in the Petcherskoi quarter, and
+without a trial, without a hearing of any kind, I was thrown into a
+cell about five feet square. After my eyes had become accustomed to the
+darkness, I looked about me. In one corner I found a bed of straw with a
+cover as thin as paper. A broken chair and a rough wooden basin
+completed the furniture. The place reeked with corruption and filth, and
+the stench was almost unbearable. Of the vile food they placed before
+me, I could eat nothing except the bread. It was _trefa_, but had it
+been prepared according to our rites, its nauseating appearance would
+have caused me to reject it.
+
+"There I lay for weeks, perhaps months, for I lost all reckoning of
+time, without knowing what was to be done with me. I almost wished they
+would send me to Siberia, so that I might escape that foul atmosphere.
+If their jails are so terrible, what must be the condition of their
+Troubetzkoi prison?"
+
+"Poor boy," sobbed his father, "what a terrible experience you have had.
+But tell us, how did you escape?"
+
+"By the merest accident. They recently changed the warden of the prison,
+and the new incumbent, a kind-hearted man, at once visited the cells and
+inquired into the charges upon which each prisoner was detained. When he
+heard my story, he evinced the greatest surprise, and on investigating
+the matter, he came to the conclusion that I had been forgotten by the
+authorities, as it was not customary to detain a prisoner so long upon
+so slight an offence. The charge against me was simply participating in
+a student's quarrel, and the warden was inclined to be lenient with me.
+He at once made inquiries concerning my future fate, and learned that I
+was to be kept a prisoner until my punishment had been definitely
+decided upon. As there was no order to keep me in a cell, the warden
+allowed me to roam about the prison at will, and I made myself generally
+useful about the place. I tried to write to you, to inform you of my
+condition, but it was forbidden. To-day, the warden sent his assistant
+to town upon an errand, and he himself went down into one of the lower
+corridors to dispose of some new prisoners. He had left his keys upon
+his table. At last I saw liberty within reach! There was nobody about. I
+seized the keys, unlocked the outer gates and ran for my life. I feared
+I would be seen and recognized if I came directly through Kief, so I ran
+to the outskirts of the town and came here by a roundabout road. I have
+walked and run for the last two hours, through mud and rain, through
+swamps and ditches, until my feet would support me no longer. I thought
+I would never get here."
+
+"And if you should be discovered?" asked the Rabbi.
+
+"Then I will be taken back and treated more harshly than before. I would
+rather die than go back to that dreary cell. It is dangerous for you to
+harbor me. I must leave here at once, this very night."
+
+"Where will you go?" asked Kathinka, who was seated at the sufferer's
+side, and wiped the perspiration from his fevered brow.
+
+"I do not know. Anywhere! Wherever I can find friends to succor me, and
+where I can occasionally hear from you and see you."
+
+Mendel reflected a moment.
+
+"The Rabbi of Berditchef is my friend," he said, at length. "Go to him.
+I will give you a letter of introduction, and he will do all in his
+power to assist you. It is not far from here. If you start on foot
+to-night you can reach the place by morning."
+
+"Oh, you surely are not going to-night, and in such weather," cried the
+girl. "Don't leave us yet, Joseph; stay with us. We will conceal you."
+
+"Don't make my departure harder than I can bear, Kathinka. I must
+go--for your sake as well as for mine. I tremble even now, lest they
+should discover me. I will go to Berditchef for the present."
+
+"And your aspirations for a physician's career--what will become of
+them?" asked his father.
+
+Joseph sighed, and his eyes were dimmed with tears.
+
+"It will be hard to give up my plans, but I see no alternative."
+
+"Don't worry, my boy," said the Rabbi, consolingly. "There are more ways
+than one to make an honorable living. Honesty, thrift and energy will
+enable you to succeed in any undertaking. Whether you be a doctor or a
+cobbler, we will not think the less of you, and I am sure Kathinka will
+love you none the less."
+
+Kathinka threw her arms about her lover's neck and clung to him
+affectionately. Joseph's face brightened.
+
+"Get me something to eat," sighed the young man, "for I am famished and
+the way is long."
+
+A meal was hastily brought, and a substantial lunch was prepared by
+Kathinka's hands, to cheer the wanderer upon his lonely path.
+
+Night came. The storm had not abated, the wind still moaned and the rain
+fell in torrents. It was a wretched night for a foot-journey to
+Berditchef, and Joseph's mother and his affianced endeavored to persuade
+the young man to postpone his journey until morning.
+
+Joseph shook his head, sorrowfully.
+
+"I would be recaptured if I waited. No, I have no time to lose; every
+moment is precious. Think of me, my dear ones, and pray for me. When I
+can do so in safety, I shall return to Kief; until then, God bless you
+all."
+
+Kissing his weeping friends farewell, he wrapped himself in a stout
+mantle which the Rabbi had procured for him, and stepped out into the
+inhospitable night.
+
+For a time the sorrow-stricken families wept silently; then Mendel
+advised the Kiersons to return to their home at once.
+
+"If the police follow him," he said, "they will naturally search your
+dwelling first. It will be unfortunate if they find you absent, and
+might lead to inquiries which would give them a clue to his whereabouts.
+As it is, you can truthfully say that he has not shown himself in your
+house."
+
+The old people acted upon the suggestion and reached their house not a
+moment too soon. They had scarcely entered before a number of officers
+demanded admittance and began a thorough search of the premises.
+Satisfied by the replies of the lad's parents that he had not visited
+the house, they withdrew in no very amiable humor to continue their
+investigations at the house of the Rabbi, where they were equally
+unsuccessful. Failing to trace him in the Jewish quarter, the officers
+returned to the fortress and reported their lack of success to the
+warden. This worthy was at first inclined to lose his temper, but he
+finally shrugged his shoulders and muttered:
+
+"Let him go, poor fellow! He has been here nearly two months, and that
+is punishment enough for having thrashed a man, were that man the
+Governor himself."
+
+A few days later, Kathinka received two letters. The first she opened
+was from Joseph. It announced his safe arrival in Berditchef and his
+kind reception by the Rabbi's friend, who had at once found him
+congenial employment. It abounded in expressions of affection and
+undying love. Kathinka pressed it to her lips and, with an overflowing
+heart, thanked the Almighty that her lover was safe.
+
+The second letter was from Loris. It, too, was full of passionate
+yearning, but its flowery phrases created a feeling of intense disgust.
+The Count, evidently ignorant of Joseph's escape, ended his missive with
+the assurance that unless Kathinka acceded to his demands, her friend
+would be sent to Siberia on the morrow.
+
+Kathinka threw the paper into the fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+AN ATTEMPT UPON THE CZAR.
+
+
+Kathinka remained unmolested for some time, not because Loris had ceased
+to admire her, but because the young Count was condemned to a
+twelve-months' absence from Kief. This unsuspected stroke of good
+fortune for the girl happened in this wise:
+
+Towards the end of the year 1879, it became very evident that Nihilism
+was spreading to an alarming extent in the army. Four officers of Loris'
+regiment were arrested on a charge of disseminating revolutionary
+pamphlets and were summarily exiled. Another officer had assisted eight
+political offenders to escape and was kept in close confinement. General
+Drentell, in consequence, declared Kief, Kharkov and other districts
+under martial law.
+
+A stormy scene took place between the Governor and his son Loris, in
+which the former, mindful of the latter's past escapades, expressed his
+belief that his son was implicated in the plots of his comrades, while
+Loris indignantly denied all knowledge of the matter.
+
+"Listen to me, Loris!" said the General, purple with rage. "I saved your
+life once, at the risk of losing my own. As true as St. Nicholas hears
+us, if ever you repeat your plottings, I shall be as inexorable as
+though you were the meanest of the Czar's subjects."
+
+Loris saw that his father was in earnest and recoiled before the wrath
+of the stern old soldier. He again asserted his ignorance of any
+conspiracy.
+
+Not knowing how many more officers of the regiment were implicated,
+Drentell decided to transfer the entire division to another district, in
+the hope of severing any connection which might exist between the men
+and the Revolutionary Committee.
+
+Loris had to obey the order and accompany his regiment to the steppes of
+Central Russia, where he remained until the active disorders in Kief a
+year later recalled him.
+
+Nihilism was not to be rooted out by the removal of any particular set
+of men. It had spread its branches among all classes and conditions of
+society, and the number of its adherents was increasing with alarming
+rapidity.
+
+The martyr who unflinchingly faces death for the sake of his faith, the
+Nihilist who exposes himself to imprisonment or death in the hope of
+attaining constitutional liberty, are examples of the heroic endurance
+of minds exalted by principle. The Jew's devotion to his religion has
+always been most intense when intolerance and persecution were at their
+height. In like manner the love of liberty is developed to its greatest
+extent when despotism seeks to stifle it.
+
+
+  "Brightest in dungeons, liberty thou art,
+  For there the habitation is the heart."
+
+
+Twenty-one persons were arrested in Kief, and almost as many in Kharkov,
+and still Nihilism was not stamped out. Phoenix-like it arose from the
+ashes of its martyrs.
+
+On February the 17th, 1880, just as the imperial family were about to
+dine, a mine was exploded beneath the winter palace, the guard-room was
+demolished, ten soldiers were killed and forty-five wounded; but, the
+divinity which sometimes hedges a king preserved the royal family from
+harm.
+
+Excitement was intense. A commission of public safety, with authority to
+preserve order at any cost, was at once appointed, with General Melikoff
+at the head.
+
+On the second day of March, during the festival, General Melikoff was
+shot at as he alighted from his carriage. The would-be assassin was so
+close that the General struck him in the face, and the man was arrested.
+
+At the trial it was discovered that the malefactor was a baptized Jew,
+by the name of Wadetsky Minsk. The trial excited universal interest. The
+culprit was asked by the judge why he had deserted his faith.
+
+"Because I found it impossible to live as a Jew," he replied, bitterly.
+"You took from me my children to send them to the army; you deprived me
+of the lands I had cultivated and left me penniless; you despised and
+degraded me, and when I had suffered until the fibres of my heart were
+torn, you showed me a glowing picture of the happiness that awaited me
+here and in heaven if I became a Christian. I allowed myself to be
+baptized."
+
+Minsk paused, and the expression of his face showed the mental anguish
+he was at that moment enduring. Suddenly, he continued, with great
+vehemence:
+
+"Yes, I became a Christian, or rather a godless hypocrite, who had
+bartered away the sympathy of his co-religionists as well as his
+self-respect. How did you treat me after I had embraced your faith?
+Humiliations, worse than any I had experienced as a Jew, were showered
+upon me. I was regarded as something impure, shunned and execrated. It
+was too late to turn back, and in spite of your treatment, I remained a
+Christian, I adhered to the glorious faith which teaches 'Peace on earth
+and good-will to men.' In sheer desperation, I joined the band of
+unfortunates as reckless as myself, whose self-imposed mission it is to
+pave the way to liberty."
+
+Minsk preserved a defiant demeanor throughout the trial. He made no
+defence, nor did he endeavor to have his punishment mitigated. His
+condemnation followed, as a matter of course.
+
+The scaffold found him unsubdued.
+
+"My attempt has failed," he cried, "but think not that General Melikoff
+is safe! After me will come a second, and after him a third. Melikoff
+must fall, and the Czar will not long survive him."
+
+The fifth of March witnessed his death struggles upon the scaffold.
+
+Darker and darker it grew in Israel. The sun of its brief prosperity was
+gradually becoming obscured by heavy clouds of intolerance and
+fanaticism, clouds which did not display the proverbial silver lining of
+hope and comfort. This was a period of great activity for Mikail; never
+before had he found such congenial employment. After making a series of
+one-sided investigations, in which he interrogated principally those who
+had real or imaginary cause for complaint against the Hebrews, the
+priest embodied his conclusions in a book, entitled "The Annihilation of
+the Jews." Unquenchable hatred breathed in every page. With a cunning
+hand, he subverted facts to suit his fancy. He drew a vivid picture of
+the great dissatisfaction existing because the Hebrews were achieving
+success in various branches of enterprise to the exclusion of the
+gentiles. With peculiar logic he argued that sooner or later quarrels
+must ensue between the races, that if there were no Jews there could be
+no trouble, and that they should therefore be driven out of the country.
+His work accused the Jews of thriving almost entirely upon usury and
+gross dishonesty, in spite of the fact that many of the chief industries
+of Russia were in the hands of thrifty and honorable Israelites. It
+purposed to forbid the Jews from keeping inns, on the ground that they
+fostered intemperance, in the face of statistics which showed
+drunkenness to be most prevalent in provinces where no Jews are allowed
+to reside. It finally advised the confiscation of all property belonging
+to the Jews and the summary expulsion of the despised race from the
+Empire.
+
+Such a book, at a time when rulers and people were alike eager for
+sensation, acted like a firebrand. The newspapers, knowing that the
+author was a member of the commission appointed by the Czar to
+investigate the conduct of the Jews and that his work would receive the
+imperial sanction, published extracts from its pages and commented
+editorially upon its arguments. Mikail's conclusions were accepted, and
+the cry rang throughout Russia, "Down with the Jews!" In all the land
+there was not a man who dared raise his voice in defence of the
+unfortunate people.
+
+That Minsk, the would-be slayer of Melikoff, had once been a Jew, served
+to increase the outcry against the race. Of the scores of Nihilists who
+had already been executed not one was alluded to as a Catholic, although
+that church claimed them as her own; but the newspapers added the word
+"Jew" every time they had occasion to mention his name.
+
+There were as yet no open hostilities in Russia. The great majority of
+laborers and _moujiks_ knew nothing of this agitation. They lived in
+peace with their Jewish neighbors, on whom many were dependent for work
+and wages. For the best of reasons, they did not read the newspapers and
+they cared little for the vague rumors of discontent that now and then
+assailed their ears. Occasionally there were quarrels, but these were
+unimportant and of rare occurrence.
+
+A dispute arose one day in the shop of a man named Itikoff. A thief
+entered his place and having requested the proprietor to get him a
+certain article he rifled the money-box the moment the Jew's back was
+turned. Itikoff saw the act in a mirror, and turning suddenly he seized
+the man by the neck and beat him severely. The man's cries brought a
+crowd to the door who, seeing a fellow-gentile maltreated by a Jew, at
+once set upon the unfortunate shopkeeper and brutally assaulted him.
+They then sacked his shop and threw his merchandise into the street,
+whence it was quickly removed by the assembled mob. A number of
+policemen arrived and arrested Itikoff for instigating a riot. Despite
+his pleading he was carried to jail, and only released upon the payment
+of a fine of two hundred roubles.[19]
+
+Such occasional incidents, while they were characteristic of Russian
+justice, were not of a nature to foster good feeling between the Jews
+and the gentiles.
+
+Then came the event of March 3, 1881. Through the mighty Empire flashed
+the awful news, "The Czar has been assassinated!" For a time all other
+affairs were left in the background. Before that dire catastrophe the
+petty quarrels of the races faded into insignificance. Jew and gentile
+alike met to mourn over their ruler and looked forward with pleasant
+anticipation to the accession of the new Czar, Alexander III., to the
+throne. The Nihilists, satisfied with their work, rested upon their arms
+and waited to see if the new Emperor would yield to their demands. The
+agitators who had conceived the crusade against the Jews as a means of
+diverting public attention from St. Petersburg had been unsuccessful and
+for the time being found their occupation gone. The Jew-haters,
+Drentell, Mikail and others, were busy at the capital, currying favor
+with the new government, and the poor Jews breathed more freely and
+enjoyed a brief respite from danger.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 19: See report of "Russian Outrages," in _London Times_.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+THE RIOTS AT ELIZABETHGRAD.
+
+
+Terrible is the havoc wrought by the elements, the devastating flash,
+the furious wind; appalling is the destruction of the roaring flames,
+the all-devouring flood; but what elements can measure their forces with
+the fury of man, once he has torn asunder the bonds of reason and rushes
+madly and irresistibly onwards toward the accomplishment of his
+passionate desires.
+
+
+  "Gefaehrlich ist's den Leu zu wecken,
+  Verderblich ist des Tigers Zahn;
+  Jedoch das schrecklichste der Schrecken,
+  Das ist der Mensch in seinem Wahn."
+
+
+The animosity of the Russians towards the Jews had not ceased, it had
+only been held in check for a final onslaught. The unfortunate year 1881
+dawned upon the Hebrews. Its beginning found them hopeful, and confident
+that for the future trouble would be averted; its close left them the
+victims of a cruel and relentless persecution. We would gladly spare the
+reader the harrowing details of this most atrocious of outbreaks, but we
+must follow the fortunes of our friends to the end.
+
+The meagre statements which found their way into our newspapers merely
+announced that riots against the Jews had occurred here and there, but
+were of so general a nature that they failed to impress the imagination.
+They never evoked pictures of the terrible scenes which actually
+occurred: men murdered, women outraged, infants butchered--arson,
+pillage, slaughter and lust combined.
+
+The ceaseless workings and writings of Mikail and other members of his
+commission, had gradually aroused the fury of the masses. Their
+utterances were not only repeated in every _kretschma_, but were grossly
+exaggerated. Professional agitators, who had nothing to lose and
+everything to gain by promoting a race quarrel, were actively at work
+among the people, keeping alive the flame of hatred which they had taken
+such pains to kindle.
+
+Elizabethgrad, a large city to the south of Kief, containing ten
+thousand Jews, was their first point of attack. Weeks before the event,
+proclamations were posted throughout the district, calling upon the
+inhabitants to throw off the yoke of the Jews and fixing Wednesday,
+April 27th, as the day for the general uprising. Copies of a fictitious
+_ukase_, commanding that the property of the Jews be confiscated and
+handed over to the Christians, were freely circulated and universally
+accepted as emanating from the Czar. Every lying accusation which had
+ever been employed against the Jews since the rise of Christianity was
+unearthed and used with telling effect. The atrocious calumny that the
+Jews required the blood of Christian children for their Passover rites
+was poured into eager ears. For a similar accusation the early
+Christians were tortured by the Romans, and in their days of prosperity
+they in their turn employed it against the Jews.
+
+The Israelites were paralyzed with terror at the fate which hung over
+them. The most influential of their number waited upon the Governor, who
+after much deliberation received them. He listened with well-feigned
+attention, while the Jews proved that they were law-abiding and that the
+accusations against them were unjust. He smiled pityingly when they had
+finished, and, reminding them that they were in God's hands, dismissed
+them. No further notice was taken of their appeal.
+
+On the twenty-seventh day of April came the crisis.
+
+In a _cabaret_, kept by a Jew named Kirsanoff, a religious dispute
+arose. The matter was of small importance, but it led to a scuffle by
+which a large crowd of idlers was attracted. The mob grew in numbers and
+in lawlessness, and having ejected the proprietor of the shop, they
+proceeded to despoil the place of its liquors. Inflamed by their copious
+libations, the rioters were ripe for any excess. At this moment there
+arose a ringleader, a man whom no one knew, but who had been active for
+some weeks past in stirring up the neighborhood. He mounted a cask and
+addressed the maddened crowd:
+
+"My friends," he cried, "your time has come! On to the Jewish quarter!
+Kill, destroy, take what you can! The Czar gives you their property."
+
+With a rallying shout he left the inn, the crowd following close upon
+his heels.
+
+"Down with the Jews!" arose the cry, and, as the mob increased, it was
+repeated by a thousand intoxicated wretches.
+
+Then began a wild destruction of property. Shops and warehouses were
+attacked and their contents carried out into the street, to be destroyed
+or carried away. Costly linens and works of art, fine furniture and
+articles of apparel were served alike. What was too bulky to be stolen
+was carried into the street and burned. A dozen bonfires roared and
+blazed in the Jewish quarter.
+
+The Jews could no longer look passively upon this wanton destruction.
+Hastily conferring, they placed themselves under the leadership of one
+of their merchants, one Zoletwenski, a powerful and courageous man.
+Armed with clubs and such rude weapons as were within their reach, they
+hurried to the scene and attempted to defend their own. Alas! the little
+group was soon routed by the infuriated mob. Their resistance served
+only to increase the anger of their assailants, who now left the shops
+and turned their attention to the dwellings of the Hebrews.
+
+Zolotwenski's house was the first to be attacked. Down crashed the door
+and a hundred excited brutes forced their way through the house. They
+seized his wife, whom they found in bed sick and helpless, and choked
+her into insensibility. They followed his two daughters to a room in the
+upper story in which they had locked themselves, and with threats of
+vengeance worse than death they broke open the door. The poor girls
+threw themselves from the window to the ground below.
+
+In the meantime, the Rabbi, accompanied by a number of his congregation,
+again hastened to the Governor's palace and besought him to protect the
+innocent women and children. This time the appeal bore fruit. The
+Governor promised to call out the military, and an hour afterwards a
+detachment of soldiers appeared upon the scene. At first they stood by,
+amused spectators, cheering the mob whenever it broke into a dwelling,
+taunting the poor women who ran hither and thither in frantic endeavors
+to escape the wretches who pursued them; but later in the day the
+temptation to join the plunderers proved irresistible, and the soldiers
+became active participants in the outrages which continually increased
+in brutality. Indeed, the leaders of the soldiers soon assumed command
+of the mob, and, with a refinement of cruelty, incited the people to
+lust rather than to pillage.
+
+A number of rioters and soldiers broke into the dwelling of an old man
+named Pelikoff. The poor fellow had carried his sixteen-year-old
+daughter to the attic and barricaded the door. In vain his resistance.
+The rusty lock yielded to the onslaught from without; twenty men
+precipitated themselves into the apartment, and twenty men threw
+themselves upon the trembling child.
+
+"Kill me," cried Pelikoff, "but spare my innocent daughter!"
+
+"To the devil with them both!" laughed the leader.
+
+Pelikoff fought with desperation. With his bare fists he felled two of
+the stalwart soldiers to the ground, but he was no match against the
+overpowering numbers. They seized him in their arms, carried him to the
+roof, and hurled him over into the street below, while a dozen of the
+ruffians attacked the unfortunate girl. When sympathizing friends
+visited the house next day, they found the child dead, and Pelikoff a
+hopeless maniac.
+
+Night brought a cessation of hostilities, but not a glimmer of hope.
+
+With early dawn, the outrages recommenced. The synagogue now became the
+point of attack. Thither many of the women and children had fled for
+refuge, and the mob, actuated rather by lust than by love of plunder,
+proceeded to demolish the building, which they set on fire. The poor
+women, as they fled from the burning pile, were set upon and cruelly
+assaulted by the rioters. All that day and the next, the Hebrew quarter
+was at the mercy of the savages. What the ax did not crush, fire
+destroyed. Five hundred houses and over one hundred stores and shops
+were ransacked; whole streets were demolished; property to the value of
+two million roubles was destroyed, and upwards of twenty people lost
+their lives while defending their possessions or their honor.
+
+Thus ended the first anti-semitic riot. The plans for General Drentell's
+vengeance, through Mikail the priest, were in a fair way of being
+realized.[20]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+RABBI AND PRIEST MEET.
+
+
+The enemies of the Jews persisted in their attacks. Ignorant greed,
+commercial rivalry, religious intolerance, all played their part in
+shaping coming events. The mobs soon had ringleaders; unscrupulous
+agitators who counted on the gain they could derive from a general
+pillage of the property of the wealthy Israelites.
+
+The greatest terror reigned in Kief. But for the example of a few
+energetic men, prominent among whom was Rabbi Winenki, the Hebrew
+population would have been in despair.
+
+Thousands of Jews, driven out of Elizabethgrad by the atrocities
+committed at that place, fled to Kief and implored shelter of their
+hospitable co-religionists. They were for the greater part destitute of
+the commonest necessities of life. Their appeal was not in vain. The
+charitable Jews opened their houses, and there was scarcely a home that
+did not entertain one or more refugees.
+
+Rabbi Winenki hastily called a conference of his friends to devise means
+of assisting these unfortunates to emigrate. The project met with
+immediate approval, and an association was formed to aid all those who
+desired to find a home in distant America.
+
+General Drentell heard of this benevolent undertaking, and while he was
+not unwilling to drive the Jews out of the Empire, he deemed it the duty
+of the Israelites to consult with him before engaging in any project
+which would deprive the Czar of his subjects. He therefore sent a
+communication to the Rabbi, stating that he had no objection to such a
+committee as had been formed, provided it was created under the auspices
+of the Government. It was customary, he said, for the ruling family to
+be identified with all movements of this sort, and as an evidence of
+good-will towards the Jews, his wife, Countess Louise, desired to be
+elected Honorary President of the newly-organized society.
+
+The Israelites received this communication with undisguised contempt.
+The Rabbi denounced the inconsistency of the Governor, who had hitherto
+never denied his animosity towards the Jews, but who now desired to pose
+as their benefactor. A resolution was adopted declining to honor the
+Countess Drentell with the office she coveted.
+
+The Governor seized upon this as a pretext for the wickedest measures
+against the unfortunate people. The following day, placards were issued
+from a secret printing-press in Kief, and distributed throughout the
+town and surrounding country, declaring that the Czar had confiscated
+the property of the Jews and had presented it to his loyal subjects.
+Wherever the commiserating face of a Madonna gazed down from her icon,
+there hung one of these placards, which was destined to let loose the
+worst passions of which man is capable. As if this were not potent
+enough, Mikail the priest travelled in person through the province,
+denouncing the Jews, and exhorting the orthodox Russians to wreak
+vengeance upon them for real or fictitious crimes.
+
+On came the flood which, once started, threatened to engulf the entire
+Jewish population of Russia.
+
+On May 6th, the mob attacked the Hebrew quarter at Smielo, and thirteen
+men were killed, twenty wounded and sixteen hundred left without homes.
+
+It was authoritatively announced that a riot would begin in Kief on
+Sunday, the eighth of May. On weekdays the _moujiks_ were for the
+greater part in the fields hard at work, while on Sunday they were free
+to take part in the plunder and destruction.
+
+The seventh was a sad day for our friends. It was the Sabbath, the last
+that many of them would live to celebrate. The synagogues were filled to
+overflowing with weeping women and terror-stricken men. There was no
+hope, no consolation anywhere. Sadly and sorrowfully the services
+proceeded, each worshipper praying as though his end were close at hand.
+Not even the inspiring words of Rabbi Winenki could cheer them. In vain
+he recalled the many miraculous deliverances of their forefathers, and
+exhorted his hearers to place their faith in Jehovah. His sermon but
+increased the gloom which hung over the congregation.
+
+During the afternoon a delegation, headed by Mendel, proceeded to the
+Governor's palace and begged for an interview. They were admitted into
+the cabinet, where Governor Drentell, his wife and the Catholic priest
+Mikail awaited them. Mikail was sitting at a table, writing.
+
+"You wish to see me," said the Governor, curtly. "What is it you want?"
+
+"Your excellency," began Mendel, with some hesitation, "we need scarcely
+remind you of the fact that we have always been loyal subjects; that we
+have never knowingly committed a wrong against the State, and that we
+have through our thrift and industry sought to add to the wealth of the
+country. We are now threatened with a serious calamity, one which will
+rob us of our hard-earned possessions and may possibly deprive us of our
+lives. Your excellency will surely not permit this outrage to be visited
+upon us. It lies in your power to prevent it and we beseech you, in the
+name of twenty thousand of the Czar's faithful subjects, who are now
+crowded in Kief, to vouchsafe us your gracious protection."
+
+The Governor listened impatiently. When Mendel had finished speaking, he
+said:
+
+"I do not see how I can help you. The Czar himself has declared your
+property forfeited, and I am afraid the people will insist upon their
+rights."
+
+"But the pretended _ukase_ confiscating our property is false!" cried
+Mendel, with great indignation. "Your excellency knows it is but an
+invention of a body of men who wish to enrich themselves at the cost of
+our people. Your excellency surely cannot allow such outrages to be
+perpetrated!"
+
+"Moderate your language, man," cried the Governor, angrily, rising from
+his chair, "or you will find yourself outside the palace doors."
+
+"I beg your excellency's pardon," answered Mendel, meekly, "if grief has
+made me disrespectful. In the name of my co-religionists, I desire to
+offer a proposition. If our property falls to the Czar's subjects, it is
+certainly better to preserve it intact than to expose it to the savage
+attacks of the rioters. If your excellency permits, we will bring you
+the keys of our houses and submit to any measures you may see fit to
+take. If the _ukase_ is true, the property will revert to the State
+uninjured; if it is not true, your excellency will have the humanity to
+restore us to our rights."
+
+The Governor, surprised at this unexpected and unique proposition, found
+himself without a reply. He glanced significantly at the priest.
+
+"What do you say, Mikail?" he asked.
+
+Mikail, who had been apparently absorbed in writing, but who had not
+lost a word of the discussion, now arose, and in his deep, sonorous
+voice, answered:
+
+"The _ukase_ is true, your excellency, and we have no right to render it
+nugatory. For twenty years the Jews have enjoyed equal rights with the
+Christians, and every endeavor has been made to assimilate them with the
+other inhabitants. In vain. The Jews constantly abused their new
+liberties, and by their acts brought upon themselves the ill-will of the
+entire nation. They form a state within the State, governing themselves
+by their own code of laws, which are often antagonistic to those of the
+land. I need not recapitulate the acts of cruelty they have perpetrated
+upon defenceless Christians, the wiles they have employed to defraud
+their creditors, or the usury for which they are notorious. I need not
+allude to the fact that they have driven the Catholic Russians from
+profitable fields of labor, and have appropriated to themselves every
+branch of trade. These acts and many others have now called forth the
+protests of the people, and the result is violence and robbery. It would
+be useless to control the mob, your excellency, for the wrongs under
+which they smart have driven them to desperation."
+
+While Mikail was speaking, Mendel gazed at him as though fascinated. He
+could not take his eyes from the handsome features and commanding form
+of the monk. He must have seen him before, he thought--but where?
+Suddenly the priest's resemblance to his own father struck him as
+remarkable.
+
+Ordinarily, the priest's unjust accusations would have called forth a
+vigorous protest from the Rabbi, but now he suddenly found himself
+bereft of reasoning power; he could but look upon his adversary in awe
+and wonder. The priest turned, and by the movement exposed his mutilated
+ear. The lobe had been torn completely off. Where could he have seen
+that ear before? Mendel stared as though in a dream. He struggled with
+his memory, but it failed him; all appeared a perfect blank. Then the
+priest, in the course of his denunciations, became more vehement than
+before, and made a movement with his left hand. The arm was stiff at the
+elbow, and the gesture appeared unnatural and restrained. Still Mendel
+looked and tried to reflect. That arm awoke a strange train of thoughts.
+His mind appeared sluggish to-day; he could remember nothing.
+
+Suddenly the Rabbi uttered a piercing cry. Yes, it all came back to him
+now.
+
+"Jacob!" he cried, advancing towards the priest. "My brother Jacob
+arrayed against his own people!"
+
+The monk recoiled a step and looked at the Jew in surprise.
+
+"Is the man mad?" he asked, addressing the Governor.
+
+"No; I am not mad," cried Mendel, excitedly. "As true as there is a God
+above us, you are my brother Jacob!"
+
+The priest, fully believing that the Rabbi had suddenly become insane,
+recoiled a step and drew his garments about him. The Governor glanced
+significantly at his wife, who had become as pale as death.
+
+The Rabbi was unable to control his excitement.
+
+"Jacob, my brother," he cried again; "do you not remember me, Mendel? Do
+you not remember our home in Togarog? Do you not recollect how we were
+both stolen away from home on the night of my _bar-mitzvah_; how we were
+taken to Kharkov by the soldiers, and how we escaped and fled into the
+country? Do you not remember how we travelled along, weary and
+foot-sore, until you could no longer walk, and I ran to a neighboring
+village for assistance? When I returned, you had disappeared. Jacob, do
+you remember nothing?"
+
+Mikail stood with his head buried in his hands, drinking in every word
+of the gesticulating Rabbi.
+
+Yes; he did remember something; indistinctly, of course, but as each
+event was recalled it evoked a corresponding picture in his brain. Many
+things suddenly became clear which had been hitherto shrouded in
+mystery. The secret of his birth, concerning which he had so often
+questioned Countess Drentell without receiving a satisfactory reply, the
+indistinct recollection of strange events, and, finally, the familiarity
+of the ritual in the synagogue. When Mendel had ceased speaking, he
+turned abruptly to the Countess, who, pale and agitated, was standing by
+the side of her husband. Surprise, anger, passion were portrayed in the
+priest's flashing eye and contracted features, and Louise shrank from
+him as he approached her.
+
+"Madam," he said, hoarsely, "what can I say in reply to this charge? You
+have been my protectress from childhood. Tell this man that he lies,
+that I am not the brother of a Jew."
+
+The Countess' lips parted, but neither she nor the Count found a reply.
+
+"See, their silence speaks for me!" cried Mendel, almost joyfully.
+"Jacob, it is true! I could not be mistaken. Your image has never left
+me since we parted on the highway, and I recognized you at once by your
+resemblance to our father, and by your torn ear and crippled arm."
+
+"Marks which I received at the hands of the accursed Jews," cried the
+priest, fiercely.
+
+"Not so, Jacob! Whoever told you that did not tell the truth. It was not
+the Jews, but a Christian, who tortured you because you were a Jew."
+
+Again Mikail confronted the Countess.
+
+"Madam, I demand to know whether this man speaks the truth or not?" he
+exclaimed, wildly.
+
+"He does, Mikail," replied Louise, nervously. "For the sake of your own
+happiness, we endeavored to keep you in ignorance of the facts. You were
+a Jew when we found you insensible on the road near Poltava. I took you
+to my home, and to save you from the misery and degradation of being a
+Jew, and also to bring a new soul into our holy church, I had you
+brought up in a convent as a Catholic priest."
+
+"And these injuries," asked Mikail, pale and trembling, "the marks of
+which I shall carry to the grave, were they not the work of the Jews?"
+
+"Of that I know nothing," answered the Countess, carelessly. "This man,"
+pointing to Mendel; "can tell you more about that than I."
+
+The face of the priest became livid. "I am a Jew," he cried; "I, a Jew!
+Oh God," he moaned, convulsively, "why did you send me this agony? My
+life has been one living falsehood, my whole existence a lie. My tongue
+has been taught to execrate my religion, my mind to plan the destruction
+of my father's people. Ha! ha! ha! you are right; the Jews are an
+accursed race, and I am accursed with them!" The priest broke into a
+wild laugh which sent a chill through the blood of his hearers.
+
+Mendel endeavored to speak to him, to grasp his hand; but Mikail looked
+at him with a meaningless stare, and turning, without another word, he
+fled like a maniac from the apartment.
+
+General Drentell turned furiously upon the Israelites.
+
+"Go!" he cried; "leave the palace! You have done mischief enough!"
+
+Mendel's strong form shook with emotion; he was weeping. He collected
+himself for a final appeal.
+
+"If your excellency would send us a regiment of soldiers," he said,
+preparing to leave; "our lives and our property might still be saved."
+
+"What care I for your property or your wretched lives?" shouted the
+Governor, in a frenzy. "I shall not trouble my soldiers for a pack of
+miserable Jews."[21]
+
+The Rabbi and his fellows found themselves outside of the palace walls,
+sad and disheartened.
+
+"Friends," he said, in a broken voice, "you have been witnesses of this
+terrible scene. Oh, God! to think that my brother, whom we mourned as
+dead, should have become a Catholic priest and be plotting the
+destruction of his people." Here Mendel's grief overcame him and he
+remained silent for some moments. Recovering his composure with an
+effort, he continued, in a subdued voice: "I have a favor to ask of you,
+my friends. Speak to no one of this unfortunate meeting. If the news
+came to my father's ears it would kill him."
+
+The men promised and the little band walked silently back to their
+homes.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 20: In the description of the outrages and acts of lawlessness
+in this and succeeding chapters, the author has not drawn upon his
+imagination, but has followed as closely as possible the narration of
+the Russian refugees on their arrival in America, and the graphic
+account sent by a special correspondent to the _London Times_, and
+republished in pamphlet form in this country in 1883.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Historical.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN.
+
+
+During that memorable Sabbath day, hundreds of refugees came in from the
+surrounding villages where the outrages had already begun. They fled to
+Kief as a place of refuge, vainly believing that a city with such
+important mercantile interests centred in the Jewish population would be
+exempt from serious danger. The poor Israelites feared to stir from
+their homes; they sat in prayer during the entire day and fasted as on
+the Day of Atonement.
+
+Towards night, the door of Rabbi Winenki's house was suddenly thrown
+open, and Joseph Kierson, haggard and travel-stained, entered.
+
+"What are you doing here?" ejaculated both the Rabbi and Kathinka, in a
+breath.
+
+"Has there been a riot in Berditchef?" queried Mendel.
+
+"No," answered Joseph, sinking into a chair; "not yet; but I heard that
+there would be danger here, and I hurried back to share it with you."
+
+"Unhappy man," said Kathinka. "Think of the peril of remaining here. If
+you are recognized they will take you back to prison."
+
+"I do not care," answered the young man. "I could not remain in
+Berditchef, when I knew that you and my family were exposed to danger.
+My place is at your side; come what may, I will live or die with you."
+
+"You are a noble boy," exclaimed the Rabbi, grasping his hand,
+affectionately. "Kathinka, get Joseph some supper; he must be hungry."
+
+"You are right, Rabbi," returned Joseph. "I am hungry and tired, and yet
+since I have seen Kathinka I am supremely happy."
+
+It was a sad and fearful night. Sleep was out of the question for the
+threatened Israelites. All night long the noise of hammering could be
+heard; the Christians were attaching little wooden crosses to their
+houses that they might be spared by the mob. The Jews gathered their
+portable treasures and trinkets and conveyed them to places of safety.
+
+The morning of the eighth of May dawned; a quiet serene Sunday morning,
+the day on which is proclaimed throughout Christendom the golden rule:
+"Love your enemies."
+
+At an early hour armed gangs appeared on the streets, wandering hither
+and thither, without any definite plan or object. Ringleaders, however,
+were not long in making their appearance.
+
+As in Elizabethgrad, the first act of the mob was to storm the
+dram-shops; it needed the inspiration of _vodki_. Having broken in the
+doors and windows, they rolled the barrels out into the street. _Vodki_
+flowed in streams; the rioters waded, they bathed, they wallowed in
+whiskey. The women carried it away by the pailful. From shop to shop
+they went, becoming more hilarious, more boisterous as they proceeded.
+Through the uproar could be heard their shouts: "The Jews have lorded it
+over us long enough; it is our turn now! Down with the Jews!"
+
+They came to the inn of a man named Rykelmann and here they met their
+first resistance. Rykelmann refused to admit them. He had barricaded
+himself and his family behind stout doors and stood guard over his
+premises with a pistol. The mob besieged the place from all sides and
+finally succeeded in forcing an entrance in the rear. The poor
+proprietor was forced to accompany the rioters to his wine cellar, where
+they amused themselves staving in the barrels and breaking the bottles,
+while some of the drunken ruffians in the rooms above cut the throats of
+his wife and six children. It was the first blood shed in Kief and it
+served to stimulate the appetites of the vampires.
+
+Onward sped the rioters. They divided into groups, each, under a
+self-appointed leader, attacking a different quarter. Here and there
+houses were burning fiercely, and to the crackling of the flames was
+added the piteous cries of women and children consigned to a fiery
+death.
+
+At this stage several companies of soldiers, headed by Loris Drentell,
+appeared upon the scene. The Governor fearing that Christians might
+suffer in the general massacre, had at length yielded to the
+importunities of his counsellors and sent his son with a detachment of
+men as a protection, not to the Jews, but to the Christians. Loris had
+returned to Kief shortly after the assassination of the Czar.
+
+For an hour the soldiers allowed the work of destruction to go on
+unhindered, and then, no longer able to control their appetites, they
+joined the mob.
+
+The rioters came to the house of Hirsch Bensef.
+
+"He is the richest of them all," shouted a Russian, who had once been
+employed by him. "His house is a regular mine of wealth. I've been in
+it."
+
+"Down with the house!" shouted the mob. "His wealth belongs to us. Show
+him no mercy!"
+
+They battered down the door, and regardless of the piteous pleadings of
+the aged man and his wife they pillaged and plundered from cellar to
+attic. Nothing was left intact. What could not be carried away was
+destroyed. Loris himself, stimulated by reports of the fabulous wealth
+which Bensef was said to possess, led the charge and took an active part
+in the attack. When he left the house it was because he could conceal no
+more of the booty about his person. Valuable property was scattered upon
+the ground by the rioters and lay in mud-bespattered heaps, to be picked
+up by the crowds of women and children that followed in their wake.
+Bensef and his wife escaped assault at the hands of the ruffians by
+fleeing precipitately through a rear door and taking refuge in the house
+of a Christian friend.
+
+Haim Goldheim's dwelling, not far from that of Bensef, was next
+attacked. Father, mother and children had fled at the approach of the
+rioters, but the rich furniture and works of art which the well-to-do
+banker had accumulated fell into the destroying hands of the mob. An
+hour afterwards, hungry flames devoured all that remained of the once
+luxurious home.
+
+At the further end of the street was the house of one David Wienarski.
+
+"He, too, is rich!" shouted a Russian, and the rabble attacked the place
+without delay. A search failed to discover the wealth they expected to
+find, for the poor man had buried his meagre possessions in the garden,
+the night before. Disappointed in their search for plunder, they caught
+up his three-year-old child and threw it out of the window. It fell dead
+upon the pavement at the feet of Loris and his soldiers, and the poor
+corpse was mercilessly thrust into the gutter, to be out of the way.
+
+Still on they went! When their ardor slackened, the ringleaders
+harangued them and stimulated their flagging energies.
+
+"Leave nothing untouched!" they shouted. "The Czar has given it all to
+you! Take what belongs to you! Let not a Jew escape!"
+
+There were many among the ferocious gathering who really liked the Jews,
+who had for years lived side by side with them in peace and amity. They
+arose against their former friends, because the Czar, in a _ukase_,
+desired it; and his imperial will must be fulfilled. In the heat of the
+turmoil, the example set them by their leaders spurred them on; and on
+they went, thoroughly regardless of consequences.
+
+It would be impossible to describe all the outrages of that bloody day;
+the pen refuses to depict the appalling scenes, the dire calamities,
+the nameless atrocities that were visited upon the helpless Israelites.
+
+The Jews performed prodigies of valor. Though unarmed, many made a
+heroic resistance to the onslaught of the rioters.
+
+Down near the Dnieper stood the house of David Kierson. It was one of
+the earliest attacked during the day, and the rioters were crazed with
+drink and passion. David and his son Joseph, without any other weapons
+than their hands, kept the horde from entering their home. Joseph
+engaged three of the rabble at one time, while his father disabled man
+after man, until the drunken wretches desisted and turned their
+attention to houses where they would find less resistance.
+
+Suddenly there was a shout of terror, and the attention of the attacking
+party was directed towards the river.
+
+"A man overboard!" was the cry.
+
+"Let him drown," answered the mob, derisively; "it is only a Jew!"
+
+Joseph, who was still guarding the door of his father's house, saw the
+struggling creature in the waves of the muddy river. In an instant he
+had divested himself of his coat and shoes, and, edging his way through
+the crowd that lined the banks, he sprang into the water. A few powerful
+strokes brought him to the drowning man, whom he seized by the collar of
+his coat and held above the surface of the water. Then he swam slowly
+and laboriously to the shore, and, amid the silence of the spectators,
+he landed the man upon the banks. It was a Russian he had saved; one of
+the ringleaders of the men who had so recently besieged his home.
+
+For a moment the crowd was hushed in admiration of the heroic deed, but
+it was only for a moment.
+
+"Forwards, we are losing time!" shouted one of the principals, and the
+rioters rushed down the streets to continue their work of destruction.
+
+Suddenly a priest, laboring under powerful excitement, appeared before
+them. His features were deadly pale and a strange fire gleamed in his
+eyes.
+
+"Stop!" he cried; "in the name of the Madonna, I command you to stop!"
+
+The mob, overawed by his aspect as well as by his words, paused in their
+mad career. The ringleaders fell back for a moment in surprise.
+
+"Hush!" said one; "it is Mikail the priest who appointed us to our posts
+and gave us our instructions. Let us hear what he has to say."
+
+"You have been deceived," cried the priest, wildly. "Stop your mad
+slaughter. The Jews are innocent of the wrongs that have been imputed to
+them. Do you hear me? The Jews must not be persecuted! The _ukase_
+giving you their property does not exist; it was but an invention!"
+
+"Nonsense," answered one of the leaders; "I saw it with my own eyes. On,
+friends! We want the wealth of the Jews; we want their blood! Down with
+them!"
+
+Mikail endeavored to bar the way.
+
+"You shall not do further harm, I tell you! Hear me! In the name of the
+Czar, I command you to halt!"
+
+The monk's incoherent sentences fell upon deaf ears. Like an avalanche,
+the mighty mob swept down upon him, carrying him along upon the
+resistless tide.
+
+When Joseph found his street deserted, he uttered a fervent prayer of
+gratitude.
+
+"We are safe for the moment, father," he said; "it will be some time
+before the rabble returns this way. I shall change my wet clothing, and
+while you guard the house, I will go to Rabbi Winenki's. Perhaps he
+needs my assistance."
+
+"Go, my boy," answered the old man; "and God be with you."
+
+A frightful scene had in the meantime been enacted at the Rabbi's
+dwelling, whither many an unprotected woman and child had hastened in
+the belief that it would be safe from the mob. The detachment of rioters
+under the leadership of Loris had already attacked it and the crying and
+pleading of the inmates could be heard above the confusion of the mob.
+But they pleaded in vain. Had anyone but Loris been in command, the
+house of the beloved and honored Rabbi might have been spared, for his
+many acts of kindness had endeared him to the _moujiks_ as well as to
+his own people. When Loris arrived before the humble dwelling, however,
+there was but one sentiment in his heart--revenge. Too well he
+remembered the ignominious defeat he had experienced within those walls,
+and at the recollection of Kathinka, the base passion which absence had
+not subdued broke forth again and transformed the man into a savage.
+There was no pity, no mercy to be expected from him.
+
+At the windows of Winenki's house stood the women, their faces blanched
+with fear as they looked upon the blood-thirsty army without.
+
+"Down with the door!" shouted Loris, and a dozen ready hands shook the
+door upon its fastenings.
+
+Suddenly the men stopped in their mad work. Mikail the monk had rushed
+into their midst. His priestly robes were torn and covered with mud, his
+eyes were bloodshot, his face the picture of wild despair; his bosom
+heaved and his clenched hands gyrated madly in an effort to command
+silence.
+
+"Men of Kief!" he cried, hoarsely, "this bloody work must cease. In the
+name of the Czar I command you to go to your homes and molest the Jews
+no further! They are innocent of the charges brought against them."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Loris. "Since when has Mikail turned protector of
+the Jews?"
+
+"They are innocent, I tell you!" cried the priest. "Leave them in
+peace!"
+
+"Down with the Jews!" cried one of the band. "The Czar has given us
+their property and we will have it!"
+
+"It is false!" shouted Mikail. "The _ukase_ is a forgery. I myself wrote
+it and had it circulated. It never had the Czar's sanction."
+
+"The priest is mad!" cried Loris. "For three years he has incited us to
+enmity against the Jews and now he pleads their cause. On with the work!
+We have much to do before night."
+
+"In the name of his majesty, I command you to cease!" yelled the priest,
+in a hoarse voice.
+
+"In the name of the Governor of Kief, I command you to go on!" shouted
+Loris. "Down with Rabbi Winenki and his family! Down with the miserable
+race that killed our Saviour!"
+
+The battering at the door was resumed with renewed vigor. A cry of
+triumph announced to the crowd that the barrier was down, and a portion
+of the infuriated mob rushed into the house.
+
+In vain did Mikail circulate among the men, by turns commanding and
+pleading, to induce them to desist from their work of destruction.
+
+They looked at him askance and then at each other, significantly. But
+yesterday this same priest spurred them on to vengeance, filling them
+with passion against the people whose cause he now espoused.
+
+"He is mad," they whispered, and turning their backs upon him, they
+continued their excesses.
+
+Loris had in the meantime entered the room in which he had kneeled to
+the beautiful Kathinka.
+
+The Rabbi with his aged father and a number of beardless youths, pupils
+of his school, guarded the door leading to the inner room, in which the
+women and girls had taken refuge. They had armed themselves with chairs
+and whatever happened to be within reach, and with these primitive
+weapons they expected to hold the enemy in check. As well endeavor to
+stay the flood of the mighty Dnieper with a net drawn across its stream!
+The mob charged upon them with an impetus that could not be resisted.
+The Rabbi, single-handed, felled two powerful _moujiks_; then he himself
+fell bleeding to the floor. His gray-bearded father was dealt a blow on
+the head from a stout cudgel, and he lay upon the ground in the agonies
+of death. The young men seeing that resistance but increased their
+peril, threw down their weapons and fled, leaving the inner room with
+its helpless inmates in the hands of the rioters.
+
+Loris was the first to enter, and his companions were not slow in
+following his example. A number of maidens, crazed with horror, sprang
+from the windows, only to fall into the arms of the rabble without.
+Three of the women were killed in the heroic struggle for their honor
+and not less than twenty suffered indignities worse than death.
+
+The Rabbi's wife, Recha, succeeding in escaping the vigilance of the
+invading party and hurried into the outer room. Suddenly her eyes
+encountered the form of her husband lying upon the floor, bathed in
+blood and apparently dead. With a shriek she threw herself upon his
+prostrate body. When her friends attempted to move her after the danger
+had passed, they found that terror and grief had done their work. Recha
+had lost her reason.
+
+On his entrance into the room, Loris gazed about him, and soon singled
+out Kathinka, standing among her friends, silently praying. With a cry
+of mingled joy and rage, he threw himself upon her and put his arms
+firmly around her.
+
+"Ha! beautiful Kathinka!" he said, ironically; "so we meet again. How
+happy you must be to see me! Yes, I love you still, and you shall be
+mine, all mine! Don't struggle, sweet one; I shall remove you to my
+dwelling, far from all this noise and tumult. Ho, there! make room there
+for me and my prize!"
+
+Lifting the struggling maiden in his arms, he pressed through the crowd,
+out into the street. There he set down his precious burden and paused to
+regain his breath.
+
+Kathinka looked hastily about her. There were many in the crowd who had
+known her since her childhood, many whom her father had befriended, but
+they stood passively by and abstained from offering her either
+assistance or sympathy. Then, as Loris again wound his arms about her;
+she cried loudly for help:
+
+"Come to my aid," she cried, imploringly. "Do none of you know me; will
+none lend me a helping hand? I am Kathinka, the daughter of Rabbi
+Winenki! Will no one raise his arm in my defence?"
+
+There was no reply to her appeal; the rioters had no mercy for the
+despised Jewess.
+
+Of a sudden the crowd parted. Thank God, there was a champion for
+Kathinka. Mikail the priest elbowed his way through the dense mass of
+maddened humanity and with eyes wilder and face more haggard than
+before, he approached the shrieking girl. With a cry of fury, he fell
+upon Loris and endeavored to tear him from his victim. Loris was for a
+moment too astonished to offer any resistance.
+
+"What do you want with me, priest?" he cried, angrily, when he
+recognized his assailant.
+
+"I am here to remind you of your honor, of your manhood; to plead with
+you in behalf of that poor maiden. You shall not harm a hair of her head
+while I have strength to defend her."
+
+"This is, indeed, wonderful!" laughed Loris, mockingly. "The arch
+Jew-hater has become the champion of innocence! Go to your monastery,
+priest, and leave the battle-field to soldiers!" and pushing Mikail
+contemptuously aside, he renewed his hold upon the girl, who,
+overpowered by her terror and despair, had become insensible.
+
+At that moment another form pushed its way through the crowd. It was
+Joseph, who after great difficulties, had at length succeeded in
+reaching the spot. He, too, had heard Kathinka's despairing cry, and had
+hastened to protect her. A rapid glance made the situation clear to him
+and he at once prepared to attack the Governor's son. But the priest had
+forestalled him. With a yell of rage, Mikail threw himself upon the
+young ruffian and the two were instantly engaged in a desperate combat.
+Loris was inspired by passion and revenge; the priest was moved by a
+feeling which he could not himself analyze. The hatred which he bore
+Loris broke out in unreasoning fury; he had heard Kathinka's cry of
+distress, had heard her assert that she was the daughter of his own
+brother, and in the strange revulsion of feeling which had overcome him
+since yesterday, he determined to effect her release at all hazards.
+
+The men twined and twisted about each other, swayed to and fro in their
+endeavor to gain the mastery, while the crowd, forgetting its own
+passions, formed a circle about them, applauding now the one, now the
+other.
+
+Meanwhile Joseph had raised the helpless form of his betrothed from the
+ground and endeavored to carry her through the mob. A score of brawny
+arms barred the way.
+
+Fear for his beloved gave the young man almost superhuman strength.
+Seizing in his right hand a cudgel which was lying on the ground, while
+his left arm still supported Kathinka, he hewed a passage through the
+ranks. Eight men lay sprawling upon the ground and their companions
+retreated before the telling blows of Joseph's club. When he found
+himself unembarrassed by the rioters, he lifted Kathinka in both his
+arms and ran as fast as his feet would bear him to his father's house,
+which, having already been attacked, he hoped would escape a second
+visit.
+
+The combat between Loris and Mikail was short. The priest labored under
+a manifest disadvantage in being crippled in one arm, while Loris,
+driven to desperation by seeing Kathinka carried off, gathered all his
+strength and with a mighty blow hurled the monk to the ground. There was
+a dull crash. The priest's head had struck the pavement with such force
+that his skull was crushed and a crimson stream of blood gushed from his
+lips and nostrils, his body quivered, his maimed arm fell heavily at
+his side. Mikail, the Jew-hater, had ceased to exist.
+
+For a moment Loris was dazed and conscience-stricken. To kill a priest
+was a serious crime. Moreover, that priest had been his father's friend
+and favorite adviser, and Loris had much to fear from parental wrath.
+The mischief was done, however, and bestowing upon the dead body a
+parting glance of ineffable hatred, he set to work to reunite his
+scattered band.
+
+The outrages in the Jewish quarter had been duly reported to the
+Governor, who shrugged his shoulders, rubbed his palms and smiled with
+secret satisfaction.
+
+"Revenge is sweet," he muttered, and he placed himself at the window,
+where he could witness the burning of the houses.
+
+About noon the body of Mikail was carried past the palace to the
+Petcherskoi convent, and at the same time exaggerated accounts reached
+Drentell's ears of the dangers to which his beloved son had been
+exposed.
+
+"It is time to put an end to the attack," thought the Governor, and
+another detachment of soldiers was sent out to assist the first in
+quelling the riot and to arrest all disorderly persons found upon the
+streets. This order was vigorously enforced. About two thousand people
+were made prisoners, nearly half of them Jews, arrested for protecting
+their lives and property.
+
+The scenes in the Jewish quarter at the close of the riot, beggar
+description. Dust and feathers filled the air, for one of the mob's
+chief amusements consisted in tearing open feather-beds and pillows and
+scattering their contents. Broken furniture, dishes and stoves strewed
+the pavements. Not a pane of glass or door was left entire. It was as
+though an army had invaded the place. Nearly three thousand Israelites
+were without shelter, their houses having been burned or otherwise
+demolished. Many hundreds more were reduced to poverty, having been
+despoiled of everything. The destruction of human life was appalling,
+many corpses being recovered from the river, days after the occurrence;
+and the number of people who were driven to insanity by the atrocities
+committed will probably never be known.[22]
+
+Rabbi Winenki, who had received a dangerous wound, recovered slowly. His
+grief at the apparently hopeless insanity of his wife and the death of
+his father were indescribable; they were in a slight measure mitigated
+by the knowledge that his daughter had been spared the barbarous fate
+that had befallen so many of Israel's women.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+WHAT THE PRIEST HAD ACCOMPLISHED.
+
+
+The horrible crimes which have been described in preceding chapters were
+insignificant compared with those to be committed. Mikail the priest,
+the Jew-hater, was dead, but the evil of which he had been the author,
+lived after him. His ghost stalked through the Empire, converting it
+into one vast charnel-house.
+
+Simultaneously with the riots in Kief, there were outbreaks in every
+town and village throughout the province. At Browary, the synagogue in
+which the terrified people had congregated was attacked and destroyed.
+The mob attacked the Jewesses, and assaulted many of them. Three of the
+poor victims died and a number of others found their only escape in the
+river.
+
+Scenes like these occurred daily throughout Southern Russia. Whole towns
+and districts were ablaze with riot and violence. The story that the
+Czar had handed Jewish property over to his Catholic subjects spread
+upon the breath of the wind, and the populace was not slow to
+appropriate its new possessions. The Governors of the various provinces
+looked on with folded arms at the barbarities enacted under their eyes.
+Occasionally the pleadings of the poor Jews appeared to prevail and the
+military was called out; but it was not to protect the Hebrews, but to
+prevent them from defending themselves.
+
+The riots were invariably announced for days, often weeks, beforehand,
+the police frequently stimulating the people to hatred and violence.
+
+The municipalities, with the consent of the provincial government, had
+taken every means to add to the misery of the situation. Mikail's book,
+"The Annihilation of the Jews," became the bible of the fanatical
+masses. Its sentences were distorted and exaggerated and then read to
+the intoxicated wretches at the village _kretschmas_. Petitions were
+circulated in the provinces to devise means to drive the Jews out of the
+towns in which they had no legal right to live. In other places where no
+such restrictions existed, petitions were sent to the authorities
+requesting the adoption of measures to prevent the increase of Jewish
+residents.
+
+At Kief, the day after the riot, Governor Drentell called an assembly of
+his counsellors to form a plan for expelling the Jews. Old documents
+were unearthed and a rigid scrutiny instituted to discover what were
+the restrictions upon the Jewish population of the city. The laws
+enacted under the tyrannical reign of Nicholas were examined and the
+discovery was made that nine thousand of the Jews in Kief had no legal
+right to live there. For twenty years these laws had slumbered
+unenforced. With a cruelty without parallel in the history of the world,
+Drentell determined to enforce these ancient edicts and to expel all
+Jews in excess of the legal number.
+
+The Jews were accordingly notified that before August the number in
+excess of the lawful population would be expected to seek another
+domicile.
+
+Wailing and lamentations broke out afresh in Israel. Many families did
+not possess the means of departing, having lost everything in the recent
+attacks. Others did not know in what direction to turn their weary
+steps, for persecutions were reported all through Russia and in Germany
+as well. Others again mourned at the thought of leaving behind them aged
+relatives, beloved friends, the graves of their cherished dead and the
+thousand memories that hallowed their old homes.
+
+In their extremity, the Jews again petitioned the Governor to temper his
+authority with mercy, and one of Drentell's counsellors, moved by the
+piteous appeal, recommended leniency in dealing with the stricken race.
+
+"Gentlemen," replied Drentell, rising in anger; "either I or the Jews
+must go! Russia is not large enough for both. I insist upon a strict
+enforcement of these regulations."
+
+The Governor's word prevailed. By the beginning of July, over eight
+thousand Jews had been expelled from Kief alone.
+
+It was a sultry day towards the end of June. The air was unusually
+oppressive, the reapers in the fields moved listlessly under the
+scorching sun, the leaves on the trees were motionless and the birds had
+ceased their warbling.
+
+The Jewish quarter was quiet, almost deserted. A pall hung over the
+dismal homes; there were no children in the streets to stir the air with
+their merry voices. As men passed each other their greetings were short
+and formal; they scarcely stopped to bid each other good-day. The entire
+Jewish population was in mourning. Hearts were bleeding for some
+departed soul cut off in the midst of life by the lawless mob, or
+throbbing with suppressed sorrow at the enforced departure of relatives
+or friends for the distant shores of America.
+
+One by one a number of our old acquaintances and some of their friends
+entered the dwelling of Rabbi Winenki, glancing furtively behind them as
+though in fear of being watched. In the Rabbi's house there was some
+show of festivity, although the attempt was half-hearted and conveyed an
+impression far from joyous.
+
+It was the long anticipated wedding day of Kathinka and Joseph. All
+their bright prospects and pleasant anticipations of a professional life
+at home were at an end. Their one desire was to be married before
+seeking a new existence in America. The guests spoke in subdued voices,
+as though fearful of exciting the animosity of their gentile neighbors.
+
+Rabbi Mendel, who had but recently risen from a bed of pain, was wan and
+pale; his tall and stately form had shrunk, his massive head was bowed,
+his raven locks had become gray.
+
+Quietly and without ostentation, the good man performed the ceremony
+according to the Jewish rites. The ring was given, the glass broken, the
+blessings pronounced, and the couple stood hand in hand to receive the
+congratulations of their assembled friends. Smiles and merry laughter
+gave way to tears and sobs. It was a touching spectacle! The young
+couple were to remain in Kief until the following Sunday, and then, with
+two thousand other unfortunates, to leave the place in which they had
+lived and loved, prospered and suffered.
+
+On the Sabbath, the synagogue was crowded; for many of the worshippers
+it would be the last service they would attend in their native land.
+Tearful and heartfelt were the prayers that ascended to Jehovah's
+throne. The service for the dead was as impressive as scalding tears and
+broken hearts could make it. Mendel ascended the pulpit, that place from
+which he had so often instructed his people in wisdom and godliness, and
+with streaming eyes bid the wanderers farewell.
+
+He spoke briefly but impressively, concluding by giving them much good
+advice as to their conduct in their new homes in America.
+
+"Lead irreproachable lives," he said. "And remember one thing more:
+stoop not to deceit or to crime. In America, as in Russia, every evil
+act of the individual Jew will rebound upon the entire race. If the
+gentile sins, he alone bears the brunt of the punishment. If a Jew
+transgresses the law of the land, his religion is heralded to the world
+and the wrong he has committed brings odium upon the entire household of
+Israel. It has been so in the past, it will continue so for generations
+to come. Does not this admonish you to avoid evil, to make your conduct
+exemplary, and to be models of virtue and righteousness?"
+
+While the Rabbi was speaking, it seemed as though an angel of comfort
+and hope had entered the holy place. Tears were dried and the
+unfortunates whose destiny was hurrying them far from all that earth
+held dear, no longer dreaded the approaching journey.
+
+The rest of that memorable Sabbath was spent in bidding farewell to
+friends and relatives. There was grief in every household.
+
+We have seen how Mordecai Winenki perished, a victim of the infuriated
+mob. His wife, Leah, died a short time afterward, broken-hearted at the
+separation from her life-long companion. Hirsch Bensef and his wife
+declared they were too old to brave the rigors of a journey to America,
+and, though broken in spirit as well as in fortune, they preferred to
+remain in Kief. The Rabbi would have gladly accompanied his daughter to
+the New World, but devotion to duty bound him to his old home. The
+Kiersons accompanied their son and his bride upon their long voyage. The
+refugees who left Kief consisted chiefly of the poorer classes, who,
+being without means, were assisted by their more fortunate
+co-religionists to emigrate. There were many sturdy young people among
+the group, who, like Joseph Kierson and his wife, hoped for better
+opportunities than were possible in their own intolerant land. The
+wealthier classes, those who still had important mercantile interests in
+Russia, as a rule, remained at home, in expectation of a speedy end of
+the persecutions.
+
+On the next day a sad and sorrowful procession moved slowly out of Kief.
+They were accompanied part of the way by grieving friends, and trudged
+bravely along on foot to Brody, on the Austrian frontier, where they
+arrived after many days, foot-sore and weary. A pitiful state of affairs
+confronted them here. Nearly six thousand refugees from Russian villages
+had assembled in Brody and were in a completely helpless state. Huddled
+in cellars, stowed away in sheds, in boxes, under lumber, lay the
+unfortunate people, many of whom but a few weeks before had been rich
+and prosperous. The travellers from Kief did what they could to mitigate
+the horrible condition of these wretches, but the trouble was of such
+magnitude that they could do little to relieve it.
+
+On to Hamburg went our friends, on foot, in wagons, or by rail, as their
+means warranted; on to Hamburg, there to take ship for the haven of
+their hopes, the free and hospitable shores of America.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 22: For the corroboration of these facts, see the account of
+the _London Times_ special correspondent; also, Mr. Evarts' speech
+delivered in Chickering Hall, New York, in March, 1882.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+THE LAND OF THE FREE.
+
+
+A letter from Kathinka Kierson to her father:
+
+                                                         JULY 1, 1887.
+
+DEAR FATHER:--We grieved and rejoiced on the receipt of your
+last letter: grieved that the Jews of Russia are still smarting under
+the lash of persecution, that outbreaks of intolerance still continue;
+and we rejoice to learn that dear mother has almost entirely recovered
+her reason. We trust that her cure will be permanent, and that the
+evening of your life will be as happy as you so richly deserve. It is
+truly as you so often said: "Sorrow is essential in bringing out the
+best there is in man." As a severe storm in nature purifies the elements
+and the earth, reviving the plants, clarifying the air, causing the sun
+to shine more gloriously, so, too, do the storms which beset the soul
+and wring from it its groans and sighs, purify the spiritual man and
+place him nearer to the throne of his Maker. I cannot but thank the
+Lord, when I contrast our present position with what would have been our
+lot had we remained in Kief. I know we have been favored by a kind
+Providence above many of our fellow-refugees, and we do not forget to
+thank God for his blessings.
+
+After the trials we experienced on coming to America, the desperate
+struggle with poverty, the difficulties Joseph experienced in securing
+work, the drifting from city to city in hopes of bettering our
+condition, and the reverses which almost drove us to despair, the sun of
+prosperity is at length beginning to shine for us. Our experience is but
+another illustration of the adage, that "opportunities come to him who
+seeks them."
+
+It is now nearly a year since a combination of circumstances brought us
+to Chicago. I have already written how Joseph obtained employment in a
+large furniture factory, and by indomitable energy and close attention
+to business, worked his way up from a simple laborer to be the overseer
+of the entire works. I now have more good news for you, news which your
+kind heart will be glad to hear.
+
+About six months ago we met an old gentleman, named Pesach Harretzki,
+or, as he calls himself, Philip Harris. He is a large manufacturer of
+cloth, and had business transactions with the factory in which Joseph
+was employed. When he heard that my husband was from Kief, he evinced
+the liveliest interest and eagerly inquired after the welfare of a man
+whom he remembered as a boy of fourteen, one Mendel Winenki. When Joseph
+told him that he had married the daughter of Rabbi Winenki, Mr. Harris
+could scarcely restrain his impatience until he saw me. He called at our
+home that same evening and whiled away the time with anecdotes of you,
+dear father. He told us how ambitious you were to study, and that he
+gave you the first German books you ever possessed. He said that his
+conscience frequently smote him when he thought of the terrible risk to
+which he had exposed you in giving you those books. Altogether, he is a
+most agreeable man, and, having known you as a boy, he naturally took a
+paternal interest in me. One day he made Joseph a tempting offer to take
+a position in his factory. He was getting old, he said, and needed a
+young assistant upon whom he could rely. Joseph at once accepted and
+entered Mr. Harris' employ. My husband has a wonderful mind. I would not
+tell him so to his face, for fear of making him vain, but he is
+undoubtedly a genius. He had been in his new position scarcely a month
+before he had so revolutionized and improved upon the hitherto neglected
+establishment that the business of the house increased materially.
+Yesterday, Mr. Harris offered to take him into partnership with him,
+and, as he is getting old and is very wealthy, the probabilities are
+that he will eventually retire and leave the business entirely in
+Joseph's hands. We are, therefore, on the high road to prosperity.
+
+And now, dear father, we have but one desire, namely, to have you with
+us. Leave your onerous duties in Kief, take passage in a good vessel for
+mother and yourself, and spend the remainder of your life with us in
+contentment and peace. You need not pass your time in idleness. There
+are many of our countrymen here and your talents will be appreciated in
+America as well as in Kief. Joseph unites with me in hoping that you
+will not decline our invitation.
+
+It will interest you to learn that David Kierson and his wife are
+prominent members of the Hebrew colony at Vineland, New Jersey, founded
+by a number of benevolent Jews of Philadelphia. They are prospering and
+happy. Both the children are well and send their kisses to you and
+mother. Little Mordecai (we call him Morris, as it sounds more American)
+is a very bright little fellow, with more questions in an hour than I
+can answer in a day. Will he ever resemble his grandfather?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+
+Letter from Rabbi Mendel Winenki to his daughter:
+
+                                                KIEF, August 16, 1887.
+
+I cannot attempt, my dear children, to describe the feelings of joy and
+gratitude with which I read your letter. God be praised for his love and
+goodness. I will write to Pesach Harretzki at once. Whatever I am or
+have been I owe to the inspiration of those two books he gave me.
+
+I am sorry to disappoint you, my dear ones, by not accepting your
+invitation to come to America.
+
+I have a great and holy duty to perform in my native land. The misery
+here is acute, active persecution still continues, the poverty of our
+people increases every day, and with such misfortunes they would fast
+fall into mental and moral stupor were there not some one constantly
+with them to cheer and instruct them. My mission, while difficult, is a
+glorious one. I have not an idle moment. I must visit the sick, console
+the bereaved, assist the poor, instruct the ignorant and sympathize with
+the unfortunate. By my own example I must seek to inculcate such moral
+lessons as will tend to elevate them above the condition into which
+their misfortunes might degrade them. To desert my post at such a time
+would be cowardly.
+
+Moreover, your mother, while sufficiently well to resume her household
+duties, is still suffering, is often melancholy and requires constant
+attention. In the company of her old friends and associates she may
+entirely recover, but removed to a strange land, among a strange people,
+she might suffer a relapse. No, believe me, my children, I am happier
+here than I could be in America.
+
+Over a thousand of our towns-people will emigrate this week. Under the
+new laws, which deprive us of every right and liberty, these
+unfortunates find it impossible to live at home and are bound for the
+promising land of America. Should any of them find their way to your
+city, receive them cordially, for "all Israel is one family." In your
+prosperity forget not those who are less fortunate than you, and give
+praise to the Lord for the blessings he has bestowed upon you.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RABBI AND PRIEST***
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+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Rabbi and Priest, by Milton Goldsmith</title>
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Rabbi and Priest, by Milton Goldsmith</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Rabbi and Priest</p>
+<p>       A Story</p>
+<p>Author: Milton Goldsmith</p>
+<p>Release Date: March 6, 2007  [eBook #20756]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RABBI AND PRIEST***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>E-text prepared by Janet Blenkinship<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/c/">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br />
+    from digital material generously made available by<br />
+    Internet Archive/American Libraries<br />
+    (<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/americana">http://www.archive.org/details/americana</a>)</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;" cellpadding="10">
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">
+      Note:
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
+      <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/rabbiandpriest00goldrich">
+	  http://www.archive.org/details/rabbiandpriest00goldrich</a>
+	</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>RABBI AND PRIEST.</h1>
+
+<h3>A STORY</h3>
+
+<h4>BY</h4>
+
+<h2>MILTON GOLDSMITH.</h2>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class='center'>Philadelphia:<br />
+
+JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA.<br />
+
+1891.<br /><br />
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1891,<br />
+
+BY THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA.<br />
+
+PRESS OF EDWARD STERN &amp; Co.<br />
+
+PHILADELPHIA.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class='centered'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS">
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.&mdash;RECRUITS FOR SIBERIA.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.&mdash;MASTER AND MAN.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.&mdash;A FAMILY IN ISRAEL.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.&mdash;A NIGHT OF TERROR.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.&mdash;THE JOURNEY TO KHARKOV.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.&mdash;TWO UNFORTUNATES.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.&mdash;A RUSSIAN NOBLEMAN.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.&mdash;AN UNWILLING CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.&mdash;A MIRACULOUS CURE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.&mdash;MENDEL THINKS FOR HIMSELF.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.&mdash;THE RETURN OF THE RENEGADE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.&mdash;FORBIDDEN BOOKS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.&mdash;PERSECUTIONS IN TOGAROG.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.&mdash;A HAPPY PASSOVER.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.&mdash;TWO LOVING HEARTS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.&mdash;THE CHOLERA AND ITS VICTIMS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.&mdash;COMMON-SENSE VS. SUPERSTITION.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.&mdash;THE GOVERNOR'S PROJECT.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.&mdash;YOM-KIPUR.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.&mdash;NEEDED REFORMS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.&mdash;A DEN OF NIHILISTS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.&mdash;A MODERN BRUTUS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.&mdash;LOUISE'S PRACTICAL ADVICE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.&mdash;A DANIEL COME TO JUDGMENT.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.&mdash;MIKAIL THE PRIEST.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.&mdash;A DAUGHTER OF ISRAEL.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.&mdash;AT THE RABBI'S AND AT THE GOVERNOR'S.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.&mdash;THE PRIEST IN THE SYNAGOGUE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.&mdash;LORIS FALLS IN LOVE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX.&mdash;AN UNFORTUNATE ENCOUNTER.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI.&mdash;KIERSON'S ESCAPE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII.&mdash;AN ATTEMPT UPON THE CZAR.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII.&mdash;THE RIOTS AT ELIZABETHGRAD.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV.&mdash;RABBI AND PRIEST MEET.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV.&mdash;MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI.&mdash;WHAT THE PRIEST HAD ACCOMPLISHED.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII.&mdash;THE LAND OF THE FREE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII.</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Towards the end of 1882, there arrived at the old Pennsylvania Railroad
+Depot in Philadelphia, several hundred Russian refugees, driven from
+their native land by the inhuman treatment of the Muscovite Government.
+Among them were many intelligent people, who had been prosperous in
+their native land, but who were now reduced to dire want. One couple, in
+particular, attracted the attention of the visitors, by their
+intellectual appearance and air of gentility, in marked contrast to the
+abject condition of many of their associates. Joseph Kierson was the
+name of the man, and the story of his sufferings aroused the sympathy of
+his hearers. The man and his wife were assisted by the Relief Committee,
+and in a short time were in a condition to provide for themselves.</p>
+
+<p>The writer had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Kierson a few years later,
+and elicited from him a complete recital of his trials and an account of
+the causes of the terrible persecution which compelled such large
+numbers of his countrymen to flee from their once happy homes.</p>
+
+<p>His story forms the nucleus of the novel I now present to my readers.
+While adhering as closely as possible to actual names, dates and events,
+it does not pretend to be historically accurate. In following the
+fortunes of Mendel Winenki, from boyhood to old age, it endeavors to
+present a series of pictures portraying the character, life, and
+sufferings of the misunderstood and much-maligned Russian Jew.</p>
+
+<p>In the description of Russia's customs and characteristics, the
+barbarous cruelty of her criminal code and the nihilistic tendency of
+the times, the author has followed such eminent writers as Wallace,
+Foulke, Stepniak, Tolstoi and Herzberg-Fraenkel. The accounts of the
+riots of 1882 will be found to agree in historic details with the
+reports which were published at the time.</p>
+
+<p>With this introduction, I respectfully submit the work to the
+consideration of an indulgent public.</p>
+
+<p class='author'>MILTON GOLDSMITH.</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, April, 1891.</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>RECRUITS FOR SIBERIA.</h3>
+
+
+<p>We are in Russia.</p>
+
+<p>On the high road from Tscherkask to Togarog, and not far from the latter
+village, there stood, in the year 1850, a large and inhospitable-looking
+inn. Its shingled walls, whose rough surface no paint-brush had touched
+for long generations, seemed decaying from sheer old age. Its tiled roof
+was in a most dilapidated state, displaying large gaps imperfectly
+stuffed with straw, and serving rather to collect the rain and snow for
+the more thorough inundation of the rooms below than to protect them
+from the elements. The grounds about the house were in keeping with it
+in point of picturesque neglect, and were as innocent of cultivation as
+the building was of paint. A roughly paved path led from the highway to
+the tavern door. Two old and sickly poplar trees cast a poor and
+half-hearted shade upon the parched ground, and mournfully shook their
+leaves over the scene of desolation. The herbage grew in isolated
+patches on a black and uncultivated soil. Nature might have originally
+been friendly to the place, but generations of poverty and neglect had
+reduced it to a condition of wretched misery.</p>
+
+<p>As was this particular spot, so was the entire village. Slavery had
+wound its chains about the inhabitants, stifling whatever energy they
+possessed, entailing upon them constant toil to satisfy the exorbitant
+demands of their task-masters. Hence, even with a genial sun and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> a
+southern climate, the fields were barren, the crops poor and the people
+sunk in abject poverty.</p>
+
+<p>The dilapidated inn, or <i>kretschma</i>, was known in the vicinity by the
+ideal and appropriate name of "Paradise"&mdash;appropriate, because in it
+many a sinner had been tempted and had fallen from grace. It was the
+popular rendezvous of the village peasants. Thither the serfs living in
+the village of Togarog and for miles around, would repair after their
+labors in the fields, and forget their fatigue in a dram of rank Russian
+<i>vodka</i>. Upon the barren plot of ground before the tavern, the <i>mir</i>, or
+communal assembly, was wont to meet, and in open session elect its
+Elder, decide its quarrels, allot its ground to the heads of families,
+and frame its rude and primitive laws.</p>
+
+<p>In its bare and smoke-begrimed public room, the people of Togarog
+assembled night after night, and discussed, as far as the autocratic
+government of the Czar Nicholas would allow, the political news of the
+day. Poor souls! They enjoyed little latitude in this direction. Items
+of information concerning the acts of the central government in St.
+Petersburg were few and vague. The newspapers, owing to an extremely
+severe censorship, gave but meagre accounts of the political situation
+in the capital, and these were of necessity favorable to the government.
+Now and then, however, came rambling accounts of insurrections, of acts
+of cruelty, of large bodies of political offenders banished to a
+life-long slavery in Siberia. At times came the news that the Czar had
+been inspired by Providence to inaugurate some new and important reform,
+only to be followed by the announcement that Satan had held a conference
+with his Imperial Majesty, and that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> reform had fallen through. All
+such information was carried into Togarog by word of mouth, for few of
+the good <i>moujiks</i> could read the papers. Woe to anyone, however, who
+allowed his tongue too great a license! Woe to him who dared utter a
+suggestion that the existing laws bore heavily upon him. It was a
+dangerous experiment to criticise in a hostile spirit any of the abuses
+heaped upon the degraded people. The condition of Russia was
+deplorable.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Insurrection and rebellion nourished in all parts of the
+Empire. Degraded to the lowest depths, the crushed worm turned
+occasionally, but free itself it could not. Brave spirits arose for whom
+exile had no terrors. With their rude eloquence they incited their
+fellow-sufferers to throw off the yoke of tyranny and assert their
+freedom; and the morrow found them wandering toward the snow-bound
+confines of Siberia. Patriotism was not very much encouraged in Russia.</p>
+
+<p>The proprietor of the tavern, a burly, red-faced Cossack, Peter
+Basilivitch by name, was in the employ and under the protection of the
+Governor of Alexandrovsk, in which department the village of Togarog
+lay. The rent paid by Basilivitch was nominal, it is true, but he sold
+enormous quantities of liquor, all of which he was obliged to buy from
+the Governor's stills; furthermore, he furnished his master with such
+information concerning the actions, words, and even thoughts of his
+patrons, as came under his observation; and as the serfs that frequented
+"Paradise" had no suspicion of the true<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> relation betwixt master and
+man, the Governor was enabled to keep himself accurately informed as to
+the sayings and doings of his subjects.</p>
+
+<p>Let us enter the public room, this bright Sunday afternoon in the month
+of April, in the year 1850. A dense crowd has assembled to-day to do
+honor to Basilivitch's wretched liquor. The face of the host fairly
+gloats in anticipation of the lucrative harvest that he will glean. He
+rubs his hands gleefully, as he orders his servants about.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Ivan, a pint of <i>vodka</i>, and be quick about it! Alexander, you
+lazy dog, here comes the village elder, Selaski Starosta&mdash;see that he is
+served!"</p>
+
+<p>And the crowd continues to grow, until his room will scarcely seat all
+the guests.</p>
+
+<p>There are sturdy farmers, wearing their heavy coats and fur caps, in
+spite of the sultry weather and still warmer alcoholic beverages, and
+swearing and vociferating in sonorous Russian. There are gossiping
+women, decked in their caps and many-colored finery. There are
+smartly-arrayed young girls, chatting merrily with the swains at their
+side. Unruly children scamper, barefooted and bareheaded, around and
+under the tables. Puling infants and barking dogs add their discord to
+the din and confusion. It is a scene one is not apt to forget.</p>
+
+<p>We repeat it, this is Sunday; the one day when the arm of the laborer
+obtains a respite from the tasks imposed upon it during the week; and
+the serf of Russia knows no diversion, can find no relaxation, but in
+the genial climate of a tavern. But this is no ordinary occasion. Not
+every Sunday ushers in so bountiful a supply of customers to Peter
+Basilivitch's inn as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> this. There must be something of unusual
+importance, perhaps some interesting bit of rumor from the capital, that
+unites the inhabitants of Togarog. After the alcoholic beverages that
+are so freely imbibed fulfil their mission and loosen the wits and the
+tongues of these good <i>moujiks</i>, we may arrive at the cause. Nor have we
+long to wait. Already in the far corner of the dingy and smoke-obscured
+room, we hear voices in altercation; a hot, angry dispute forces itself
+upon our ears, and the people cease their revels to listen.</p>
+
+<p>"Say what you will," shouted one fur-bedecked individual; "it is an
+outrage! We are already burdened with enough taxes. Three days of the
+week we must work for the master of our lands, and but three days are
+left us for our own support; and now they want to tax us again for a war
+in which we have no interest."</p>
+
+<p>"But the Czar must have the money," retorted another. "The people of
+Poland are in a state of rebellion, and the army has already been
+ordered out to subdue that province."</p>
+
+<p>"Let them tax the nobles, then," angrily cried a third. "Why do they
+constantly bleed the poor peasant? Do they want to suck the last drop of
+our life's blood? I tell you, we ought not submit."</p>
+
+<p>"How will you help yourselves?" sneeringly asked the host, who, with
+napkin tucked under his chin, stood near the speakers, and lost not a
+word of the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>How, indeed? Silence fell over the disputants. The question had been
+asked, alas! how often, but the answer had not yet been forthcoming.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us arise and organize," at length cried the first speaker, one
+Podoloff by name, who was known as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> man of great daring and more than
+average intelligence, and who had upon more than one occasion been
+unconsciously very near having himself transported to Siberia. "Let us
+organize!" he repeated. "Think ye we alone are tired of this wretched
+existence? Think ye that the peasants of Radtsk and Mohilev and Kief are
+less human than ourselves, and that they are less weary of the slavery
+under which they drag out a miserable existence? Let us assert our
+rights! With the proper organization, and a few good leaders, we could
+humble this proud nobility and bring it to our feet. There was a time
+when the Russian peasant was a free man, with the privilege to go
+whither he pleased, but a word from an arrogant ruler changed it all,
+and we are now bound and fettered like veritable slaves."</p>
+
+<p>A murmur of surprise swept through the room. Such an incendiary harangue
+was new to the serfs of that region. Never before had such revolutionary
+doctrines been openly advanced. Subdued complaints, undefined
+expressions of discontent, were frequent, and were as frequently
+repressed, but such an outspoken insult to the reigning nobility, such a
+fearless invitation to rebellion against the authorities, were unheard
+of.</p>
+
+<p>The village elder, a venerable and worthy man, arose and sought to check
+the fiery eloquence of the orator.</p>
+
+<p>"Be silent, Podoloff," he commanded. "It is not for you to speak against
+the existing order of things. Your father and your father's father were
+content to live as you do, and were none the worse for it. By what right
+do you complain?"</p>
+
+<p>"By the right that every human being ought to enjoy!" retorted Podoloff.
+"Our condition is growing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> worse every year. Last year the Czar imposed
+a tax on account of the disturbances in Poland. Three months later, the
+Governor created another tax to pay for his new palace. Now there is to
+be still another tax, bigger than the last. No; we ought not to stand
+it. It has reached the limit of endurance."</p>
+
+<p>Murmurs of approval arose from various quarters, only to be quickly
+suppressed by the cooler heads in the assembly.</p>
+
+<p>"Still we have much to be thankful for," said an old cobbler, Sobelefsky
+by name. "The nobles are very kind to us. They supply us with implements
+and find a market for our grain."</p>
+
+<p>"And for that they rob us of our money and our liberty," retorted
+Podoloff, hotly. "Ask Simon Schefsky there, how much he owes to our
+gracious Governor, who last year took from him his pretty daughter, that
+her charms might while away his weary hours in Alexandrovsk."</p>
+
+<p>"He is a tyrant!" shouted several women, their rough cheeks tingling at
+the recollection of recent indignities. The cry was taken up by many of
+the poor wretches present.</p>
+
+<p>What material there was in "Paradise" for the infernal regions of
+Siberia!</p>
+
+<p>In vain did Selaski Starosta endeavor to make himself heard. In vain did
+the older and more conservative among the company advise caution. The
+passion of an angry and enslaved people had for the moment broken its
+bonds, and the tumult could not be quelled by mere words.</p>
+
+<p>"See!" cried Podoloff, emboldened by his success. He sprang upon a table
+and tore a paper from his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> pocket. "Yesterday I went to Kharkov to sell
+some cattle. I found that the people there had already organized. They
+have sent a petition to the Czar, asking for greater liberties. Here is
+a copy. Let me read it to you," and, amid a silence as profound as the
+occasional bark of a dog or the wail of a child would permit, Podoloff
+read the following:</p>
+
+<p>"Russia, O Czar, confided to thee supreme power, and thou wert to her as
+a God upon earth. What hast thou done? Blinded by passion and ignorance,
+thou hast sought nothing but power! Thou hast forgotten Russia! Thou
+hast consumed thy time in reviewing troops, in altering uniforms, in
+signing the legislative papers of ignorant charlatans. Thou hast created
+a despicable race of censors of the press, that thou mightst sleep in
+peace, and never know the wants, never hear the murmurs of thy people,
+never listen to the voice of truth. Truth! Thou hast buried her. For her
+there is no resurrection. Thou hast refused liberty. At the same time
+thou wast enslaved by thy passions. By thy pride and thy obstinacy thou
+hast exhausted Russia. Thou hast armed the world against her. Humiliate
+thyself before thy brothers! Bow thy haughty forehead in the dust!
+Implore pardon! Ask counsel! Throw thyself in the arms of thy people.
+There is no other way of salvation for thee!"<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>Podoloff replaced the paper in his pocket, and looked triumphantly about
+him. A twofold sentiment greeted the reading of this wonderful
+manifesto. The younger generation were disposed to applaud it, but the
+older men, those who preferred to bear the evils they had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> rather than
+fly to those they knew not of, shook their fur-capped heads in doubt.</p>
+
+<p>"Did the writers sign their names to that article?" asked the
+circumspect old cobbler.</p>
+
+<p>"Not they," answered Podoloff. "They valued their lives too highly. But
+nearly every village in the north has sent the Czar a similar petition.
+Nicholas must in the end perceive our misery, and lighten our burdens."</p>
+
+<p>"Or make our existence doubly bitter," answered old Schefsky. "It is a
+dangerous experiment."</p>
+
+<p>"The Government will take no notice of it, unless it be to double your
+taxes," said the Elder.</p>
+
+<p>At the word "taxes," a new storm of wailing and imprecations broke out.</p>
+
+<p>"I could not pay another kopeck," cried one cadaverous looking wretch.
+"I work myself to death, and as it is can hardly keep starvation from
+the door."</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't they tax the nobles?" asked another. "They can stand it."</p>
+
+<p>"Or the Jews," cried a third, whose liberal potations of alcohol had
+brought him to the verge of intoxication. "Let them take all they
+possess. A Jew don't work in the fields. He has no right to wealth!"</p>
+
+<p>Here was a topic upon which all these people were cordially agreed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oppress the Jews."</p>
+
+<p>There was not a dissenting voice in the room.</p>
+
+<p>"The Czar has need of soldiers. Why don't he take the sons of Jews for
+his wars?"</p>
+
+<p>"We must sit and toil till our nails fall off, while the Jews do nothing
+but grow rich."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have no more of it! Let the Jews pay the taxes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And so the cry went on. Glass after glass of <i>vodka</i> moistened the
+capacious throats that had shrieked themselves hoarse, and in the cry of
+"Down with the Jews!" the other more dangerous cry of "Down with the
+Nobles!" was for the moment forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>It was with difficulty that the Elder of the commune could make himself
+heard above the din.</p>
+
+<p>"My friends," he finally said, "I am afraid we have made bad work of it
+to-day. Should this get to the Governor's ears, I fear some of us will
+suffer. I hope, however, that what we have to-day heard and discussed
+will remain our secret. I trust all of you. I am sure there is no
+traitor among us who would betray our deliberations to the Governor. As
+regards our condition, let us be patient. We have nothing serious to
+complain of. If the Czar needs money, ours should be at his disposal. If
+he needs men for the army, we are his subjects and his property.
+Whatever he does, is for the best. Let us submit. As to the manifesto we
+have just heard, we will have none of it. Other <i>mirs</i> may do as they
+please, but we will remain loyal to our Czar and our Governor, and live
+our quiet, uneventful lives."</p>
+
+<p>These words, delivered in a simple but forcible manner by the
+acknowledged head of the village, did not fail of their desired effect.
+The rabble, realizing the danger into which its enthusiasm had hurried
+it, became but too anxious to appear on the side of the Government.
+Those who had been loudest in their outcry, now meekly protested against
+disloyalty, and Podoloff suddenly found himself bereft of all friends,
+with the exception of three or four fearless supporters, as stanch as
+their leader. In vain he sought by his eloquence to regain his lost
+ground, but he was in a hopeless minority, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> gulping down the
+remaining spirits which stood before him, he prepared to leave the
+tavern.</p>
+
+<p>"Continue to suffer," were his parting words. "No people is worse off
+than it deserves to be. But the day is not far distant when the serf
+shall be able to hold up his head, a free man, and that will be
+accomplished as soon as you all feel the humiliation of being slaves!"</p>
+
+<p>The meeting broke up in great disorder. Sentiment appeared to be
+divided, but the radicals were very circumspect in their remarks, for
+earlier experience had taught them that, under an autocratic government
+like that of Czar Nicholas, silence was golden. The blandly smiling
+host, Basilivitch, went from group to group, threw in a word here and a
+suggestion there, smiled at this man's eloquence and ridiculed that
+man's caution, all the while making a mental inventory of the facts he
+would lay before the Governor on the next morning.</p>
+
+<p>The peasants, when they retired for the night, felt none of that
+pleasurable exaltation which should accompany a step towards liberty,
+but were oppressed by the weight of an undefined terror, as though they
+were on the verge of some catastrophe.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> "Looking about, one saw venality in full feather, serfdom
+crushing people like a rock, informers lurking everywhere. No one could
+safely express himself in the presence of his dearest friend. There was
+no common bond, no general interest. Fear and flattery were
+universal."&mdash;<i>Tourgenieff.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Leroy-Boileau.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>MASTER AND MAN.</h3>
+
+
+<p>A clear April morning was dawning when Basilivitch saddled his horse and
+rode off in the direction of Alexandrovsk, at which place he arrived at
+noon and at once repaired to the Governor's residence. A crowd of idle
+and flashily-dressed servants, all of whom were serfs, lounged about the
+new and stately palace, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> found exhilarating amusement in setting
+their ferocious dogs upon the unoffending farmers who happened to pass
+that way. The greater the fear evinced by the victims, the greater was
+the delight of the humorously inclined menials, and if perchance a dog
+succeeded in fixing his fangs in the garments or calf of a pedestrian
+their mirth found vent in ecstatic shouts of laughter. Basilivitch had
+on more than one occasion been upon such errands as that which brought
+him to-day, and seemed on terms of familiarity with the liveried
+guardians of the palace. They obligingly called off their dogs, and at
+once announced the innkeeper to his excellency, General Drudkoff. The
+Governor had dined sumptuously and received his henchman graciously.</p>
+
+<p>Stretching himself upon a sofa and lazily rolling a cigarette, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Basilivitch, what news do you bring? How fare my good subjects at
+Togarog?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have bad news, your excellency," answered Basilivitch. "My heart is
+sad at the information I have to impart. Insurrection is rife in our
+village, and not only your excellency, but also his majesty the Czar is
+in imminent danger."</p>
+
+<p>The Governor sprang up from his couch, and his face became ashen white
+with fear. There was perhaps no man in all Russia more cruel, and at the
+same time more cowardly, than this General Drudkoff.</p>
+
+<p>"Explain yourself," he cried, at length recovering from his terror.
+"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>Thereupon the loyal Basilivitch began a recital of the events of the
+previous evening. Nor did he spare exaggeration where it suited him to
+strive for effect. According to his version, Podoloff had incited his
+fellow-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>peasants to march at once to Alexandrovsk and attack his
+excellency in the palace. The line of march had already been formed with
+the arch agitator, Podoloff, at the head.</p>
+
+<p>"I saw," said Basilivitch, waxing warm as his recital progressed, "I saw
+that it would fare ill with your excellency if the progress of the mob
+was not arrested. With a handful of friends, therefore, I threw myself
+in front of the insurgents and commanded them to disband."</p>
+
+<p>"Well done," cried the Governor, upon whom every word made a profound
+impression. "What did Podoloff do?"</p>
+
+<p>"He would have come on alone, but I overpowered him and secured him in
+my barn, where he spent the night in imprecations against your
+excellency."</p>
+
+<p>"You did well, Basilivitch, and I shall not forget you. But who were
+Podoloff's accomplices? You say a number of men supported him in his
+treasonable utterances."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; there were fully a dozen of them," said Basilivitch, counting upon
+his fingers, and enumerating a number of poor innocents, whose only
+offence lay in the fact that Basilivitch owed them some private grudge.
+"There were quite a number of Jews in the assembly," continued the
+innkeeper; "and their presence seemed to cause a great deal of
+ill-feeling."</p>
+
+<p>Now it happened that there was not a single Jew in the tavern on that
+memorable Sunday. The twelve Israelitish families of Togarog found
+sufficient relaxation and entertainment in their own circle, and did not
+in the least yearn after the boisterous and uncivil companionship of
+Russian <i>moujiks</i>. Alas! they knew but too<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> well that taunts and insults
+would be their portion, if they but dared to show themselves at one of
+these public gatherings. Moreover, the Jews were in the midst of their
+Passover, a time during which the partaking of any refreshments not
+prepared according to their strict ritual is sternly interdicted.</p>
+
+<p>Be that as it may, Basilivitch did not allow such simple facts to stand
+in his way. He had come with a very pretty and effective tale, and drew
+largely upon his imagination to make it dramatic.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, the Jews again!" hissed the Governor. "Did they take an active part
+in the insurrection?"</p>
+
+<p>Basilivitch was forced to admit that they did not.</p>
+
+<p>The Governor appeared disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what matters it?" he said. "They have been a menace to us long
+enough. I doubt whether they have a legal right to live in this part of
+Russia. We must investigate the matter. In the meantime, we will make an
+example of them. Give me the names of those Hebrews that were present."</p>
+
+<p>Basilivitch's powers of improvisation failed him. In vain he endeavored
+to remember the names of the Jews who would most likely have been
+implicated in such an affair, but the names had slipped his memory.</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency," he stammered, "I never could tax my memory with their
+outlandish names."</p>
+
+<p>"It is of no consequence," said the Governor. "A Jew is a Jew. We will
+make an example of the entire tribe. And now, good Basilivitch, of what
+do the people complain?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is a mere bagatelle, your excellency. They would like to imitate
+their betters and live a life of ease and luxury; as though a serf were
+created for anything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> but labor. They complain that they cannot lie upon
+a bed of roses. They want their taxes remitted and would like their
+children to be sent to school, to be brought up to detest honest work."</p>
+
+<p>"Preposterous!" exclaimed the Governor. "What else have they to complain
+of?"</p>
+
+<p>"They say that, while they must toil from morning till night, the Jews
+do nothing but amass wealth; that they must provide men for the army,
+while the Jews remain at home."</p>
+
+<p>"Stop!" cried the Governor in a fury. "Is what they say concerning the
+Jews true?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is, your excellency. They do not work in the fields, they have no
+trades, they simply buy and sell and make money."</p>
+
+<p>The Governor paced the room in silence, an occasional vehement gesture
+alone giving evidence of the agitation or fear that was raging within
+him. Finally, he stopped and stood before the obsequious Basilivitch.</p>
+
+<p>"We will find a plan to humble the haughty race," he said. "Return to
+Togarog and keep your eyes open. Make out a list of the Jews in the
+village, and find out exactly how many boys there are in each family,
+and what are their ages. We will remove the brats from their parents'
+influence and send them to the army, where they will soon become loyal
+soldiers and faithful Catholics. Bring me the names of the <i>moujiks</i> who
+supported Podoloff in his rebellion. I shall send them to Siberia to
+reflect on the uncertainty of human aspirations. Now, go! Here is a
+rouble for you. Should any new symptoms of revolt show themselves, send
+me word at once."</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had the door closed upon Basilivitch, before the Governor rang
+for his Secretary.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Send two officers to Togarog at once," he commanded. "It appears my
+good serfs are becoming unruly, and would like a taste of freedom. Let
+the officers disguise themselves as peasants, and carefully observe
+every action of Podoloff and his friends. Let our faithful Basilivitch
+also be watched. I have my suspicions concerning that fellow. He is too
+ready with his information."</p>
+
+<p>The Secretary left the room to fulfil the Governor's instructions, while
+Basilivitch remounted his horse and returned to his <i>kretschma</i>, to
+serve, with smiling countenance and friendly mien, the men whom he had
+devoted to irretrievable ruin.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>A FAMILY IN ISRAEL.</h3>
+
+
+<p>In a remote portion of Togarog, and separated from the main village by a
+number of wretched lanes, lay the Jewish quarter. A decided improvement
+in the general condition of the houses which formed this suburb was
+plainly visible to the casual observer. The houses were, if possible,
+more unpretentious than those of the serfs, yet there was an air of
+home-like comfort about them, an impression of neatness and cleanliness
+prevailed, which one would seek for in vain among the semi-barbarous
+peasants of Southern Russia. To the inhabitants of these poor huts, home
+was everything. The ordinary occupations, the primitive diversions of
+the serfs, were forbidden them. Shunned and decried by their gentile
+neighbors, the Jews meekly withdrew into the seclusion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> of their
+dwellings, and allowed the wicked world to wag. Their "home" was
+synonymous with their happiness, with their existence.</p>
+
+<p>The shadows of evening were falling upon the quiet village. Above, the
+stars were beginning to twinkle in the calmness of an April sky, and
+brighter and brighter shone the candles in the houses of the Jews,
+inviting the wayfarer to the cheer of a hospitable board.</p>
+
+<p>It is the Jewish Sabbath eve, the divine day of rest. The hardships and
+worry of daily toil are succeeded by a peaceful and joyous repose. The
+trials and humiliations of a week of care are followed by a day of peace
+and security.</p>
+
+<p>The poor, despised Hebrew, who, during the past week, has been hunted
+and persecuted, bound by the chain of intolerance and scourged by the
+whip of fanaticism; who, in fair weather and foul, has wandered from
+place to place with his pack, stinting, starving himself, that he may
+provide bread for his wife and little ones, has returned for the Sabbath
+eve, to find, in the presence and in the smiles of his dear ones, an
+ample compensation for the care and anxiety he has been compelled to
+endure.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the street, and not far from the last house in the
+settlement, stands the House of Prayer. Thither the population of the
+Jewish quarter wends its way. Men arrayed in their best attire, and
+followed by troops of children, who from earliest infancy have been
+taught to acknowledge the efficacy of prayer, enter the synagogue.</p>
+
+<p>It is a poor, modest-looking enclosure.</p>
+
+<p>A number of tallow candles illumine its recesses. The <i>oron-hakodesh</i>,
+or ark containing the holy Penta<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>teuch, a shabbily-covered pulpit, or
+<i>almemor</i>, and a few rough praying-desks for the men, are all that
+relieve the emptiness of the room. Around one side there runs a gallery,
+in which the women sit during divine service. In spite of its humble
+plainness, the place beams with cheerfulness; it bears the impress of
+holiness. Gradually the benches fill. All of the men, and many of the
+boys who form the population of the quarter, are present.</p>
+
+<p>Reb Mordecai Winenki, the reader, begins the service. Prayers of sincere
+gratitude are sent on high. The worshippers greet the Sabbath as a lover
+greets his long-awaited bride&mdash;with joy, with smiles, with loving
+fervor. The service is at an end and the happy participants return to
+their homes.</p>
+
+<p>Beautiful is the legend of the Sabbath eve.</p>
+
+<p>When a man leaves the synagogue for his home, an Angel of Good and an
+Angel of Evil accompany him. If he finds the table spread in his house,
+the Sabbath lamps lighted, and his wife and children in festive attire,
+ready to bless the holy day of rest, then the good Angel says:</p>
+
+<p>"May the next Sabbath and all thy Sabbaths be like this. Peace unto this
+dwelling!"</p>
+
+<p>And the Angel of Evil is forced to say, "Amen."</p>
+
+<p>No one, indeed, would, before entering one of these poor, unpainted huts
+expect to find the cheerful and brilliant interior that greets his eyes.
+Let us enter one of the houses, that of Reb Mordecai Winenki.</p>
+
+<p>The table is covered with a snow-white cloth. The utensils are clean and
+bright. The board is spread with tempting viands. An antique brass lamp,
+polished like a mirror, hangs from the ceiling, and the flame from its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+six arms sheds a soft light upon the table beneath. A number of silver
+candlesticks among the dishes add to the illumination.</p>
+
+<p>On this evening, Mordecai returned from the synagogue with his son
+Mendel, a lad of thirteen, and his brother-in-law, Hirsch Bensef, a
+resident of Kief. Mordecai was a thin, pale-faced, brown-bearded man of
+forty or thereabouts, with shoulders stooping as though under a weight
+of care; perhaps, though, it was from the sedentary life he led,
+teaching unruly children the elements of Hebrew and religion. He had
+resided in Togarog for fourteen years, ever since he had married Leah,
+the daughter of Reb Bensef of Kief. His wife's brother was a man of
+different stamp. He was a few years younger than Mordecai. His step was
+firm, his head erect, his beard jet black, and his intellect, though not
+above the superstitious fancies of his time and race, was, for all
+ordinary transactions, especially those of trade, eminently clear and
+powerful. He was, as we shall see, one of the wealthiest Jewish
+merchants in Kief, and therefore quite a power in the community of that
+place.</p>
+
+<p>Leah met the men at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Good <i>Shabbes</i>, my dear husband; good <i>Shabbes</i>, brother," said the
+woman, cheerfully, her matronly face all aglow with pride and pleasure.
+"You must be famished from your long trip, brother."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I am very hungry. I have tasted nothing since I left Kharkov, at
+five o'clock this morning."</p>
+
+<p>"How kind of you to come all that distance to our boy's <i>bar-mitzvah!</i>
+He can never be sufficiently grateful."</p>
+
+<p>"He is my god-child," said the man, affectionately stroking his nephew's
+head. "I take great pride in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> him. It has pleased the Lord to deny me
+children, and the deprivation is hard to bear. Sister, let me take
+Mendel with me. I am rich and can give him all he can desire. He shall
+study Talmud and become a great and famous rabbi, of whom all the world
+will one day speak in praise. You have still another boy, while my home
+is dreary for want of a child's presence. What say you?"</p>
+
+<p>But the mother had, long before the conclusion of this appeal, clasped
+the boy to her bosom, while the tears of love forced themselves through
+her lashes at the bare suggestion of parting from her first-born.</p>
+
+<p>"God forbid," she cried, "that he should ever leave me; my precious
+boy." And she embraced him again and again.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the husband had crossed the room to where a little fellow,
+scarcely six years of age, lay upon a sofa.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Jacob, my boy; how do you feel?" he asked, gently.</p>
+
+<p>"A little better, father," murmured the child. "My arm and ear still
+pain me, but not so much as yesterday."</p>
+
+<p>The boy sat up and attempted to smile, but sank back with a groan.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor child, poor child," said the father, soothingly, "Have patience.
+In a few days you will be about again."</p>
+
+<p>"Is uncle here? I want to see uncle," cried the boy.</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch Bensef obeyed the call, and, going to the sufferer, kissed his
+burning brow.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Jacob; how is this?" he said. "I did not know that you were sick.
+What is the trouble, my lad?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> The child turned his face to the wall and
+shuddered.</p>
+
+<p>Reb Mordecai shook his head mournfully, while a tear he sought to
+repress ran down his furrowed cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the old story," he said. "Prejudice and fanaticism, hatred and
+ignorance."</p>
+
+<p>And while the Sabbath meal waited, the father told his tale in a simple,
+unaffected manner, and the uncle listened with clenched hands and
+threatening glances.</p>
+
+<p>The day following the events in the <i>kretschma</i>, little Jacob had
+wandered, in company with some Christian playmates, through the village,
+and seeing the door of a barn wide open, his childish curiosity got the
+better of his discretion, and he peeped in. A brindled cow, with a
+pretty calf scarcely three days old, attracted his attention, and for
+some minutes he gazed upon the pair in silent ecstasy. Then, knowing
+that he was on forbidden ground, he retraced his steps and endeavored to
+reach the lane where he had left his companions. The master of the farm,
+however, having witnessed the intrusion from a neighboring window, did
+not lose the opportunity to vent his anger against the whole tribe of
+inquisitive Jews. On the following day the cow ran dry. In vain did the
+calf seek nourishment at the maternal breast; there was nothing to
+satisfy its cravings.</p>
+
+<p>The farmer, slow as he was in matters of general importance, was far
+from slow in tracing the melancholy occurrence to its supposed source.</p>
+
+<p>"That accursed Jew has bewitched my cow," was his first thought, and his
+second was to find the author of the deed and mete out punishment to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the whole of Russia, and even in parts of civilized Germany,
+Jews are accused of all manner of sorcery. The <i>Cabala</i> is the principal
+religious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> authority of the lower classes among the Russian Jews, and
+this may perhaps inspire such a preposterous notion. The Jews,
+themselves, frequently believe that some one of their own number is in
+possession of supernatural secrets which give him wonderful and awful
+powers. Many were the tortures which these poor people were doomed to
+endure for their supposed influence over nature's laws.</p>
+
+<p>It was an easy matter to find little Jacob. His hours at the <i>cheder</i>
+(school) were over. He was sure to be playing upon the streets, and his
+capture was quickly effected. Seizing the innocent little fellow by the
+arm, the irate peasant lifted him off his feet, and dragged him by sheer
+force into the barn, where he confronted the malefactor with his victim.</p>
+
+<p>"So, you thought you could bewitch my cow," he hissed. "But I saw you,
+Jew, and, by our holy Czar, I swear that, unless you repair the damage,
+I shall feed your carcass to the dogs."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Jacob was too terrified to understand of what crime he had been
+accused. He looked piteously at his tormentor, and burst into tears.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" cried the peasant, impatiently; "will you take off the spell, or
+shall I call my dog?"</p>
+
+<p>The child, knowing that such threats were not made in vain, endeavored
+to plead his innocence, but the bellowing of the hungry calf outweighed
+the sobbing of the boy, and with an angry oath Jacob was struck to the
+ground, and a ferocious bull-dog, but little more brutal than his
+master, was set upon the helpless little fellow.</p>
+
+<p>"Please, Mr. Farmer, don't kill me," he pleaded, groaning in pain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Will you cure my cow?" demanded the peasant.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll try to; I'll do my best," sobbed the boy, whose pain made him
+diplomatic at last.</p>
+
+<p>The dog was called off, and the child, after promising to restore the
+cow to her former condition, was turned out into the lane, where his
+mother found him an hour later, unconscious, his body lacerated, one arm
+broken, and a portion of his right ear torn off.</p>
+
+<p>When Reb Mordecai concluded his sad narration, all about him were in
+tears.</p>
+
+<p>"Just God!" exclaimed the uncle; "hast Thou indeed deserted Thy people,
+that Thou canst allow such indignities? How long, O Lord! must we endure
+these torments?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, brother," sobbed the poor mother, while she caressed her ailing
+boy; "what God does is for the best. It is not for us to peer into his
+inscrutable actions. But come, Mordecai, banish your sorrows. This is
+<i>Shabbes</i>, a day of joy and peace. Come, the table is spread."</p>
+
+<p>Father and mother placed their hands upon the heads of their children,
+and pronounced the solemn blessing:&mdash;"May God let you become like
+Ephraim and Manasseh!" and the family took their places at the table.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mordecai made <i>kiddush</i>, which consisted in blessing the wine,
+without which no Jewish Sabbath is complete, and having pronounced
+<i>motzi</i>, a similar prayer over the bread, he dipped the latter in salt,
+and passed a small piece to each of the participants. It is a ceremony
+which no pious Jew ever neglects.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the recent affliction, the meal was a merry one. The poorest
+Israelite will deny himself even the necessaries of life during the six
+working-days, that he may live well on the Sabbath. Reb Mordecai was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+poor man. He had a small income, derived from teaching the Talmud to the
+children in the vicinity, from transcribing the holy scrolls, and from
+sundry bits of work for which he was fitted by his intellectual
+attainments. He was the most influential Jew in the settlement and not
+even the fanatical serfs of the village could find a complaint to make
+against his character or person.</p>
+
+<p>The theme of conversation was naturally the family festival, which would
+take place upon the morrow. Mendel having attained his thirteenth year
+and acquired due proficiency in the difficult studies of the Jewish law,
+would become <i>bar-mitzvah</i>; in other words, he would take upon himself
+the responsibility of a man before God and the world, and acknowledge
+his readiness to act and suffer for the maintenance of the belief in
+<i>Adonai Echod</i>&mdash;the only God. Mendel, under his father's tuition, had
+made rapid strides. He was the wonder of every male inhabitant of the
+community. His knowledge of the Scriptures was simply phenomenal, and
+his philosophical reasoning puzzled and astonished his friends.</p>
+
+<p>"He will be a great rabbi some day," they prophesied.</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch Bensef had journeyed all the way from Kief to take part in the
+family festival. There were some privileges which not even the wealthy
+Jews of Russia could purchase, and among them was the right to travel in
+a public conveyance. Hirsch was obliged to journey as best he could. A
+kindly disposed wagoner had permitted him to ride part of the way, but
+the greater portion of the distance he was compelled to walk. Still, at
+any cost, he had determined not to miss so important an event as his
+nephew's <i>bar-mitzvah</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The bread having been broken, the supper was proceeded with. The fish
+was succulent and the cake delicious. A lofty and religious Sabbath
+sentiment enhanced the charm of the whole meal. Then a prayer of thanks
+was offered, the dishes were cleared away and the family settled
+themselves at ease, to discuss the topics most dear to them.</p>
+
+<p>"You make a great mistake, sister," said Bensef, "if you allow Mendel to
+waste his time in this village. The boy is much too bright for his
+surroundings."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't begin that subject again," said the mother, determinedly; "for I
+positively will not hear of his leaving. The parting would kill me."</p>
+
+<p>"But," continued her brother, "have you ever asked yourself what his
+future will be in this wretched neighborhood? Shall he waste his
+precious years helping his father teach <i>cheder</i>? Shall he earn a few
+paltry kopecks in making <i>tzitzith</i> (fringes for the praying scarfs) for
+the <i>Jehudim</i> in the village? Or, shall he cobble shoes or peddle from
+place to place with a bundle upon his back, which are the only two
+occupations open to the despised race?"</p>
+
+<p>"Alas!" sighed the mother, "what you say may be true. But what would you
+propose for the boy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Let him go with me to Kief. There are nearly fifteen thousand of our
+co-religionists in that city; and, while their lot is not an enviable
+one, it is decidedly better than vegetating in a village. Our celebrated
+Rabbi Jeiteles is getting old and we will soon need a successor. It is
+an honorable position and one which our little Mendel will some day be
+able to fill. Would you not like living in a big city, my boy?"</p>
+
+<p>Mendel hovered between filial affection and a desire to see the big
+world. It was difficult to decide.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I should like to remain with father and mother&mdash;and Jacob," he
+stammered, "and yet&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And yet," continued his uncle, "you would love to come to Kief, where
+everything is grand and brilliant, where the stores and booths are
+fairly alive with light and beauty, where the soldiers parade every day
+in gorgeous uniforms. Ah, my boy, there is life for you!"</p>
+
+<p>"But how much of that life may the Jews enjoy?" asked Mordecai. "Are
+they not restricted in their privileges and deprived of every
+possibility of rising in station? Is their lot any happier than ours in
+this village, where, at all events, we are not troubled with the envy
+which the sight of so much luxury must bring with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will not always be so," said Bensef, confidently. "With each year we
+may expect reforms, and where will they strike first if not in the
+cities? Nicholas already has plans under consideration, whereby the
+condition of the serfs may be bettered."</p>
+
+<p>"How will that benefit our race?"</p>
+
+<p>"How? I will tell you. The serf persecutes the Jew because he is himself
+persecuted by the nobility. There is no real animosity between the
+peasant and his Jewish neighbors. Our wretched state is the outgrowth of
+a petty tyranny, in which the serf desires to imitate his superiors. Let
+the people once enjoy freedom and they will cease to persecute the
+Hebrews, without whom they cannot exist."</p>
+
+<p>"Absurd ideas," interrupted the teacher. "Our degradation proceeds not
+from the people, but from those in authority. Our lot will not improve
+until the Messiah comes with sword in hand, to deliver us from our
+enemies. Remember the proverb: 'The heavens are far, but further the
+Czar.'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But about Mendel?" asked Bensef, suddenly reverting to his original
+topic, for in spite of his hopeful theories, he did not feel sanguine
+that he would live to see their realization.</p>
+
+<p>"The matter is not pressing," said the father. "We can think it over,
+and decide before you return to Kief."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" cried Leah; "Mendel must not leave us. Promise to remain, my
+child!"</p>
+
+<p>But the boy was now delighted with the idea of accompanying his uncle.
+He asked a thousand questions concerning the wonderful town of Kief,
+which suddenly became the goal of all his hopes and ambitions.</p>
+
+<p>Bensef took the boy upon his lap and told him all about the great city,
+which had once been the capital of Russia. Mendel listened and sighed.
+His eyes beamed with pleasurable anticipation. Before going to bed, he
+threw his arms about his mother's neck.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother," he whispered; "let me go to Kief. I want to become great."</p>
+
+<p>Leah held him in a convulsive embrace, but said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>The morrow was Saturday&mdash;Sabbath morning. The little synagogue was
+crowded with an expectant throng. It was long since there had been a
+<i>bar-mitzvah</i> in Togarog, and Israelites came from all the villages in
+the vicinity to witness the happy event. Happy seemed the men, arrayed
+in their white <i>tallesim</i> (praying scarfs)&mdash;happy at the thought of
+another member being added to their ranks. Happy appeared the mothers in
+the reflection that their sons, too, would some day be admitted to the
+holy rite. When Mendel finally mounted the <i>almemor</i> (pulpit), and began
+his <i>Bar'chu eth Adonai</i>, the audience scarcely breathed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Like a finished scholar did Mendel recite his <i>sidrah</i>, that portion of
+the <i>Torah</i> or Law which was appropriate to the day. This was followed
+by the <i>drosha</i>, a well-committed speech, expressive of gratitude to his
+parents and teachers, and full of beautiful promises of a future that
+should be pleasant in the eyes of the Lord. The words fell from his lips
+as though inspired. It was a proud moment for the boy's parents. Their
+tears mingled with their smiles. Forgotten were hardships and
+persecutions. God still held happiness in reserve for his chosen people.
+When the boy concluded his exercises, kisses and congratulations were
+showered upon him by his admiring friends.</p>
+
+<p>"Hirsch Bensef is right," said Mordecai to his wife. "Mendel ought to go
+to some large city. He has wonderful talents. He may become a great
+rabbi. Who can tell?"</p>
+
+<p>"We shall see; we shall see!" replied his wife, with a look of mingled
+pleasure and pain. But she did not say her husband was in the wrong.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon the entire congregation visited Reb Mordecai, so that
+the little house scarcely held all the people. The men came with their
+long <i>caftans</i>, the women with their black silk robes, their prettiest
+wigs, and strings of pearls; and one and all brought presents, tokens of
+their esteem. Naturally, Mendel was the centre of attraction. His
+present, past and future were discussed. A brilliant career was
+predicted for him, and he was held up as a model to his juniors.</p>
+
+<p>Little Jacob was also the recipient of attentions from young and old.
+His mishap, though painful, was not an exceptional case. Similar ones
+occurred almost weekly in the surrounding country. What mattered it?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>
+His arm would be stiff and his ear mutilated to the end of his days; but
+he was only a Jew&mdash;doomed to live and suffer for his belief in the one
+God. It was a sad consolation they gave him, but it was the best they
+had to offer.</p>
+
+<p>The poor children, Christian as well as Jew, came from miles around to
+receive alms, which were generously given. Then refreshments were
+served, followed by speeches and jests; and so the afternoon and evening
+wore merrily away, and night&mdash;a dark and dismal night&mdash;followed the
+happy day.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>A NIGHT OF TERROR.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The guests had retired to their homes. The children had been blessed and
+sent to bed. The parents throughout the quarter, having discussed the
+one topic of the day, Mendel's <i>bar-mitzvah</i>, had extinguished their
+candles and sought their pillows, preparatory to again venturing forth
+into a cold and inhospitable world in search of their meagre
+subsistence.</p>
+
+<p>In the village, too, the serfs had retired, the brawling in "Paradise"
+had gradually ceased, and silent night had cast her mantle of sleep over
+Togarog.</p>
+
+<p>A dim rumbling of wagons, a clattering of horses' hoofs, a murmur of
+men's voices fell upon the air. Nearer and nearer came the sounds and
+the soldiers that produced them, until the village was reached. With as
+little noise as possible, the company crept through the narrow streets
+until they came to the inn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> of our friend Basilivitch, who evidently
+expected them, for he hastily opened the door and bade the martial band
+enter. There was a whispered consultation between the host and the
+leader of the soldiers. Basilivitch put on his cap and guided the
+captain through the village. Carefully the two scanned the houses, and
+now and then Basilivitch drew a cross upon one of the doors with a piece
+of red chalk. They then directed their footsteps to the Jewish quarter,
+where they repeated their tactics, and finally rejoined their companions
+in "Paradise." Here the soldiers were given their instructions, and
+silently and stealthily, lest they might arouse the village and invite
+resistance, they crept forth in twos, to the huts marked with the mystic
+sign of the cross. The house of Podoloff was the first they reached.
+Cautiously one of the soldiers knocked at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Who's there?" cried a voice, inside.</p>
+
+<p>"Friends! Open at once!" was the enticing answer.</p>
+
+<p>Podoloff hastily attired himself, and, cautiously opening the door, he
+peeped through the crevice. At the sight of the soldiers, he
+instinctively divined danger, and tried to bar the entrance. Too late!
+One of the soldiers had already thrust the muzzle of his gun into the
+opening, while the other forced his way into the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Utter a single cry," he said, "and you are a corpse."</p>
+
+<p>Resistance was useless. Podoloff, in spite of his pleading, was seized
+and his hands bound behind him. Then, while one man held guard over the
+captive's wife and children, the other ransacked the house, rummaging
+through filthy and worm-eaten closets, and exploring dirty coffers, into
+which had been thrust a wretched assortment of rags&mdash;the garb of
+slavery. Every scrap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> of paper was captured and jealously guarded.
+During this time, the greatest silence was preserved. Other arrests were
+to be made, and it was imperative upon the men to take every precaution
+not to arouse the intended victims prematurely.</p>
+
+<p>"Forward, march!" commanded one of the soldiers; and poor Podoloff,
+without even daring to bid his wife farewell, was forced into the street
+and carried, rather than led, to Basilivitch's hostlery.</p>
+
+<p>Nine others were captured in a similar manner; nine poor wretches,
+doomed to life-long misery in the copper mines of Siberia, many of them
+having not the slightest idea of the nature of their offence.
+Basilivitch had placed the Governor of Alexandrovsk under eternal
+obligations by his patriotic devotion. Of the number captured, there
+were three who had seconded Podoloff during the discussion at the inn,
+the previous Sunday afternoon. The remainder were to be exiled, because
+the Governor, on Basilivitch's recommendation, deemed them dangerous. A
+good day's work, Basilivitch! You have done the nation a signal service,
+and have rid yourself of six persons from whom you had at various times
+borrowed money, and who had of late become troublesome in their dunning.
+They will not trouble you from the Siberian mines.</p>
+
+<p>The prisoners were thrown into two carts, which had been brought for
+that purpose, and a detachment of soldiers accompanied them without
+delay to Alexandrovsk. There they were put into prison for a month,
+until it pleased the Governor to take notice of them. Then followed the
+mere mockery of a trial, during which the prisoners were not permitted
+to utter a word in self-defence, and as a fitting end to this travesty
+of justice,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> the ten unfortunates were launched upon their weary
+foot-journey to the frozen North, destined to live and die beyond the
+reach, beyond the sympathy of mankind.</p>
+
+<p>Let us retrace our steps and accompany the Governor's soldiers through
+the Jewish quarter. The refinement of cruelty demanded from the Jews a
+greater sacrifice than from the Catholics. The malefactors must be
+punished through their little ones. In pursuance of a decree of the
+mighty Czar, passed some years before, the Governors of the various
+provinces were authorized to visit the Jewish homes, and to remove from
+them all male children that had reached the age of five years.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p>There was a twofold object in this course. Firstly, the humane Czar
+desired to accustom these babes to the rigorous soldier life of Russia,
+to transform the weakly scions of an oriental race into strong and hardy
+Russians; and, secondly, it was deemed a blessing to humanity to tear
+the Jewish children from their homes, parents and religion, and to bring
+them up in the only saving Catholic faith. Far, far from all that was
+dear to them, in a strange locality, among hostile people, exposed to
+unutterable hardships and rigorous discipline, these unfortunate beings
+dragged out their wretched existence. Fully half of their number died of
+exposure, wearing away their poor lives in a vain longing for home and
+friends, while the remainder survived, only to forget their kind and
+kin, and to furnish the raw material for future Nihilists. Many Jewish
+communities had already suffered from this heartless decree, and those
+who had been spared its terrors, anticipated them as they would some
+dreaded scourge, some deadly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> pestilence. That the Jews of Togarog and
+the surrounding villages had escaped its influences, was due less to the
+humane sentiments of the Governor than to his natural indolence. But now
+his ire was aroused. The Jews should feel his power.</p>
+
+<p>The detachment of soldiers having seen their Russian prisoners safely on
+the road to oblivion, now directed their attention to the Jewish
+quarter.</p>
+
+<p>Mordecai Winenki's house stood not far from the head of the street. No
+need to knock for admittance. A Jew was not allowed to lock his door,
+the better to give his sociable neighbors an opportunity of molesting
+him. Two of the soldiers entered, and groped their way through the
+darkness. The master of the house heard their footsteps, and timidly
+called out:</p>
+
+<p>"Who's there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quick, Jew, give us a light!" was the sole reply.</p>
+
+<p>Shaking like a leaf, poor Mordecai struck a light, and the candle cast
+its rays upon the fierce-looking Cossacks in the apartment. A cry
+escaped the man's lips, but it was quickly stifled by the rough hand of
+one of the soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>"If you make the least noise I will strangle you. Now show me where your
+boys sleep!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, God! they will take my Mendel for a recruit," cried the poor
+father.</p>
+
+<p>"Silence, you viper! Well, why don't you move? We want to know where
+your boys are sleeping!"</p>
+
+<p>Mordecai, convinced of the futility of resistance, shuffled across the
+floor in his bare feet, and opened the door of an adjoining room. There,
+in the innocence of youth, lay Mendel, dreaming, perhaps, of his recent
+triumphs. An unpitying hand landed the boy upon the floor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> Paralyzed
+with fear, he could not speak, but gazed pleadingly from his father to
+the soldiers. His uncle Bensef, who had shared his bed, now endeavored
+to interfere, but a blow from the stalwart Cossack sent him to the
+opposite corner of the room. Quickly they inspected the boy, taking a
+mental note of his height and appearance, and, barely giving him time to
+put on his clothing, hurried him into the arms of the soldiers waiting
+without.</p>
+
+<p>"You have another son! Where is he?" demanded one of the soldiers of the
+half-paralyzed Mordecai.</p>
+
+<p>"No! no!" he sobbed; "I have no more!"</p>
+
+<p>"You lie, Jew! Show us the other boy!" And without further ceremony,
+they broke into the third room, where Jacob lay in the arms of his
+terrified mother.</p>
+
+<p>In vain the boy shrieked at the sight of the fierce-looking visitors. In
+vain the mother pleaded: "He is sick and helpless. Spare him. He is but
+a baby. Leave him with me!"</p>
+
+<p>There was no pity in the breasts of the hardened soldiers. Neither tears
+nor entreaties won them over. The more the sorrowing parents implored,
+the louder were the oaths, the fiercer the blows of the barbarous
+Cossacks.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob, followed by his weeping parents, was carried half-dressed into
+the street.</p>
+
+<p>Similar scenes were enacted in every house in which there were male
+children. Of the twelve Jewish homes in Togarog, but two were spared.
+The children, in most cases scantily dressed, were hurried to
+Basilivitch's hostlery, where wagons were in waiting to take them to
+Alexandrovsk for the Governor's inspection.</p>
+
+<p>Mournful was the train that followed the little band through the
+village. Shrieks and lamentations, prayers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> and imprecations resounded,
+until the brutal guards, wearied by the incessant clamor, finally drove
+the frenzied people back and set out upon their homeward journey.</p>
+
+<p>The little ones sat cowering in the wagons, afraid to weep, scarcely
+daring to breathe. Taken from home when they most needed their parents'
+care and love, what would become of these poor waifs? What would the
+future have in store for them?</p>
+
+<p>General Drudkoff could now sleep in peace; the insurrection in Togarog
+was quelled. Its ringleaders were on the way to Siberia, and its
+abettors, the Jews (according to Basilivitch), had been rendered
+harmless.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> This decree was repealed by Alexander II.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE JOURNEY TO KHARKOV.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The wagons, with their helpless freight, reached Alexandrovsk shortly
+after daybreak. Their first stupor having passed, the children conversed
+with each other in whispers and tried in their own poor way to console
+one another. Jacob, whose mutilated ear and broken arm had not been
+improved by the rough treatment he had experienced, wept bitterly at
+first, until the savage voice of a soldier bade him be quiet. Then the
+child made a Spartan-like endeavor to forget his pain and fell asleep
+upon his brother's breast. It was nine o'clock on Sunday morning when
+they arrived at the Governor's palace. The devout and religious General
+Drudkoff usually declined to transact any business on that day; but this
+was an important matter of State, a question threatening perhaps the
+very existence of the Empire, and a departure from ordinary rules was
+allowable. The waifs were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> brought into the ante-chamber, and obliged to
+pass muster before his excellency, who read them a lesson upon their
+future career and duties. After those whose hasty abduction had made it
+impossible to dress, had been provided with odds and ends of clothing,
+the rags cast off by the children of the Governor's serfs, and which his
+excellency declared were much too good for Jews, the lads were again
+placed upon rickety carts, and, while the Governor proceeded to his
+religious services at the <i>kiosk</i>, they were escorted under a strong
+guard to the military headquarters at Kharkov.</p>
+
+<p>Long and tedious was the journey. At noon a village was reached, and the
+travellers were furnished with a meal consisting of pork and bread.
+Half-famished by his long fast, one of the boys had already bitten into
+his portion, but stern religion interfered.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not eat it," whispered Mendel; "it is <i>trefa!</i>" (unclean).</p>
+
+<p>The lads gazed wistfully at the tempting morsels, but touch them they
+dared not.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you eat?" roughly asked one of the soldiers, whose duty it
+was to walk by the side of the wagon and guard against a possible
+escape.</p>
+
+<p>"It is forbidden," answered Mendel, who, being the oldest of the little
+group, took upon himself the duties of spokesman. "It is unclean."</p>
+
+<p>"If it is good enough for us, it is good enough for a Jew. Here, eat
+this quickly!" and he endeavored to force a large piece of the dreaded
+meat between the teeth of one of the lads.</p>
+
+<p>"If they wont eat, let them starve," said another of the guards, who was
+attracted by the noise. "Why do you trouble yourself about them?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You are right," answered the first; "let them starve."</p>
+
+<p>And their fast continued.</p>
+
+<p>The smiling fields through which they rode, the sunny sky above them,
+the merry birds warbling in the bushes, had no attraction for the
+ill-fated boys. The world was but a vast desert, an unfriendly
+wilderness to them. But Mendel's mind, sharpened by misfortune, was not
+dormant. A thought of escape had already presented itself to his active
+brain.</p>
+
+<p>"If Jacob and I could only manage to run away and reach our uncle in
+Kief," he mused.</p>
+
+<p>Presently he plucked up courage and asked the guard: "Will you please
+tell me what you are going to do with us?"</p>
+
+<p>"You will find out when you get to Kharkov," was the ungracious
+rejoinder.</p>
+
+<p>To Kharkov! The information was welcome indeed. Not that Mendel had ever
+been in that place, but he recollected hearing his uncle say that he had
+come through Kharkov on his way from Kief. It must be on the direct
+route to the latter city. O God! if he could but escape!</p>
+
+<p>A dark, stormy night found the travellers in the miserable little
+village of Poltarack. The weary horses were unharnessed and the soldiers
+looked about for comfortable quarters for the night. They found refuge
+in a dilapidated structure, the only inn of which the place could boast.
+The children were led to a barn, where a bountiful supply of straw
+served them as a bed. A piece of bread and a glass of rank brandy formed
+their evening meal, and hunger left them no desire to investigate
+whether the humble repast was <i>kosher</i> (clean) or not.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The footsteps of the guards had scarcely died away in the distance,
+before Mendel sprang to the door and endeavored to open it. It was
+securely locked and the boy turned disconsolate to his companions. It
+was the hour when, at home, their fathers would send them lovingly to
+bed, when their mothers would tuck them comfortably under the covers and
+kiss them good-night; and here they lay, clad in tatters, numb with
+cold, pinched with hunger; pictures of misery and woe. Heart-rending
+were the sighs, bitter the complaints, in which the poor lads gave
+utterance to their feelings.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, boys!" at length cried Mendel, "it wont do to grieve. Let us bear
+up as bravely as possible. They will take us to Kharkov and leave us at
+military headquarters. Perhaps we can escape. If we are kept together it
+will be difficult, but if they separate us, it will perhaps be easy to
+give the soldiers in charge the slip. If you get away, do not at once go
+back home or you will be recaptured. Go on until you come to a Jewish
+settlement, where you will be cared for. Jacob, you must try to stay
+with me, whatever may happen."</p>
+
+<p>Long and earnest was the conversation between the boys, all of whom, in
+spite of their tender years, realized their perilous position.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mendel arose and recited the old and familiar Hebrew evening
+prayers and the little gathering made the responses; then, weary and
+homesick, the boys cried themselves to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>At break of day, the Cossacks pounded at the barn-door, and the boys,
+after breakfasting on dry bread, again set out upon their tedious
+journey. The soldiers who had accompanied the wagons, were replaced by
+others; the new men were in a better humor and more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> graciously inclined
+than those of the preceding day. They even condescended to jest with the
+young recruits and to civilly answer their many questions. From their
+replies, Mendel gleaned that the commander at Kharkov would distribute
+them among the various military camps throughout the province, where
+constant hard labor, a stern discipline and a not too humane treatment
+would eventually toughen their physical fibre and wean them from the
+cherished religion of their youth.</p>
+
+<p>The weather was unfriendly, the sky was overcast, and the boys,
+shivering with cold and apprehension, at length made their entry into
+Kharkov. The commander of the garrison, a grim-visaged, bearded warrior,
+received them, heard the story of their capture from one of the guards,
+amused himself by pulling the boys' ears and administering sundry blows.
+He then divided them into twos, to be escorted to the various barracks
+about the district. Mendel and Jacob were permitted to go together, not
+because the commander yielded to a feeling of humanity, but because they
+happened to be standing together, and it really did not matter to the
+Russian authorities how the new recruits were distributed. A soldier was
+placed in charge of each couple, and, like cattle to the slaughter, the
+boys were led through the town.</p>
+
+<p>Weary and silent, yet filled with wonder and surprise, Mendel and Jacob
+preceded their guard through the gay and animated streets of Kharkov. It
+was a new life that opened to their vision. With childish curiosity they
+gazed at every booth, looked fondly into every gaily decorated shop and
+glanced timidly at the many uniformed officers who hurried to and fro.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment, their desolate homes, their sorrowing parents, their
+unpromising future were forgotten in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> excitement of the scenes about
+them, and it required at times the rough command and brutal push of the
+soldier behind them to recall them to the misery of the moment. This
+soldier, a fine-looking, sturdy fellow, appeared as much interested in
+the animated scene as were his captives. Years had passed since he had
+last visited Kharkov, his native town. Much had changed during that
+period. A conflagration had destroyed the central portion of the city
+and imposing stone edifices had in many streets replaced the former
+crazy structures. Now and then an old building or hoary landmark would
+recall pleasant memories of early youth. The fountain in the centre of
+the square was eloquent with reminders of by-gone joys, of hasty
+interviews, of stolen kisses; and our brave warrior strode along with a
+bland smile of contentment upon his bronzed countenance. Suddenly, a man
+brushed past him. The two looked at each other for a moment, as if in
+doubt, and then with a simultaneous shout of recognition, they shook
+each other heartily by the hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Cantorwitch!" cried the soldier. "By all the saints, this is rare good
+luck! How have you been?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, friend Polatschek. But you are the last man I should have
+looked for in Kharkov. How well your service agrees with you."</p>
+
+<p>The two friends stood and talked of all that had befallen them since
+their separation. Not until the calendar of gossip had been exhausted
+did Cantorwitch finally ask: "But what brings you to Kharkov, my boy? I
+thought you were on the southern frontier."</p>
+
+<p>"So I was; so I was," rejoined the other. "I have been sent up with two
+Jewish recruits. Holy Madonna! what has become of them?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mendel and Jacob had disappeared, without even saying, "By your leave!"
+In vain the friends peered into the various shops along the street, into
+every open door-way, behind every box and barrel. In vain they inquired
+of every soldier who passed. No one had seen the runaways.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Polatschek, after listening to the consolations of his friend and
+fortifying himself with a quart of spirits, returned to headquarters, to
+spend the following ninety days under arrest for gross negligence while
+on duty.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>TWO UNFORTUNATES.</h3>
+
+
+<p>To Mendel, Cantorwitch seemed a special messenger sent by a benign
+Providence. He waited for a moment until he perceived the two friends in
+earnest conversation, and seizing his brother by the arm, he took
+advantage of an approaching crowd of sight-seers to get away from the
+gossiping soldier. The boys ran down the nearest street as fast as their
+feeble limbs would carry them. Not until they had reached the limits of
+the town did they pause for breath, and Jacob, thoroughly exhausted,
+sank to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank God, we are free!" said Mendel, jubilantly.</p>
+
+<p>But Jacob began to weep, crying, "Oh, I'm so tired and hungry!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do not cry; it is of no use. We will find our way to Kief, and there
+uncle will take care of us."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not think I can go much farther, Mendel."</p>
+
+<p>"But you must. If we remain here we shall be captured and put into
+prison. Let us go as far as we pos<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>sibly can. Perhaps we can find a
+village on the road where the <i>Jehudim</i> (Jews) will shelter us until you
+become stronger. Come, Jacob."</p>
+
+<p>The child struggled to his feet and the brothers set out upon their
+journey through an unknown country.</p>
+
+<p>The sun, the cheerful king of day, had peeped through the April rifts
+and sent his bright rays upon the smiling landscape. Gradually the
+clouds dissolved under the genial influence and a friendly sky cheered
+the fugitives on their way.</p>
+
+<p>The merry chirping of the birds, the buzzing of the insects, the
+blossoming fruit trees along the route, betokened the advent of spring.
+Mendel gulped down a great lump in his throat and stifled a sob, as he
+thought of his distant home. How happy, how joyful, had this season
+been, when, after the termination of the Bible studies at the <i>cheder</i>,
+their father had taken them for a long walk through the fields and in
+his own crude way had spoken of the beauties of Nature and of the wisdom
+and beneficence of the Creator. Then, all was peace and contentment; and
+now, what a dreary contrast! Mendel dashed the gathering tears from his
+eyes&mdash;it would not do to let Jacob see him cry&mdash;and resolutely taking
+his little brother by the hand, walked on more rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>There was a tedious journey in prospect; God only knew when and where it
+would end. On they walked through bramble and marsh, over stones and
+fallen boughs, preferring the newly-ploughed fields to the public road,
+for fear of detection; trembling with fear at the sight of a human
+being, lest it might be a soldier charged with their recapture. On they
+struggled until night hid the road from their view and darkness arrested
+further progress. A ruined and deserted shed afforded them shelter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> a
+stone did service as a pillow, and, embracing each other, the lads lay
+down to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>The dawn found the wanderers astir, and after a hasty ablution at a
+neighboring brook and a recital of their morning prayers, they bravely
+started out upon their cheerless journey.</p>
+
+<p>The day had dawned brightly, but before long threatening clouds obscured
+the sun. The wind veered to the North and howled dismally.</p>
+
+<p>Sadly and silently the boys trudged onward, buffeting the wind and
+stifling their growing hunger.</p>
+
+<p>"Mendel," finally sobbed Jacob, "I am so hungry. If I only had a piece
+of bread I would feel much stronger."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us walk faster," replied the other. "Perhaps we will reach some
+village."</p>
+
+<p>Manfully they pushed onward for another hour, Mendel endeavoring to
+entertain his brother by relating stories he had heard when a child.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob stopped again, exhausted.</p>
+
+<p>"It is no use, Mendel," he cried. "I am too hungry to walk any further."</p>
+
+<p>"Courage, brother," answered Mendel, cheerfully. "See, there are houses
+ahead of us. We can surely find something to eat."</p>
+
+<p>The waifs dragged their way to a weather-beaten hut and knocked at the
+door. A mild-visaged woman responded and surveyed the travel-stained
+children with something like compassion.</p>
+
+<p>"We are hungry," pleaded Mendel. "Please give us a bite of food."</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you and where do you come from?" queried the woman.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"We are trying to reach Kief, where we have friends," answered Mendel.
+"Please do not let us starve on the road."</p>
+
+<p>"Jews, eh?" asked the woman, suspiciously. "Well, no matter; you don't
+look any too happy. Come in and warm yourselves."</p>
+
+<p>The boys were soon sitting before a roaring kitchen-fire, while the
+woman busied herself with providing them with a meal. Tempting, indeed,
+did it appear to the famished lads; but could they eat it? Was it
+prepared according to the Jewish ritual? It was a momentous question to
+Mendel, and only his little brother's pinched and miserable countenance
+could have induced him to violate the law which to his conception was as
+sacred as life itself. While Mendel debated, Jacob solved the knotty
+problem by attacking the savory dishes before him, and his brother
+reluctantly followed his example.</p>
+
+<p>"It may be a sin, but God will forgive us," was his mental reflection as
+he greedily swallowed the food.</p>
+
+<p>The woman looked on in admiration at the huge appetites of the lads. She
+plied them with questions, to which she received vague replies, and
+finally contented herself with the thought that these were perhaps
+wayward children who had run away from home and were now penitently
+trying to find their way back.</p>
+
+<p>After the boys were rested, they thanked their kind hostess and set out
+again upon their wanderings with no other compass than blind chance, but
+avoiding the highways for fear of being captured by the soldiers. On
+they went for hours, Mendel supporting his complaining brother and
+whispering words of hope and courage.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>By noon the sky had become darker, the storm more threatening. The wind
+blew in furious gusts over the dismal country, and an occasional
+rumbling of distant thunder filled the weary lads with dread. The road
+they had chosen was absolutely deserted. It lay through a bleak,
+scarcely habitable prairie, a landscape common enough in that part of
+Russia; and stones and brambles did much to retard their progress. There
+was not a place of shelter in sight. The outlook was sufficiently
+unpromising to dismay the most resolute.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob sat down upon a stone and began to weep.</p>
+
+<p>"I can go no further," he sobbed. "I am tired and sick."</p>
+
+<p>"But you must come," pleaded his brother. "See what a storm is
+gathering. If we remain here we shall be drenched. We must find
+shelter."</p>
+
+<p>"Go alone, brother," said the little one. "I'll stay here."</p>
+
+<p>There was a sudden flash of lightning, which illumined Jacob's bandaged
+face, pale with fear and fatigue. The trembling boys looked at each
+other and Jacob began to cry.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Jacob," murmured Mendel, helping his brother to rise. "We shall
+die if we stay here. May God protect us."</p>
+
+<p>Again the waifs plodded on, Mendel supporting his brother and
+endeavoring to protect him from the cruel wind. Darker grew the sky.
+Large drops of rain began to fall and with a startling peal of thunder
+the tempest broke in its fury. The pitiless wind sweeping through the
+land from the bleak northern steppes brought cold and desolation in its
+train. The poor children were drenched to the skin. They clung to each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
+other and painfully made their way across the miry fields to the
+highway, the ancient road of the Tartar Khans.</p>
+
+<p>At last Jacob succumbed to the awful strain and sank to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me die," moaned the child.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear brother; you must live! We will find our way back to Togarog
+to papa and mamma. How they would grieve if I came back alone."</p>
+
+<p>The child shook his head mutely to this appeal, but rise he could not.
+Mendel was in despair.</p>
+
+<p>A bright flash lit up the landscape and showed the dim outlines of huts
+not many rods away.</p>
+
+<p>"God be thanked!" cried Mendel, fervently. "See, Jacob, there are
+houses. The village is near. There we can get food and shelter. Come,
+lean on me and we will be there in a few minutes."</p>
+
+<p>"No, go alone; I am too weak."</p>
+
+<p>"I will carry you," cried Mendel. "Oh, I can do it; I am strong enough."</p>
+
+<p>He attempted to lift the child from the ground, but he had overrated his
+strength and gave up his task in despair. What was he to do? He could
+not leave him in the road to perish. If he could but reach the village
+and summon help. They would not refuse assistance to a dying child, even
+if he were a Jew.</p>
+
+<p>"Jacob," he said, encouragingly, "I am going for help. Don't be afraid;
+keep up your courage and strength until I come back. The rain will soon
+stop. Good-by. I shall not be long."</p>
+
+<p>Kissing his scarcely conscious brother, the heroic boy bounded in the
+direction of the village.</p>
+
+<p>Though the thunder still rolled and the lightning still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> flashed, the
+rain soon ceased and the clouds began to show cheerful patches of blue.
+Mendel was gone some five minutes when a covered <i>droshka</i> drove up the
+road as rapidly as the muddy ground would allow. The driver, amply
+protected by furs, seemed proof against both wind and water, yet he
+cursed in good round Russian at the inclemency of the weather. Suddenly,
+a brilliant flash lighted up the road, and he saw a lad near the wheels.
+With an oath, the driver reined in the frightened horses and jumped to
+the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Ivan? Has anything happened?" asked a lady, from the
+carriage window.</p>
+
+<p>"Please your excellency, a little boy lying in the road, half-dead."</p>
+
+<p>"Bring him here," commanded the lady, and the child was lifted into the
+carriage and placed on the seat before them.</p>
+
+<p>"What a pretty lad," said the lady, who was no less important a person
+than the Countess Drentell, of Lubny, to her companion. "The poor child
+must be badly hurt."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps a little brandy would strengthen him," suggested the practical
+coachman, who knew the value of the remedy.</p>
+
+<p>The cordial revived him, and, opening his eyes, he murmured: "Wait for
+me, Mendel; I will go along."</p>
+
+<p>"Drive on, Ivan, as quickly as possible; we must get the little fellow
+some dry clothes," said the Countess.</p>
+
+<p>Yielding to the luxury of shelter and to the effect of the brandy, Jacob
+sank into a sweet sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel had in the meantime reached the village and knocked at the first
+house. A <i>moujik</i> emerged and eyed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> him suspiciously. "What do you
+want?" he asked, gruffly.</p>
+
+<p>"We have been caught in the storm and my brother is out on the road,
+dying. Please help me bring him here."</p>
+
+<p>"You are a Jew, are you not?" asked the man, savagely, as he recognized
+by the boy's jargon that he was a member of the proscribed race.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," answered Mendel, timidly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then go about your business; I wont put myself out for a Jew!" saying
+which, he shut the door in the boy's face.</p>
+
+<p>Sadly Mendel wandered on until he met a kindly disposed woman, who
+directed him to the Jewish quarter.</p>
+
+<p>"At the house of prayer there is always someone to be found," thought
+Mendel, and thither he bent his steps. Half-a-dozen men at once
+surrounded him and listened to his harrowing story; half-a-dozen hearts
+beat in sympathy with his distress. One of the number soon spread the
+dismal tidings; the entire congregation, headed by Mendel, hastened to
+where the child had been left. As they came to the highway, a <i>droshka</i>
+passed them at full speed; they fell back to the right and left to make
+room for the galloping horses and in a moment the carriage had
+disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the spot pointed out by Mendel they saw the impress of
+a child's form in the yielding ground, and a tattered little cap which
+was Jacob's; but the child was gone.</p>
+
+<p>"The soldiers have recaptured him!" gasped Mendel, with a groan of
+anguish. "Oh, my poor brother; God help you!" and sank unconscious into
+the friendly arms of his new acquaintances.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A RUSSIAN NOBLEMAN.</h3>
+
+
+<p>After an hour's sojourn in "The Imperial Crown," the best inn of
+Poltava, Countess Drentell continued her journey towards her
+country-seat at Lubny, where the carriage arrived just before nightfall.
+With the creaking of the wheels upon the gravel path leading to the
+house, Jacob awoke and gazed sleepily about him.</p>
+
+<p>"See, Tekla; he is awake!" cried the Countess. "Poor child!"</p>
+
+<p>The carriage stopped; Ivan opened the door and assisted the ladies to
+alight.</p>
+
+<p>"Carry the little one into the house and take him to the kitchen to
+dry," commanded the Countess. "What a surprise he will be to Loris and
+how he will enjoy having a playmate!"</p>
+
+<p>Another servant appeared at the door to assist the Countess.</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency," he whispered, "the Count arrived the day before
+yesterday. He was furious at finding you absent."</p>
+
+<p>Louise bit her lip and her face became pale. Then she shrugged her
+pretty shoulders and broke into a careless laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, Dimitri will forgive me when I tell him how sorry I am," she
+thought to herself, as she tripped up the stone steps into the house.</p>
+
+<p>In the brilliantly lighted hall she was met by her husband, Count
+Dimitri Drentell, and she clasped her arms around his neck in a
+transport of conjugal affection.</p>
+
+<p>"So you have come back, my dear, from those horrid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> barracks!" she
+cried. "I am so glad! But why didn't you send word you were coming, that
+I might have been at home to meet you? But it is just like you to keep
+the matter a perfect secret and give me no chance to prepare for your
+reception."</p>
+
+<p>The Count's brow contracted. Before he had an opportunity to reply, his
+wife continued:</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, I'm glad you've come. If I had known that I was marrying a son
+of Mars who would be away in the army for eight months of the year, I
+doubt whether I should have left my happy Tiflis."</p>
+
+<p>The Countess paused for want of breath.</p>
+
+<p>"The Czar places duty to country higher than domestic comfort," answered
+her husband, curtly. "But how could you leave your home and your child
+for so long a time? It is now three days since I arrived here, expecting
+to be lovingly received by you and little Loris; but you had gone away,
+no one knew whither, leaving Loris in charge of an ignorant woman, who
+has been sadly neglecting the child."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor fellow," laughed the Countess, in mock grief. "I suppose he will
+be happy to see his mamma again. But, my dear, you must not scold me for
+having gone away. It was so dull at home without you, so lonesome, that
+I could bear it no longer, and I took a trip to Valki, to visit the
+Abbess of the convent there."</p>
+
+<p>The cloud upon the Count's face darkened.</p>
+
+<p>"I have repeatedly told you that I do not approve of your excursions
+into the country," he answered, gloomily; "and I am especially opposed
+to your locking yourself up in a convent. You pay no heed to my
+requests, nor do you seem to realize the dangers you incur in travelling
+about in that manner."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Then let us live in our town house. I am too dull here, all alone,"
+answered the Countess, nestling closer to her husband and kissing him.</p>
+
+<p>"It was at your desire that I bought this place, immediately after our
+marriage. You were enchanted with it and said it reminded you of your
+Caucasian country. Now you are already tired of it."</p>
+
+<p>"I would not be if you were here to share its delights with me," she
+answered, coquettishly. "But, alone!&mdash;b-r-r! It is too vast, too
+immense! I shall never feel at home in it."</p>
+
+<p>Louise gave her graceful head a mournful shake and looked dismally at
+her husband.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly she cried: "Where is Loris? What have they done with my boy?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is time you inquired," said her husband, reproachfully. "I doubt if
+he remembers you."</p>
+
+<p>Louise broke into a merry laugh. "Not know his mamma? Indeed! We shall
+see!"</p>
+
+<p>Going to a table, she rang a bell, which was immediately answered by a
+liveried servant.</p>
+
+<p>"Bring me my Loris," she cried.</p>
+
+<p>"He has already been put to bed," answered the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Bring him, anyhow. I have not seen him for almost nine days."</p>
+
+<p>The man disappeared, and shortly after a nurse entered, bearing in her
+arms a bright little fellow scarcely four years of age. Loris, the
+tyrant of the house, who was fast being spoiled by the alternate
+indulgence and neglect of his capricious mother, struggled violently
+with his nurse, who had just aroused him from his first sleep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Louise threw herself upon the child in an excess of maternal devotion.
+She fairly covered him with kisses.</p>
+
+<p>"How has my Loris been? My poor boy! Will he forgive his mamma for
+having deserted him?"</p>
+
+<p>The boy resented this outburst of love by sundry kicks and screams.</p>
+
+<p>"The child is cross and sleepy," said the Count; "let Minka put him to
+bed."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a moment," exclaimed the Countess, in childish glee. "I have
+brought him a present. Loris, my pet, how would you like a little boy to
+play with? A real live boy?"</p>
+
+<p>Loris ceased his struggles and became interested.</p>
+
+<p>"I want a pony to play with! I don't want a boy," he cried, peevishly.</p>
+
+<p>"What folly have you been guilty of now?" asked Dimitri, with some
+misgivings, for he had had frequent proofs of his wife's impulsive
+extravagance.</p>
+
+<p>"You shall see, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>Louise rang for Ivan. When he appeared, she asked:</p>
+
+<p>"What have you done with the boy we found?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is in the kitchen and has just eaten his supper," answered the
+servant.</p>
+
+<p>"Bring him up at once."</p>
+
+<p>While Ivan went to fetch Jacob, the Countess related, with many
+embellishments and exaggerations, and with frequent appeals to her maid
+Tekla for corroboration, how she had found the boy on the road, how she
+had saved his life, and, finally, how she had decided to bring him home
+as a little playmate for her darling Loris. Before she had finished her
+story Jacob himself appeared upon the scene, the personification of
+abject misery. His features were still besmeared with the dirt of the
+high<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>way, his clothes were in a wretched condition, and his bandaged arm
+and lacerated face did not improve his general appearance. Louise
+laughed heartily when this apparition entered the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Is he not a beauty?" she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>The Count was too much surprised to speak. After a pause, during which
+poor Jacob looked pleadingly from one to the other, Dimitri asked:</p>
+
+<p>"In all seriousness, Louise, why did you introduce that being into our
+house?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is not as bad as he looks," answered the Countess. "Wait till he is
+washed and dressed, and you will agree that he is a handsome fellow."</p>
+
+<p>The Count crossed the room and looked at the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"What is your name?" he asked, gruffly.</p>
+
+<p>"Jacob Winenki," answered the child, timidly.</p>
+
+<p>"A Jew!" ejaculated the Count. "By our Holy Madonna, that is just what I
+needed to make me completely happy&mdash;the companionship of an accursed
+Jew!"</p>
+
+<p>Jacob instinctively divined that he was not welcome, and began to cry.</p>
+
+<p>"Please, I want my mamma!"</p>
+
+<p>"Stop your whimpering, you cur!" shouted the enraged Count.</p>
+
+<p>But Jacob's tears would not be checked so abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>"Please don't send me back to the soldiers," he pleaded, in his
+miserable jargon. "I don't want to go with the soldiers."</p>
+
+<p>At this juncture Loris joined in the cry. "I don't want him. I want a
+pony to play with."</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Ivan," commanded the excited Count, "take this brat out into the
+barn, and keep him secure until I ask for him. We will investigate his
+case after supper.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> Minka, take Loris to bed at once." Then turning to
+his wife, who actually trembled before his infuriated glance, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Louise, you have done some very silly things since I married you, but
+this is the most absurd. You know my aversion to Jews, and here you
+bring a dirty Jew out of the streets to become a playmate of our Loris!"</p>
+
+<p>"I could not leave the poor child to die in the road," pouted Louise,
+who, in addition to being extremely frivolous, was very tender-hearted.
+"If I had found a sick dog, I should have aided him."</p>
+
+<p>"I would rather it had been a dog than a Jew."</p>
+
+<p>"How could I know it was a Jew?"</p>
+
+<p>"By his looks; by his language," answered the exasperated man.</p>
+
+<p>"He was insensible, and could not speak," retorted Louise; "and his
+appearance no worse than that of other dirty children. Tell me,
+Dimitri," she added, throwing her arms about her husband's waist, in a
+childish endeavor to appease his wrath; "tell me why you have such an
+animosity towards the Jews?"</p>
+
+<p>The count impressively rolled up his sleeve and displayed a scar about
+two inches in length upon his forearm.</p>
+
+<p>"See, Louise," he said, gloomily; "that is some of their accursed work.
+Have I not cause to detest them? They are spiteful, vengeful,
+implacable."</p>
+
+<p>Louise lovingly kissed the scarred arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Dimitri," she murmured; "how it must have pained. Tell me how it
+happened."</p>
+
+<p>"There is no need to go into details," answered the Count, abruptly.
+"But if ever I acquire the power, I shall make a Jew smart for every
+drop of blood that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> flowed from the wound. Come, supper must be ready.
+We will not spoil our appetites by speaking of the despicable race."</p>
+
+<p>Count Drentell wisely refrained from telling his wife the cause of his
+scar. It was not for a wife's ear to hear the tale. Eight years before,
+he, with a number of young officers of the army stationed at Pinsk,
+while in search of a little pleasurable excitement, had raided the
+Jewish quarter and terrorized the helpless inhabitants. After having
+broken every window, the party, inflamed by wine and enthusiasm, entered
+the house of Haim Kusel, demolished the furniture, helped themselves to
+articles of value that chanced to be exposed, and having caught a
+glimpse of Haim's pretty daughter, Drentell, the leader of the band,
+attempted to embrace her. The Jew, who had offered no resistance while
+his hard-earned possessions were being destroyed, was driven to frenzy
+by the insult to his daughter. Seizing a knife he drove the party from
+the house, but not until he had wounded several of the wretches, among
+whom was Drentell. Kusel had saved his daughter's honor, but he well
+knew that he had forfeited his life if he remained in the village.
+Packing up the few household articles that yet remained, he and his
+daughter fled from Pinsk to find protection with friends in a distant
+town.</p>
+
+<p>At midnight, the officers, now reinforced by a number of sympathizing
+comrades, returned, and furious at the escape of their victim, burned
+his dwelling to the ground. Drentell never forgot his ignominious
+repulse nor the wound he received at the hands of Haim Kusel. His own
+offence counted as naught, so blunted was his moral sense. To inflict
+misery upon a Jew was at all times<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> considered meritorious, but for a
+Jew to so far forget himself as to assault an officer of the Czar, was a
+crime for which the whole race would one day be held accountable.</p>
+
+<p>While the Count and Countess are at supper, we may find time to examine
+into their past and become better acquainted with the worthy couple,
+into whose company the events of this story will occasionally lead us.</p>
+
+<p>Dimitri was the only son of Paul Drentell, the renowned banker of St.
+Petersburg, who had been raised to the nobility as a reward for having
+negotiated a loan for the Government. Paul had been sordid and
+avaricious; his vast wealth was wrung from the necessities of the
+unfortunates Otho were obliged to borrow from him or succumb to
+financial disaster. Had he been a Jew, his greed, his miserly ways, his
+usuries, would have been stigmatized as Jewish traits, but being a
+devout Catholic he was spoken of as "Drentell, the financier."</p>
+
+<p>The nobility of Russia counts many such upstarts among its
+representatives. It boasts of a peculiar historical development. The
+hereditary element plays an unimportant part in matters of state.
+Exposed to the tyranny of the Muscovite autocrats, they hailed with joy
+the elevation of the Romanoff family to the throne. The condition of the
+nobles was thenceforth bettered, their political influence increased.
+Under Peter the Great, however, there came a change. To noble birth,
+this Czar showed a most humiliating indifference, and the nobles saw
+with horror the accession to their ranks of the lowest order of men. The
+condition of the aristocracy, old and new, was not, however, one of
+unmixed happiness. The nobles were transformed into mere servants of the
+Czar, and heavily did their bondage weigh upon them. After the death of
+the great Prince, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> experienced varied changes. Catherine converted
+the surroundings of her court into a ludicrous imitation of the elegant
+and refined French <i>r&eacute;gime</i>. Parisian fashions and the French language
+were adopted by the nobility. It was a pleasure-seeking, pomp-loving
+aristocracy that surrounded the powerful Empress. But her capricious and
+violent son overturned this order of things and again reduced the
+nobility to a condition of dependence and even degradation, from which
+it had not yet recovered in the days of Nicholas I. For these reasons
+the nobility of Russia is not characterized by the proud bearing and
+firm demeanor which are the attributes of the aristocracy of Western
+Europe. A <i>parvenu</i>, who has, by an act of slavish submission, won the
+Emperor's favor, may be ennobled, and he thenceforth holds his head as
+high as the greatest. No one of these is regarded as more important than
+his neighbor. Dumouriez, having casually spoken to Nicholas of one of
+the considerable personages at court, received the reply:</p>
+
+<p>"You must learn, sir, that the only considerable person here is the one
+to whom I am speaking, and that only as long as I am speaking to
+him."<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+<p>Hence, we rarely find a Russian noble who is proud of his ancestry or of
+his ancient name. It is wealth and power, momentary distinction and
+royal favor that make him of worth. When, therefore, Paul Drentell,
+because of his valuable services in raising a loan which enabled Russia
+to engage in war with one of her less powerful neighbors, was elevated
+to the nobility, it caused no surprise, and the banker at once began a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+life of pomp and extravagance which he thought suited to his new
+station. His wealth was fabulous, and was for the greater part invested
+in large estates, comprising confiscated lands, formerly the property of
+less fortunate nobles, who, deprived of their rank, were now atoning for
+their sins in the frozen North. His possessions included about twenty
+thousand male serfs; consequently, more than forty thousand souls.</p>
+
+<p>Dimitri, upon his father's elevation, was sent to the army, where he
+distinguished himself in nocturnal debauches and adventures such as we
+have related, and where, thanks to his father's influence, he shortly
+rose to the rank of lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>About five years before the beginning of this story, Paul Drentell died
+and his vast estates, as well as his title of Count, descended to
+Dimitri, who now found himself one of the richest men in the Empire. He
+was, moreover, a personal friend of the young Czarewitch, Alexander, in
+whose regiment he served. To such a man, a notable future was open:
+great honors as Governor of a province or exile to Siberia as a
+dangerous power. One of the features of public life in Russia is the
+comparative ease with which either of these distinctions may be
+obtained.</p>
+
+<p>Count Drentell was haughty and arrogant, caring for naught but his own
+personal advantage, consulting only his own tastes and pleasures. He was
+a stern officer to his soldiers, a cruel taskmaster to the serfs he had
+inherited, and a bitter foe of the Jews whom he had offended.</p>
+
+<p>Very different was his wife, Louise. A Georgian by birth, her beauty and
+ingenuousness had won her great popularity at the court of St.
+Petersburg, to which she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> had been introduced by the Governor of Tiflis.
+She was neither tall nor short, possessed a wealth of raven black hair,
+perfect teeth, lustrous black eyes, a smile that would inspire poets and
+a voice that was all music and melody. When Count Drentell carried her
+off in the face of a hundred admirers, he was considered lucky indeed.
+Dimitri never confessed, even to himself, that he regretted his hasty
+choice. Louise was as capricious as she was beautiful, as unlettered as
+she was charming, as superstitious as she was fascinating. All that she
+did was done on impulse. She loved her husband on impulse, she deserted
+her child for weeks at a time on impulse, she succored the poor or
+neglected them on impulse. Her army of servants set her commands at
+defiance, for they knew them to be the outgrowth of momentary caprice.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately for the domestic happiness of the couple, the Count was with
+his command at St. Petersburg during two-thirds of the year, while his
+wife enjoyed herself as best she might on his magnificent estate at
+Lubny.</p>
+
+<p>Brought up among the highlands of Tiflis, Louise possessed all of the
+unreasoning bigotry characteristic of the people inhabiting that region.
+She was religious to the very depths of superstition, and she chose
+Lubny for a dwelling-place, less for its resemblance to the sunny hills
+of her native province than for its proximity to several large Catholic
+cloisters for both monks and nuns, whence she hoped to receive that
+religious nourishment which her southern and impetuous nature craved. It
+was while returning from an expedition to the furthest of these
+nunneries, in which she frequently immured herself for weeks at a time,
+that she found Jacob upon the road.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Count, who, with the companions of his youth, had lost what little
+religious sentiment he may have once possessed, regarded this trait in
+his wife with great disfavor; but neither threats nor prayers effected a
+change, and he finally allowed her to follow her own inclinations.</p>
+
+<p>While the union was not one of the happiest, there were fewer
+altercations than might have been reasonably expected from the
+thoroughly opposite natures of man and wife. Louise, with all her
+faults, was a loving wife, and when her husband's temper was ruffled,
+her smiles and caresses, her appealing looks and tender glances, won him
+back to serenity.</p>
+
+<p>The supper, therefore, was not as gloomy as the stormy introduction
+indicated. Both had much to tell each other, for a great deal had
+occurred during their eight months' separation, and it was late when
+they left the table.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Wallace's "Russia."</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>AN UNWILLING CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY.</h3>
+
+
+<p>On the following morning the Count bethought himself of the Jewish lad,
+and the reflection that he had harbored one of the despised people on
+his estates for an entire night, rekindled his anger against the whole
+race. He rang for Ivan and strode impatiently up and down his
+well-furnished library until the coachman appeared.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell the Countess that I await her here, and then bring me the boy you
+found on the road!"</p>
+
+<p>Both Louise and Jacob made their appearance shortly after. Jacob had
+been washed and his hair combed, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> not even the Count could deny that
+he was a lad of uncommon beauty.</p>
+
+<p>"What is your name?" interrogated the Count, with the air of a grand
+inquisitor.</p>
+
+<p>"Jacob Winenki."</p>
+
+<p>"Where do you live?"</p>
+
+<p>"In the Jew lane," answered the child, slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"But where? In what town?"</p>
+
+<p>Jacob hung his head. He did not know.</p>
+
+<p>"How did you come here?" was the next query.</p>
+
+<p>Then Jacob related, with childish hesitancy, how the soldiers stole him
+and his brother from home and took them to a big city, and how he and
+Mendel ran away and were caught in a storm. Further information he could
+not give, having no recollection of anything that happened from the time
+of his lying upon the highway until he found himself in the <i>droshka</i>
+with the ladies.</p>
+
+<p>"You say that the soldiers came to your house and took you and your
+brother away?" asked the Count.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"What did they want with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"One of them said he would make <i>goyim</i> (gentiles) of us," answered the
+boy, in his native jargon.</p>
+
+<p>"I see," said Count Drentell, as the truth dawned upon him; "you were
+taken to become recruits. So you escaped!"</p>
+
+<p>"Please, sir, Mendel and I ran away. We wanted to go home to father and
+mother."</p>
+
+<p>"Were there more boys with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Did they run away, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>"There is not much information to be obtained from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> the child," said
+Drentell, angrily. Then pointing to the boy's face and arm, he asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Did that happen to you on the road?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no; that happened at home," answered Jacob, tearfully; and he
+related the story of the cow and the farmer, the details of which were
+too deeply impressed upon his memory to be soon forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>Louise understood the jargon of the boy but imperfectly, still her
+sympathetic nature comprehended that the boy had been seriously hurt,
+and she asked her husband to repeat the story of his injuries.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor fellow," she exclaimed, wiping away a tear. "How cruelly he has
+been treated!"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose it served him right," answered the Count, rudely. "Who knows
+what he had been guilty of. One never knows whether a Jew is lying or
+telling the truth."</p>
+
+<p>In spite of his doubts upon the subject, Drentell examined the boy's
+arm. It was evident that the bone had been broken, and that the fracture
+had been imperfectly set. After a short inspection, he hazarded an
+opinion that the boy would have a stiff arm all his life.</p>
+
+<p>"It was almost well," sobbed Jacob, "but the soldiers pulled me about so
+that it is now much worse."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor boy," sighed the Countess, "how dreadful it must be! Can we do
+nothing for him?"</p>
+
+<p>"In the name of St. Nicholas, Louise, cease this sentimental
+whimpering," retorted her husband, losing patience.</p>
+
+<p>"But think of a stiff arm through life, and his ear almost torn off! It
+is terrible to carry such mutilations to the grave."</p>
+
+<p>"It does not matter much," answered the Count, "he is a Jew."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"True, I had forgotten that. It does make a great difference, does it
+not?" And the impulsive little woman dried her eyes and smilingly forgot
+her compassion.</p>
+
+<p>"What will you do with him?" she asked, after a pause.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. The wisest plan would be to deliver him up to military
+headquarters. He was taken from home to be a recruit, and having escaped
+from the Czar's soldiers, I would be derelict in my duty if I did not at
+once send him back."</p>
+
+<p>At the word "soldiers," Jacob, who had caught but a few stray words of
+the conversation, began to howl and shriek.</p>
+
+<p>"No, don't send me back to the soldiers," he pleaded. "They will kill
+me! Please don't send me back!"</p>
+
+<p>"Stop your crying," thundered the Count, stopping his ears with his
+hands to keep out the disagreeable sounds, "or I will call the soldiers
+at once."</p>
+
+<p>This terrible threat had the desired effect, and Jacob, gulping down his
+grief, remained quiet save for an occasional sob that would not be
+repressed.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, Dimitri," said the Countess. "I found the boy insensible in the
+storm. He is sick and weak. Of what service can a child like that be
+among the soldiers? Under rough treatment he would die in a week. Even
+though he be a Jew, there is no use in sacrificing his life uselessly."</p>
+
+<p>"But we can't keep him here," urged the Count.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no need of his remaining at Lubny. The principal motive in
+taking Jewish children from their homes is to make Christians of them.
+That can certainly be better accomplished at a cloister than in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> camp.
+Send the boy to the convent at Poltava; they will baptize him and make a
+good Catholic of him, and we will gain our reward in heaven for having
+led one erring soul to the Saviour." And the religious woman crossed
+herself devoutly.</p>
+
+<p>While his wife argued, Drentell appeared lost in thought. Suddenly his
+face became illumined by a fiendish light, and he rubbed his hands in
+evident satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"Louise," he said, at length, "those are the first sensible words I have
+heard you utter since we were married. Your idea is a capital one!"</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad you think so," she replied, wisely refraining from commenting
+upon her husband's doubtful compliment. "The Abbess at Valki told me
+only the day before yesterday, that for every soul brought into the holy
+church, a Christian's happiness would be increased tenfold in Paradise."</p>
+
+<p>"Fanatical absurdities," cried the Count, who was as free from religious
+sentiment as his wife was devout. "If I consent to have the child
+brought up in a convent, I am not actuated by any considerations of
+future reward or punishment. I don't believe in such antiquated dogmas.
+But to the convent he shall go, and when they have taught him to forget
+his origin and his religion, when they have educated him into a
+fanatical, Jew-hating priest, then will I use him to wreak upon his own
+race that vengeance which I have sworn never to forego."</p>
+
+<p>Louise shuddered at her husband's vehement gestures and passionate
+words. His eyes rolled wildly, his whole body seemed swayed by
+uncontrollable rage. Little Jacob, although he understood nothing of the
+Count's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> words, recoiled instinctively and hid his face in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>Drentell gradually regained his composure, and after walking up and down
+the room for a few moments, in apparent meditation, he rang the bell.</p>
+
+<p>A servant entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Take the boy back to the barn, and keep him there until I ask for him
+again," he commanded. "Then harness up at once and send for <i>Batushka</i>
+Alexei, the Abbot of the convent at Poltava. Tell his reverence that I
+desire to see him as soon as possible on matters pertaining to the holy
+church."</p>
+
+<p>The servant disappeared, taking Jacob with him, and the Count and
+Countess were left alone to discuss their plans.</p>
+
+<p>It was almost night when the vehicle containing the Abbot rolled up to
+the villa, and the <i>batushka</i> (priest) was announced. He was a
+powerfully built man, displaying a physique of which a Roman gladiator
+might have been proud. His grizzled beard reached down to his waist, and
+his flowing black robes gave him the appearance of a dervish. Alexei
+enjoyed the reputation of being very devout, and the cloister of which
+he was the head was known as the most thoroughly religious in the
+Empire. To this man the future of the Jewish lad was to be entrusted.</p>
+
+<p>When the holy man entered the library, both the Count and his wife
+crossed themselves reverently.</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency has sent for me," said Alexei, slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, <i>batushka</i>," answered the Count. "We wish to place in your pious
+care a young Jewish boy who, having escaped from his parents' roof, and
+having much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> to fear from the anger of his people, desires to seek
+present safety and ultimate salvation of his soul in the bosom of our
+holy church. I at once thought of you, as I believe that under your
+tuition the lad will be instructed in all that is essential to the
+perfect Christian."</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency does me too much honor," said the priest, meekly. "With
+the grace of our Lord Christ, I shall do my utmost to bring this lamb
+into the fold."</p>
+
+<p>"The boy is feverish and his mind wanders," continued the Count. "If you
+interrogate him, he will tell you that he received certain injuries&mdash;a
+broken arm and a mutilated ear&mdash;from the Christians. I happen to be
+conversant with the facts of the case and know that he was injured by
+members of his own family, in their impotent frenzy to keep him from
+seeking the solace of the only saving church. I desire you to remember
+three things, <i>batushka</i>: Firstly, that this boy must be taught to
+forget absolutely that he belongs to that accursed people; secondly, the
+idea must be firmly implanted in his mind that he has been mutilated by
+the Jews; and thirdly, he must be taught to despise and detest the
+Hebrew race with all the hatred of which his soul is capable. Do you
+understand me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do, your excellency. You desire the boy to so far forget his former
+associations, that he will belong heart and soul to the church of
+Christ; and as a further precaution that he may never harbor a desire to
+return to the religion of his fathers, you desire us to impress him with
+an implacable hatred, a thirst for revenge against his race, for wrongs
+they have inflicted upon him."</p>
+
+<p>The Count looked at the priest significantly; they had understood one
+another.</p>
+
+<p>"You will find the boy docile," continued Drentell,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> "and unless he
+belies the characteristics of his people, you will find him quick and
+intelligent. Employ that intelligence for the good of our holy faith and
+to the prejudice of the Jewish race. Give him every advantage, every
+inducement to advance, and shape his career so that in him the church
+will find a faithful supporter and an earnest champion."</p>
+
+<p>"And the Jews an enemy before whom the stoutest of their number shall
+quail," continued the priest. "So shall it be, your excellency."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall expect to receive occasional reports of his progress. Let him
+be taught to respect me as his benefactor, and once a year I desire him
+to spend a week or two with me, in order that by wise counsels and
+salutary advice, I may assist the holy church in her noble work.
+Remember, too," and here the Count's features assumed a threatening
+look, "that this act of to-day is done by the authority of his majesty
+the Czar, who will hold you accountable for the strict observance of all
+you have promised."</p>
+
+<p>The priest bowed his head humbly.</p>
+
+<p>"I reverence the church, your excellency," he answered, "but above all I
+owe allegiance to its spiritual head, the Czar."</p>
+
+<p>All preliminaries having been arranged, Jacob was sent for. The priest,
+who not unnaturally expected to see a young man, was greatly surprised
+at the appearance of this puny child. He concealed his astonishment as
+well as possible, merely observing:</p>
+
+<p>"I presume, your excellency, this is my future pupil."</p>
+
+<p>"It is, and may he prove worthy of his eminent teacher."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, my boy," said the priest, taking the mystified<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> Jacob by the
+hand; "say good-by to your benefactors."</p>
+
+<p>But Jacob, upon whom the sombre-robed, grim-visaged stranger did not
+make a favorable impression, broke from his hold and took refuge in the
+skirts of the Countess, as the most compassionate of the company.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let them take me away," he sobbed. "Let me remain with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Be a good boy and he will take you home to your papa and mamma," said
+the Countess, with the best intentions in the world.</p>
+
+<p>"Will he take me to Mendel?" asked the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he is going there now and will take you to all your friends."</p>
+
+<p>The child wiped away his tears and a smile rippled over his face. He put
+his hand confidingly into that of the priest, and said:</p>
+
+<p>"Come, I will go with you."</p>
+
+<p>The priest, in spite of his fanaticism, took the poor Jew in his arms
+and kissed him tenderly. Then setting him again upon his feet, he
+whispered:</p>
+
+<p>"I shall take him to a kind and loving mother, one from whose embrace he
+will not care to flee&mdash;the Holy Mother of God."</p>
+
+<p>Jacob entered the wagon with his new acquaintance, and in the belief
+that he was going direct to the home of his parents, he fell asleep.
+When he awoke, he found himself borne by strong arms into the convent,
+whose doors closed upon him, separating him forever from his home and
+his religion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>A MIRACULOUS CURE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Let us return to Mendel.</p>
+
+<p>The unconscious boy was carried to the village by the sympathizing
+Israelites of Poltava. When he recovered his senses he found himself
+safely sheltered in the house of Reb Sholem, the <i>parnas</i> (president of
+the congregation). It was a pleasure to find kind sympathy, a warm room
+and a substantial meal, after the hardships of the last few days; but
+the constant recollection of Jacob's disappearance, the reproaches which
+Mendel heaped upon himself for having deserted his brother, left him no
+peace of mind.</p>
+
+<p>The Jews of Poltava displayed their practical sympathy by dividing into
+groups and scouring the village and the surrounding country, in hopes of
+finding some clue to the whereabouts of the boy. He might even now be
+wandering through the fields. Night, however, found them all gathered at
+Reb Sholem's house, sorrowful and disheartened, as not a trace of the
+missing lad had been discovered. Mendel retired in a state of fever and
+tossed restlessly about on his bed during the entire night. He was moved
+by but one desire&mdash;to get to his uncle at Kief as quickly as possible.
+In the morning he informed his host of his plans. A carrier of the
+village, who drove his team to within a few versts of Kief, was induced,
+upon the payment of an exorbitant sum, to take the boy as a passenger,
+and at dawn next morning they started upon their slow and tedious
+journey, followed by the good wishes of the Jewish community. It was an
+all-day trip to Kief. Over stone and stubble, through ditch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> and mire
+moved the lumbering, springless vehicle, and Mendel, who quitted Poltava
+with an incipient fever, arrived at his destination in a state of utter
+exhaustion. The carrier set him down at the outskirts of the town. It
+was as much as his position was worth to have harbored a Jew&mdash;a fugitive
+from the military at that&mdash;and slowly and painfully Mendel found his way
+through the strange city, to the Jewish quarter. Every soldier that
+crossed his path inspired him with terror; it might be some one charged
+with his recapture. Not until he reached his destination did he deem
+himself safe.</p>
+
+<p>To the south-east of the city, stretched along the Dnieper, lay the
+Jewish settlement of almost fifteen thousand souls. The most dismal,
+unhealthy portion of the town had in days gone by been selected as its
+location. The decree of the <i>mir</i> had fixed its limits in the days of
+Peter the Great, and its boundaries could not be extended, no matter how
+rapidly the population might increase, no matter how great a lack of
+room, of air, of light there might be for future generations. The houses
+were, therefore, built as closely together as possible, without regard
+to comfort or sanitary needs. To each was added new rooms, as the
+necessities of the inhabiting family demanded, and these additions hung
+like excrescences from all sides of the ugly huts, like toadstools to
+decaying logs. Every inch of ground was precious to the ever-increasing
+settlement. It was a labyrinth of narrow, dirty streets, of unpainted,
+unattractive, dilapidated houses, a lasting monument of hatred and
+persecution, of bigotry and prejudice. Mendel gasped for a breath of
+fresh air, and, feeling himself grow faint, he hurried onward and
+inquired the way to Hirsch Bensef's house. A plain, unpretentious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
+structure was pointed out and Mendel knocked at the door.</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch himself opened the door. For a moment he stood undecided,
+scarcely recognizing in the form before him, his chubby nephew of a week
+ago. Then he opened his arms and drew the little fellow to his breast.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it indeed you, Mendel?" he cried. "<i>Sholem alechem!</i> (Peace be with
+you!) God be praised that He has brought you to us!" and he led the boy
+into the room and closed the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Miriam," he called to his wife, who was engaged in her household duties
+in an adjoining room; "quick, here is our boy, our Mendel. I knew he
+would come."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel was lovingly embraced by his cheerful-looking aunt, whom he had
+never seen, but whom he loved from that moment.</p>
+
+<p>"What ails you, my boy? You look ill; your head is burning," said
+Miriam, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, aunt; I fear I shall be sick," answered Mendel, faintly.</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense; we will take care of that," replied Hirsch. "But where is
+Jacob?"</p>
+
+<p>Mendel burst into tears, the first he had shed since his enforced
+departure from home. In as few words as possible he told his story,
+accompanied by the sobs and exclamations of his hearers. In conclusion,
+he added:</p>
+
+<p>"Either Jacob wandered away in his delirium and is perhaps dead in some
+deserted place, or else the soldiers have recaptured him and have taken
+him back to Kharkov."</p>
+
+<p>"Rather he be dead than among the inhuman Cossacks at the barracks,"
+returned his uncle. "God in His mercy does all things for the best!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The poor boy must be starving," said Miriam, and she set the table with
+the best the house afforded, but Mendel could touch nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"It looks tempting, but I cannot eat," he said. "I have no appetite."</p>
+
+<p>The poor fellow stretched himself on a large sofa, where he lay so
+quiet, so utterly exhausted, that Hirsch and his wife looked at each
+other anxiously and gravely shook their heads.</p>
+
+<p>A casual stranger would not have judged from the unpretentious exterior
+of Bensef's house, that its proprietor was in possession of considerable
+means, that every room was furnished in taste and even luxury, that
+works of oriental art were hidden in its recesses. Persecuted during
+generations by the jealous and covetous nations surrounding them, the
+Jews learned to conceal their wealth beneath the mask of poverty.
+Robbers, in the guise of uniformed soldiery and decorated officers of
+the Czar, stalked in broad daylight to relieve the despised Hebrew of
+his superfluous wealth, and thus it happened that the poorest hut was
+often the depository of gold and silver, of artistic utensils, which
+were worthy of the table of the Czar himself. Nor was this fact entirely
+unknown to the surrounding Christians. Not unfrequently were
+persecutions the outcome of the absurd idea that every Jewish hovel was
+the abode of riches, and that every hut where misery held court, where
+starving children cried for bread, was a mine of untold wealth. The
+condition of the race has changed in some of the more civilized
+countries, but in Russia these barbarous notions still prevail.</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch Bensef, by untiring energy and perseverance as a dealer in curios
+and works of art, had become one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> of the wealthiest and most influential
+men in the community. He was <i>parnas</i> of the great congregation of Kief,
+and was respected, not only by his co-religionists, but also by the
+nobles with whom he transacted the greater portion of his business.</p>
+
+<p>His wife, who had in her youth been styled the "Beautiful Miriam," even
+now, after twelve years of married life, was still a handsome woman. Her
+dark eyes shone with the same bewitching fire; her beautiful hair had,
+in accordance with the orthodox Jewish custom, fallen under the shears
+on the day of her marriage, but the silken band and string of pearls
+that henceforth decked her brow did not detract from her oriental
+beauty. Hirsch was proud of her and he would have been completely happy
+if God had vouchsafed her a son. Like Hannah, she prayed night and
+morning to the Heavenly throne. Such was the family in whose bosom
+Mendel had found a refuge.</p>
+
+<p>After a while, the boy asked for a glass of water, which he swallowed
+eagerly. Then he asked:</p>
+
+<p>"When did you leave Togarog, uncle; and how are father and mother?"</p>
+
+<p>Bensef sighed at the recollection of the sad parting and tearfully
+related the events of that memorable night.</p>
+
+<p>"After the soldiers had carried you off," he said, "the little band that
+followed you to the confines of the village, returned sorrowful to their
+homes. I need not tell you of our misery. It appeared as though God had
+turned his face from his chosen people. We spent the night in prayer and
+lamentations. In every house the inhabitants put on mourning, for
+whatever might befall the children, to their parents they were
+irretrievably lost."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Poor papa! poor mamma!" murmured Mendel, wiping away a tear.</p>
+
+<p>"On the following morning," continued Bensef; "all the male <i>Jehudim</i>
+went to Alexandrovsk and implored an audience of the Governor. He sent
+us word that he would hold no conference with Jews and threatened us all
+with Siberia if we did not at once return home. What could we do? I bade
+your parents farewell, and after promising to do all in my power to find
+and succor you and Jacob, I left them and returned home, where I arrived
+yesterday. Thank God that you, at least, are safe from harm."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel nestled closer to his uncle, who affectionately stroked his
+fevered brow.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! why does God send us such sufferings?" moaned the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"Be patient, my child. It is through suffering that we will in the end
+attain happiness. When afflictions bear most heavily upon us, then will
+the Messiah come!"</p>
+
+<p>This hope was ever the anchor which preserved the chosen people when the
+storms of misfortune threatened to destroy them. The belief in the
+eventual coming of a redeemer who would lead them to independence, and
+for whose approach trials, misery and persecution were but a necessary
+preparation, has been the great secret of Israel's strength and
+endurance.</p>
+
+<p>During the evening, a number of Bensef's intimate friends visited the
+house and were told Mendel's history. The news of his arrival soon
+spread through the community, awakening everywhere the liveliest
+sympathy. Many parents had been bereft of their children in the
+self-same way and still mourned the absence of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> first-born, whom
+the cruel decree of Nicholas had condemned to the rigors of some
+military outpost. Mendel became the hero of Kief, while he lay tossing
+in bed, a prey to high fever.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the care that was lavished upon him, he steadily grew worse.
+Fear, hunger, exposure and self-reproach had been too much for his
+youthful frame. For several days Miriam administered her humble
+house-remedies, but they were powerless to relieve his sufferings. The
+hot tea which he was made to drink, only served to augment the fever.</p>
+
+<p>On the fifth day, Mendel was decidedly in a dangerous condition. He was
+delirious. The doctors in the Jewish community were consulted, but were
+powerless to effect a cure. Bensef and his wife were in despair.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we do?" said Miriam, sadly. "We cannot let the boy die."</p>
+
+<p>"Die?" cried Hirsch, becoming pale at the thought. "Oh, God, do not take
+the boy! He has wound himself about my heart. Oh, God, let him live!"</p>
+
+<p>"Come, husband, praying is of little avail," answered his practical
+wife; "we must have a <i>feldsher</i>" (doctor).</p>
+
+<p>"A <i>feldsher</i> in the Jewish community? Why, Miriam, are you out of your
+mind? Have you forgotten how, when Rabbi Jeiteles was lying at the point
+of death, no amount of persuasion could induce a doctor to come into the
+quarter. 'Let the Jews die,' they answered to our entreaties; 'there
+will still be too many of them!'"</p>
+
+<p>Miriam sighed. She remembered it well.</p>
+
+<p>"What persuasion would not do, money may accomplish," she said, after a
+pause. "Hirsch, that boy must not die. He must live to be a credit to us
+and a com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>fort to our old age. You have money&mdash;what gentile ever
+resisted it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will do what I can," said the man, gloomily. "But even though I could
+bring one to the house, what good can he do. It is merely an experiment
+with the best of them. They will take our money, make a few magical
+incantations, prescribe a useless drug, and leave their patient to the
+mercy of Fate."</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch Bensef was right. At the time of which we speak, medicine could
+scarcely be classed among the sciences in Russia, and if we accept the
+statement of modern travellers, the situation is not much improved at
+the present day. The scientific doctor of Russia was the <i>feldsher</i> or
+army surgeon, whose sole schooling was obtained among the soldiery and
+whose knowledge did not extend beyond dressing wounds and giving an
+occasional dose of physic. Upon being called to the bedside of a
+patient, he adopted an air of profound learning, asked a number of
+unimportant questions, prescribed an herb or drug of doubtful efficacy,
+and charged an exorbitant fee. The patient usually refused to take the
+medicine and recovered. It sometimes happened that he took the
+prescribed dose and perhaps recovered, too. On a level with the
+<i>feldsher</i> and much preferred by the peasantry, stood the <i>snakharka</i>, a
+woman, half witch, half quack, who was regarded by the <i>moujiks</i> with
+the greatest veneration. By means of herbs and charms, she could
+accomplish any cure short of restoring life to a corpse. "The
+<i>snakharka</i> and the <i>feldsher</i> represent two very different periods in
+the history of medical science&mdash;the magical and the scientific. The
+Russian peasantry have still many conceptions which belong to the
+former. The majority of them are now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> quite willing, under ordinary
+circumstances, to use the scientific means of healing, but as soon as a
+violent epidemic breaks out and scientific means prove unequal to the
+occasion, the old faith revives and recourse is had to magical rites and
+incantations."<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p>
+
+<p>Neither of these systems was regarded favorably by the Hebrews. The
+<i>feldshers</i> were, by right of their superior knowledge, an arrogant
+class; and it was suspected that on more than one occasion they had
+hastened the death of a Jew under treatment, instead of relieving him.
+The Israelites were equally suspicious of the <i>snakharkas</i>; not because
+they were intellectually above the superstitions of their times, but
+because the incantations and spells were invariably pronounced in the
+name of the Virgin Mary, and no Jew could be reasonably expected to
+recover under such treatment.</p>
+
+<p>What was to be done for poor Mendel? Hirsch, assisted by suggestions
+from his wife, cogitated long and earnestly. Suddenly Miriam found a
+solution of the difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not send to Rabbi Eleazer at Tchernigof?"</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch gazed at his wife in silent admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"To the <i>bal-shem</i>?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? When Chune Benefski's little boy was so sick that they thought
+he was already dead, a parchment blessed by the <i>bal-shem</i> brought him
+back to life. Is Mendel less to you than your own son would be?"</p>
+
+<p>"God forbid," said Hirsch; then added, reflectively: "but to-day is
+Thursday. It will take a day and a half to reach Tchernigof, and the
+messenger will arrive there just before <i>Shabbes</i>. He cannot start on
+his return<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> until Saturday evening, and by the time he got back Mendel
+would be cold in death. No; it is too far!"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Shaute!</i>" (Nonsense!) ejaculated his wife, who was now warmed up to
+the subject. "Do you imagine the <i>bal-shem</i> cannot cure at a distance as
+well as though he were at the patient's bedside? Lose no time. God did
+not deliver Mendel out of the hands of the soldiers to let him die in
+our house."</p>
+
+<p>One of the most fantastic notions of Cabalistic teaching was that
+certain persons, possessing a clue to the mysterious powers of nature,
+were enabled to control its laws, to heal the sick, to compel even the
+Almighty to do their behests. Such a man, such a miracle worker, was
+called a <i>bal-shem</i>.</p>
+
+<p>That a <i>bal-shem</i> should thrive and grow fat is a matter of course, for
+consultations were often paid for in gold. To the wonder-working Rabbi
+travelled all those who had a petition to bring to the Throne of
+God&mdash;the old and decrepit who desired to defraud the grave of a few
+miserable years; the unfortunate who wished to improve his condition;
+the oppressed who yearned for relief from a tyrannical taskmaster; the
+father who prayed for a husband for his fast aging daughter; the sick,
+the halt, the maim, the malcontent, the egotist&mdash;all sought the aid, the
+mediation of the holy man. He refused no one his assistance, declined no
+one's proffered gifts.</p>
+
+<p>It was finally decided to send to the <i>bal-shem</i> to effect Mendel's
+cure. But time was pressing, Mendel was growing visibly worse and
+Tchernigof was a long way off!</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch rose to go in search of a messenger.</p>
+
+<p>"Whom will you send?" asked his wife, accompanying him to the door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The beadle, Itzig Maier, of course," rang back Hirsch's answer, as he
+strode rapidly down the street.</p>
+
+<p>Let us accompany him to Itzig Maier's house, situated in the poorest
+quarter of Kief. In a narrow lane stood a low, dingy, wooden hut, whose
+boards were rotting with age. The little windows were covered for the
+most part with greased paper in lieu of the panes that had years ago
+been destroyed, and scarcely admitted a stray beam of sunlight into the
+room. The door, which was partially sunken into the earth, suggesting
+the entrance to a cave, opened into the one room of the house, which
+served at once as kitchen and dormitory. It was damp, foul and
+unhealthy, scarcely a fit dwelling-place for the emaciated cat, which
+sat lazily at the entrance. The floor was innocent of boards or tiles,
+and was wet after a shower and dry during a drought. The walls were bare
+of plaster. It was a stronghold of poverty. Misery had left her impress
+upon everything within that wretched enclosure. Yet here it was that
+Itzig Maier, his wife, and five children lived and after a fashion
+thrived. In one respect he was more fortunate than most of his
+neighbors; his hut possessed the advantage of housing but one family,
+whereas many places, not a whit more spacious or commodious, furnished a
+dwelling to three or four. The persecutions which limited the Jewish
+quarter to certain defined boundaries, the intolerance which prohibited
+the Jews from possessing or cultivating land, or from acquiring any
+trade or profession, were to blame for this wretchedness.</p>
+
+<p>A brief review of the past career of our new acquaintance, Itzig Maier,
+will give us a picture of the unfortunate destiny of thousands of
+Russian Jews.</p>
+
+<p>Itzig had studied Talmud until he had attained his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> eighteenth year. But
+lacking originality he lapsed into a mere automaton. His eighteenth year
+found him a sallow-visaged, slovenly lad, ignorant of all else but the
+Holy Law. His anxious and loving parents began to think seriously of his
+future. Almost nineteen years of age and not yet married! It was
+preposterous! A <i>schadchen</i> (match-maker) was brought into requisition
+and a wife obtained for the young man. What mattered it that she was a
+mere child, unlettered and unfit for the solemn duties of wife and
+mother? What mattered it that the young people had never met before and
+had no inclination for each other? "It is not good for man to be alone,"
+said the parents, and the prospective bride and bridegroom were simply
+not consulted. The girl's straggling curls succumbed to the shears; a
+band of silk, the insignia of married life, was placed over her brow,
+and the fate of two inexperienced children was irrevocably fixed; they
+were henceforth man and wife.</p>
+
+<p>Both parents of Itzig Maier died shortly after the nuptials and the
+young man inherited a small sum of money, the meagre earnings of years,
+and the miserable hut which had for generations served as the family
+homestead. For a brief period the couple lived carelessly and
+contentedly; but, alas! the little store of wealth gradually decreased.
+Itzig's fingers, unskilled in manual labor, could not add to it nor
+prevent its melting away. He knew nothing but Law and Talmud and his
+chances for advancement were meagre, indeed. After the last rouble had
+been spent, Itzig sought refuge in the great synagogue, where as beadle
+he executed any little duties for which the services of a pious man were
+required&mdash;sat up with the sick, prayed for the dead, trimmed the lamps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>
+and swept the floor of the House of Worship; in return for which he
+thankfully accepted the gifts of the charitably inclined. His wife, when
+she was not occupied with the care of her rapidly growing family,
+cheerfully assisted in swelling the family fund by peddling vegetables
+and fruit from door to door.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, the misery of such an existence! Slowly and drearily day followed
+day and time itself moved with leaden soles. There were many such
+families, many such hovels in Kief; for although thrift and economy,
+prudence and good management are pre-eminently Jewish qualities, yet
+they are not infrequently absent and their place usurped by neglect with
+its attendant misery.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of privations, however, life still possessed a charm for Itzig
+Maier. At times the wedding of a wealthy Jew, or the funeral of some
+eminent man, demanded his services and for a week or more money would be
+plentiful and happiness reign supreme.</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch Bensef entered the hut and found Jentele, Maier's wife,
+perspiring over the hearth which occupied one corner of the room. She
+was preparing a meal of boiled potatoes. A sick child was tossing
+restlessly in an improvised cradle, which in order to save room was
+suspended from a hook in the smoke-begrimed ceiling. Several children
+were squalling in the lane before the house.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Sholem alechem</i>," said the woman, as she saw the stranger stoop and
+enter the door-way, and wiping her hands upon her greasy gown, she
+offered Hirsch a chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is your husband?" asked Hirsch, gasping for breath, for the heat
+and the malodorous atmosphere were stifling.</p>
+
+<p>"Where should he be but in the synagogue?" said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> Jentele, as she went to
+rock the cradle, for the child had begun to cry and fret at the sight of
+the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"Is the child sick?" asked Bensef, advancing to the cradle and observing
+the poor half-starved creature struggling and whining for relief.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it is sick. God knows whether it will recover. It is dying of
+hunger and thirst and I have no money to buy it medicines or
+nourishment."</p>
+
+<p>"Does your husband earn nothing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very little. There have been no funerals and no weddings for several
+months."</p>
+
+<p>"Can you not earn anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"How can I? I must cook for my little ones and watch my ailing child."</p>
+
+<p>"Are your children of no service to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"My oldest girl, Beile, is but seven years old. She does all she can to
+help me, but it is not much," answered Jentele, irritably.</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch sighed heavily and drawing out his purse, he placed a gold coin
+in the woman's hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, take this," he said, "and provide for the child." He thought of
+Mendel at home and tears almost blinded him. "Carry the boy out into the
+air; this atmosphere is enough to kill a healthy person. Well, God be
+with you!" and Hirsch hurriedly left the the house.</p>
+
+<p>He found the man he was seeking at the synagogue. Poverty and privation,
+hunger and care, had undertaken the duties of time and had converted
+this person into a decrepit ruin while yet in the prime of life.</p>
+
+<p>Without unnecessary delay, for great was the need of haste, Hirsch
+unfolded his plans, and Itzig, in consideration of a sum of money,
+consented to undertake the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> journey at once. The money, destined as a
+gift to the <i>bal-shem</i>, was securely strapped about his waist, and
+arrangements were made with a <i>moujik</i>, who was going part of the way,
+to carry Itzig on his wagon.</p>
+
+<p>"Get there as soon as possible, and by all means before <i>Shabbes</i>!" were
+Bensef's parting words.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime not a little sympathy was manifested for the unfortunate
+lad. Bensef's house was crowded during the entire day. Every visitor
+brought a slight token of love&mdash;a cake, a cup of jelly, a leg of a
+chicken; but Mendel could eat nothing and the good things remained
+untouched. There was no lack of advice as to the boy's treatment.
+Everyone had a recipe or a drug to offer, all of which Miriam wisely
+refused to administer. There was at one time quite a serious dispute in
+the room adjoining the sick-chamber. Hinka Kierson, a stout, red-faced
+matron, asserted that cold applications were most efficacious in fevers
+of this nature, while Chune Benefski, whose son had had a similar
+attack, and who was therefore qualified to speak upon the subject,
+insisted that cold applications meant instant death, and that nothing
+could relieve the boy but a hot bath. Miriam quieted the disputants by
+promising to try both remedies. To her credit be it said, she applied
+neither, but pinned her entire faith upon the coming remedy of the
+<i>bal-shem</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Friday noon came but it brought no improvement. He continued delirious
+and his mind dwelt upon his recent trials, at one moment struggling
+against unseen enemies and the next calling piteously upon his brother
+Jacob.</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch and Miriam could witness his suffering no longer, but went to
+their own room and gave free vent to the tears which would not be
+repressed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, if the answer from the Rabbi were but here," sighed Miriam.</p>
+
+<p>"Itzig will have just arrived in Tchernigof," said her husband,
+despondingly. "We can expect no answer until Monday morning."</p>
+
+<p>"And must we sit helpless in the meantime?" sobbed Miriam, through her
+tears.</p>
+
+<p>The door opened and a woman living in the neighborhood entered to
+inquire after the patient.</p>
+
+<p>"See, Miriam," she said, "when I was feverish last year after my
+confinement, a <i>snakharka</i> gave me this bark with which to make a tea. I
+used a part of it and you remember how quickly I recovered. Here is all
+I have left. Try it on your boy; it can't hurt him and with God's help
+it will cure him."</p>
+
+<p>Yes, Miriam remembered how ill her neighbor had been and how rapid had
+been her convalescence. She took the bark and examined it curiously,
+made the tea and administered a portion without any visible effect.</p>
+
+<p>"Continue to give it to him regularly until it is all gone," said the
+neighbor, and she went home to prepare for the Sabbath.</p>
+
+<p>Miriam, too, had her house to put in order and to prepare the table for
+the following day; but for the first time the gold and silver utensils,
+the snow-white linen&mdash;the luxurious essentials of the Sabbath
+table&mdash;failed to give her pleasure. What did all her wealth avail her if
+Mendel must die! Her husband sat apathetically at the boy's bedside,
+watching his flushed face and listening to his delirious raving. The end
+seemed near. The boy asked for drink and Miriam gave him more of the
+tea.</p>
+
+<p>Five o'clock sounded from the tower of a near-by church and Hirsch arose
+to dress for the house of prayer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> <i>Shabbes</i> must not be neglected,
+happen what may. Suddenly there was an unusual commotion in the narrow
+lane in which stood Bensef's house. The door was hastily thrown open and
+in rushed Itzig, the messenger to Tchernigof, followed by a dozen
+excited, gesticulating friends.</p>
+
+<p>Bensef ran to meet them, but when he saw his messenger already returned
+his countenance fell.</p>
+
+<p>"For God's sake, what is the matter? Why are you not in Tchernigof?" he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"I was," retorted Itzig, "but I have come back. Here," he continued,
+opening a bag about his neck and carefully drawing therefrom a small
+piece of parchment covered with hieroglyphics, "put this under the boy's
+tongue and he will recover!"</p>
+
+<p>"But what is this paper?" asked Hirsch, suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>"It is from the <i>bal-shem</i>. Don't ask so many questions, but do as I
+tell you! Put it under the boy's tongue before the Sabbath or it will be
+of no avail!"</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch looked from Itzig to the ever-increasing crowd that was peering
+in through the open door. Then he gazed at the parchment. It was about
+two inches square and covered with mystic signs which none understood,
+but the power of which none doubted. In the margin was written in
+Hebrew, "In the name of the Lord&mdash;Rabbi Eleazer."</p>
+
+<p>There was no time for idle curiosity. Hirsch ran into the patient's
+presence with the precious talisman and placed it under the boy's
+tongue.</p>
+
+<p>"There, my child," he whispered; "the <i>bal-shem</i> sends you this. By
+to-morrow you will be cured."</p>
+
+<p>The boy, whose fever appeared already broken, opened his eyes and,
+looking gratefully at Hirsch, answered:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, dear uncle, I shall soon be well," and fell into a deep sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch closed the door softly and went out to his friends. The
+excitement was intense and the crowd was steadily growing, for the news
+had spread that Itzig Maier had been to Tchernigof and back in less than
+two days.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell us about it, Itzig," they clamored. "How is it possible that you
+could do it?" But Itzig waved them back and not until Hirsch Bensef came
+out from the sick chamber did he deign to speak. Then his tongue became
+loosened, and to the awe and amazement of his listeners he related his
+wonderful adventures. He told them that, having left the wagon half-way
+to Tchernigof, he had walked the rest of the distance, reaching his
+destination that very morning at eleven o'clock. The holy man, being
+advised by mysterious power of his expected arrival, awaited him at the
+door and said: "Itzig, thou hast come about a sick boy at Kief." The
+<i>bal-shem</i> then gave him a parchment already written, and told him to
+return home at once and apply the remedy before <i>Shabbes</i>, otherwise the
+spell would lose its efficacy.</p>
+
+<p>"Then," continued the messenger, "I said, 'Rabbi, this is Friday noon;
+it takes almost a day and a half to reach Kief. How can I get there by
+<i>Shabbes</i>?' Then he answered, 'Thinkest thou that I possess the power to
+cure a dying man and not to send thee home before the Sabbath? Begin thy
+journey at once and on foot and thou shalt be in Kief before night.'
+Then I gave him the present I had brought and started out upon my
+homeward journey. I appeared to fly. It seemed as though I was suspended
+in the air, and trees, fields and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> villages passed me in rapid
+succession. This continued until about a half hour ago, when I suddenly
+found myself before Kief and at once hastened here with the parchment."</p>
+
+<p>This incredible story produced different effects upon the auditors
+present.</p>
+
+<p>"It is wonderful," said one. "The <i>bal-shem</i> knows the mysteries of
+God."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe a word of it," shouted another; "such things are
+impossible."</p>
+
+<p>"But we have proof of it before us," cried a third. "Itzig could not
+have returned by natural means."</p>
+
+<p>Then a number of the men related similar occurrences for which they
+could vouch, or which had taken place in the experience of their
+parents, and the gathering broke up into little groups, each
+gesticulating, relating or explaining. The excitement was indescribable.</p>
+
+<p>Bensef laid his hand upon Itzig's shoulder and led him aside.</p>
+
+<p>"Look at me, Itzig," he commanded. "I want to know the truth. Is what
+you have just related exactly true."</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure it is. If you doubt it, go to the <i>bal-shem</i> and ask him
+yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you swear by&mdash;&mdash;" Then checking himself, Hirsch muttered: "We will
+see. If the boy recovers, I will believe you."</p>
+
+<p>When Itzig arrived at the synagogue that evening, he was the cynosure of
+all eyes, and it is safe to say that there was not in Kief a Jewish
+household in which the wonderful story was not repeated and commented
+upon.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel recovered with marvellous rapidity. Whether his improvement was
+due to the Peruvian bark which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> the kind-hearted neighbor had brought,
+or to the power of the Cabalistic writing, or to the psychological
+influence of faith in the <i>bal-shem's</i> power, it is not for us to
+decide, but certain it is that Rabbi Eleazer received full credit for
+the cure and his already great reputation spread through Russia.</p>
+
+<p>The fact that Itzig, whose poverty had been notorious, now occasionally
+indulged in expenditures requiring the outlay of considerable money,
+caused a rumor to spread that the worthy messenger had gone no further
+than the village of Navrack, where he himself prepared the parchment and
+then returned with the wonderful story of his trip through the air and
+with his fortune augmented to the extent of Bensef's present to the
+Rabbi. Envious people were not wanting who gave ear to this unkind rumor
+and even helped to spread it. But the fact that Mendel had been snatched
+from the jaws of death was sufficient vindication for Itzig, who for a
+long time enjoyed great honors at Kief.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Wallace, p. 77.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3>MENDEL THINKS FOR HIMSELF.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Mendel's fondness for study determined his future career. Nowhere were
+there such opportunities for learning the Talmud as in Kief. Its
+numerous synagogues, its eminent rabbis, its large Hebrew population,
+made it the centre of Judaism in Southern Russia. In its schools some of
+the most learned rabbis of the Empire had studied.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the whole of Russia there were, at the time of which we
+speak, but few universities, and these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> scarcely deserved to rank above
+second-rate colleges. Education was within the reach of very few. At the
+present day, "the merchants do not even possess the rudiments of an
+education. Many of them can neither read nor write and are forced to
+keep their accounts in their memory, or by means of ingenious
+hieroglyphics, intelligible only to their inventors. Others can decipher
+the calendar and the lives of the saints, and can sign their name with
+tolerable facility. They can make the simpler arithmetical calculations
+with the help of a little calculating machine, called <i>stchety</i>."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the days of Nicholas it was infinitely worse. Learning of any kind
+was considered detrimental to the State; schools were practically
+unknown. "The most stringent regulations were made concerning tutors and
+governesses. It was forbidden to send young men to study in western
+colleges and every obstacle was thrown in the way of foreign travel and
+residence. Philosophy could not be taught in the universities."<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p>
+
+<p>Contrast with this enforced lethargy the intellectual activity that we
+meet with everywhere in Jewish quarters. No settlement in which we find
+a <i>minyan</i> (ten men necessary for divine worship), but there we will
+also find a <i>cheder</i>, a school in which the Bible and the Talmud are
+taught. Indeed, study is the first duty of the Jew; it is the
+quintessence of his religion. The unravelling of God's Word has been
+from time immemorial regarded as the greatest need, the most ennobling
+occupation of man&mdash;a work commanded by God. The Talmud teems with
+precepts concerning this all-important subject.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Study by day and by night, for it is written: 'Thou shalt meditate
+therein day and night.'"</p>
+
+<p>"The study of the Law may be compared to a huge heap that is to be
+cleared away. The foolish man will say: 'It is impossible for me to
+remove this immense pile, I will not attempt it.' But the wise man says:
+'I will remove a little to-day, and more to-morrow, and thus in time I
+shall have removed it all.' It is the same in studying the Law."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p>
+
+<p>It was to this incessant study of the Scriptures that Israel owed its
+patience, its courage, its fortitude during centuries of persecution. It
+was this constant delving for truth which produced that bright, acute
+Jewish mind, which in days of fanaticism and intolerance, protected the
+despised people from stupefying mental decay. It was this incessant
+yearning after the word of God, which moulded the moral and religious
+life of the Jews and preserved them from the fanatical excesses of the
+surrounding peoples.</p>
+
+<p>That this study often degenerated into a mere useless cramming of
+unintelligible ideas is easily understood, and its effects were in many
+cases the reverse of ennobling. At the age of five, the Jewish lad was
+sent to <i>cheder</i> and his young years devoted to the study of the Bible.
+Every other occupation of mind and body was interdicted, the very plays
+of happy childhood were abolished. The Pentateuch must henceforth form
+the sole mental nourishment of the boy. Later on he is led through the
+labyrinth of Talmudic lore, to wander through the dark and dreary
+catacombs of the past, analyze the mouldering corpses of a by-gone
+philosophy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> drink into his very blood the wisdom, superstitions,
+morality and prejudices of preceding ages. He must digest problems which
+the greatest minds have failed to solve. Either the pupil is spurred on
+to preternatural acuteness and becomes a credit to his parents and his
+teachers, or he succumbs entirely to the benumbing influence of an
+over-wrought intellect and is rendered unfit for the great physical
+struggle for existence.</p>
+
+<p>What is the Talmud, this sacred literature of Israel? It is a collection
+of discussions and comments of biblical subjects, by generations of
+rabbis and teachers who devoted their time and intellects to an analysis
+of the Scriptures. It is a curious store-house of literary gems, at
+times carefully, at times carelessly compiled by writers living in
+different lands and different ages; a museum of curiosities, into which
+are thrown in strange confusion beautiful legends, historical facts,
+metaphysical discussions, sanitary regulations and records of scientific
+research. In it are preserved the wise decisions, stirring sermons and
+religious maxims of Israel's philosophers.</p>
+
+<p>Although a huge work, consisting of twelve folios, it bears no
+resemblance to a single literary production. On first acquaintance it
+appears a wilderness, a meaningless tangle of heterogeneous ideas, of
+scientific absurdities, of hair-splitting arguments, of profound
+aphorisms, of ancient traditions, of falsehood and of truth. It is a
+work of broadest humanity, of most fanatical bigotry.</p>
+
+<p>It is not surprising, therefore, that the Talmud contains a great number
+of trivial subjects, which it treats with great seriousness. It
+contains, for example, dissertations upon sorcery and witchcraft as well
+as powerful religious precepts, and presents along-side of its wise and
+charitable maxims many utterances of an opposite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> nature. "For these
+faults the whole Talmud had often been held responsible, as a work of
+trifles, as a source of trickery, without taking into consideration that
+it is not the work of a single author. Over six centuries are
+crystallized in the Talmud with animated distinctness. It is, therefore,
+no wonder if in this work, sublime and mean, serious and ridiculous,
+Jewish and heathen elements, the altar and the ashes are found in motley
+mixture."<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p>
+
+<p>To the <i>jeschiva</i>, or Talmud school, Mendel was immediately sent after
+his phenomenal recovery. The great Rabbi Jeiteles himself became the
+lad's instructor. Let us accompany Mendel on this beautiful autumn day
+to his school.</p>
+
+<p>The house of Rabbi Jeiteles was hemmed in on three sides by decaying and
+overcrowded dwellings, facing on the fourth a narrow, neglected lane.
+There was nothing in its appearance to attract a passer-by. The
+interior, however, was neatly and tastefully, if not luxuriously,
+furnished. On entering, one found himself in a comfortably arranged
+reception-room. On the eastern wall there hung a <i>misrach</i>, a scriptural
+picture bearing the inscription, "From the rising of the sun to its
+setting shall the name of the Lord be praised." Prints of biblical
+subjects adorned the remaining walls, the Sabbath lamp hung from the
+ceiling and thrift and comfort seemed to be thoroughly at home. Rebecca,
+the Rabbi's wife, a pleasant-faced, mild-tempered little woman, was busy
+arranging the table for the evening meal. There is not much to be said
+about her and absolutely nothing against her. To a profound admiration
+for her husband's ability, she added charity and benevolence and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> shared
+with him the respect of the congregation. It had pleased the Lord to
+deprive her of her three sons and the mother's love and devotion was now
+lavished upon her sole remaining child, her daughter Recha.</p>
+
+<p>"My sons would be a great comfort to me," she often sighed, and then
+added, with resignation: "the Lord's will be done."</p>
+
+<p>To the right of the entrance lay the staircase leading to the bed-rooms
+on the second floor, and to the left a door opened into the
+school-rooms, a recent addition to the dwelling, and in which the
+Rabbi's fifty-odd pupils were daily instructed in their important
+studies.</p>
+
+<p>In the first of these rooms, the elementary department, sat the younger
+boys, whose spiritual and mental welfare were entrusted to an assistant,
+a young pedagogue, who did not believe in sparing the rod at the expense
+of the child, but, mindful of the unmerciful whippings he had received
+in his youth, endeavored on his part to inculcate the precepts of the
+Pentateuch by means of sound thrashings. The progress of his pupils was
+not phenomenal, but their training was eminently useful in aiding them
+to bear the blows and trials which the gentile world had in store for
+them. The Rabbi occasionally looked in upon the class and added his
+instructions to those of the assistant, who in the presence of his
+superior concealed his rod and assumed an air of unspeakable tenderness
+and loving solicitude towards his charges.</p>
+
+<p>The second school-room was for the more advanced pupils, who had for the
+most part passed their <i>bar-mitzvah</i> and now revelled in the mystic lore
+of the Talmud. On rough wooden desks, whose surfaces had been engraved
+by unskilled hands, huge folios lay open. At the upper end of the room
+sat the Rabbi, on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> whose head the frosts of sixty winters had left their
+traces. His snow-white beard covered his breast and his hair hung in
+silver locks over his temples. His pale and finely-cut features stamped
+him as a man of education and refinement. The venerable patriarch had
+for more than thirty years filled the position of Chief Rabbi of Kief,
+and his reputation as a Talmudist and a man of great mental acumen was
+not confined to his native town.</p>
+
+<p>The rattan which the Rabbi held in his hand, the better to guide his
+pupils, was never used for corporal punishment, for a glance or a
+whispered admonition from the beloved teacher was more potent than were
+blows from another. At his side sat his little daughter Recha, scarcely
+nine years of age, whose features gave promise of great oriental beauty.
+Her dark eyes and darker hair, her rosy lips and merry smile, formed a
+veritable symphony of childish loveliness. Recha deemed it a great favor
+to be allowed in the room with her father during school-hours, and as
+her presence exercised a refining influence over the boys, each one of
+whom loved the girl in his own juvenile way, the Rabbi offered no
+objections.</p>
+
+<p>The boys were being instructed in a difficult passage of the Talmud.
+Following the movements of the Rabbi's head and body they recited their
+appropriate lines. Like a mighty <i>crescendo</i> swelled the chorus, for the
+greater the pupil's zeal the louder rose his voice, and ever and anon
+they were inspired to quicker time, to greater enthusiasm, until the
+lesson came to an end.</p>
+
+<p>Alas, poor boys! Taken from the cheerful sunlight to pass the days of
+happy boyhood in wading through heaps of useless learning, tutored in a
+philosophy which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> demands age and experience for its perfect
+comprehension; of what use can all this Talmud delving be to you, when
+once life summons you to more practical duties? And yet how much better
+this training, confusing and bewildering though it be, than the absolute
+ignorance, the unchecked illiteracy of the Russian Christians.</p>
+
+<p>Rabbi Jeiteles interrupted his class to amplify upon the passage just
+read. He had been a great traveller in his youth, had wandered through
+Austria and Germany, and had picked up disconnected scraps of worldly
+information, to which, in a measure, his superiority in Kief was due.
+There were envious calumniators who did not hesitate to assert that the
+Rabbi was a <i>meshumed</i> (a renegade), that his mind had become polluted
+with ideas and thoughts at variance with Judaism, that he had in his
+possession&mdash;<i>O mirabile dictu!</i>&mdash;a copy of the Mendelssohnian
+translation of the Pentateuch, against which a ban had been hurled.
+These were but rumors, however, and the better class of Hebrews paid no
+attention to them.</p>
+
+<p>The passage under consideration was the beautiful legend concerning the
+necessity of understanding the Law, and the Rabbi undertook to elucidate
+its somewhat difficult construction. According to the wise scribes of
+the Talmud, each soul after death enters into the presence of its maker,
+and is asked to give a reason for not having studied the <i>Torah</i>. If
+poverty is offered as an excuse, he is reminded of Hillel, who though
+poor deprived himself of life's comforts that he might enjoy God's word.
+If the burdens and cares of wealth are advanced in palliation, he is
+reminded of Eleazer, who abandoned his lands and possessions to seek the
+consolation of knowledge. If a man pleads temptations and weakness to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>
+excuse a life of evil, he is told of Joseph's constancy. In short, it is
+incumbent on all to understand God's commandments and to obey them, for
+"the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>Silence reigned in the class-room, while the Rabbi, in explanation of
+his subject, related incidents that had occurred to him during his
+eventful career. The interest was intense, numerous questions were asked
+and graciously answered, and the <i>mishna</i> was again taken up.</p>
+
+<p>At length the lesson came to an end and the school was dismissed. The
+pupils, glad to be released from their duties, bade their teacher
+good-by and tripped out into the inviting sunlight. Mendel alone
+remained.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my boy, what is it?" asked the Rabbi, as Mendel gazed wistfully
+at him.</p>
+
+<p>"Rabbi, are you going out for your walk?" he asked, timidly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," answered the other, surprised at the question.</p>
+
+<p>"May I accompany you? I have so much to ask of you."</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi gladly acquiesced. Although Mendel had been but six months
+under his tuition, he had already become his favorite pupil. His quick
+perception and wonderful originality of thought attracted the teacher.</p>
+
+<p>The teacher and pupil walked through the miserable streets of the
+quarter until they reached the open fields. Here the Rabbi stopped and
+drew a long breath.</p>
+
+<p>"How different this is," he said, "from the contaminated air one
+breathes in the narrow lanes of our quarter."</p>
+
+<p>"You have travelled much, Rabbi," said the boy. "Tell me, are the Jews
+treated as cruelly all over the world as they are in Russia?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Unfortunately they are, in some other countries. Why do you ask?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I think&mdash;Rabbi, are we not ourselves to blame for our wretched
+existence?"</p>
+
+<p>Jeiteles looked at the boy in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"That is a very grave question for a boy of your age," he said. "What
+gave you such an idea?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have been thinking very much of late that if we were more like other
+people we might be made to suffer less."</p>
+
+<p>"God forbid that we should become like them," answered the Rabbi,
+hastily. "Israel's greatest calamities have been caused by aping the
+fashions of other nations. Our only salvation lies in clinging to our
+customs and faith. Do not attempt to judge your elders until you are
+more conversant with your own religion. Obey the Law and do not trouble
+yourself concerning the religious observances of your people."</p>
+
+<p>The boy took the rebuke meekly and the two walked on in silent
+meditation. After a pause, Mendel again took up the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"In to-day's lesson," he said, "we learned that the fear of God is the
+beginning of wisdom; that study is God's special command. A wise Rabbi
+furthermore said upon this subject: 'He gains wisdom who is willing to
+receive from all sources.' Am I right?"</p>
+
+<p>"You have quoted correctly. Go on!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is there any passage in the Talmud which forbids the learning of a
+foreign language or the reading of a book not written in Hebrew?"</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi gazed thoughtfully upon the ground but could not recollect
+such a passage.</p>
+
+<p>"Last week," continued Mendel, "while in the city, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> saw a book in
+Russian characters. I bought it and took it home to study. My uncle tore
+the book from my hands and threw it into the fire, all the time
+bewailing that anything so impure had been brought into the house. Then
+I was obliged to run to the house of worship and pray until sunset for
+forgiveness. Was there anything so very wrong in trying to learn
+something beside the Talmud?"</p>
+
+<p>The worthy Rabbi was sorely puzzled for a reply. His knowledge of the
+world had long ago opened his eyes to the narrow-minded bigotry which
+swayed the Russian Jewish people in their prejudices against anything
+foreign. He, too, deplored the fact that intellects so bright and alert
+should be content to linger in these musty catacombs. Full well he knew
+that the constant searching for hidden meanings in the Scriptures was
+the direct cause of many of the superstitions which had crept into
+Judaism. He, too, had in his youth yearned for more extended knowledge
+than that derived from the Talmud's folios, and had in secret studied
+the Russian and German languages at the risk of being discovered and
+branded as a heretic. He understood the boy's craving and sympathized
+with him; but could he conscientiously advise him to brave the
+opposition and prejudices of his people and pursue that knowledge to
+which he aspired?</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Rabbi," said the boy, eagerly, "you do not answer. Have I
+violated any law by asking such a question?"</p>
+
+<p>Rabbi Jeiteles wiping his perspiring brow with a large red handkerchief,
+sat down upon a moss-grown log and bade the boy sit at his side.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Mendel," he began, "you are scarcely old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> or experienced enough
+to comprehend the gravity of your question. It is important for Israel
+the world over to remain unpolluted by the influence of gentile customs.
+The Messiah will surely come, nor can his arrival be far off, and a new
+kingdom, a united power will reward us for our past sufferings and
+present faith. Were Israel to become tainted with foreign ideas, she
+would in each country develop different propensities, learn different
+languages and her religion would become contaminated by all that is most
+obnoxious in other faiths. It is to preserve the unity of Israel, the
+similarity of thought, the purity of our religion, that we look with
+horror upon any foreign learning. Now, compare our mental condition with
+that of the Russian <i>moujiks</i>, or even nobles. What do they know? What
+have they studied? Very little, indeed! They know nothing of the great
+deeds of the past that are revealed to us through the Scriptures; they
+cannot enjoy the grand and majestic philosophy of our God-inspired
+rabbis. Brought up in utter ignorance, their life may be likened to a
+desert, barren of all that pleases the eye and elevates the mind."</p>
+
+<p>"But," interrupted the boy, "might we not hold on to our own, even while
+we are learning from the gentiles? Our language, for example, is, as I
+have heard you say, a terrible jargon. We have forgotten much of our
+Hebrew and use many strange words instead. We have but to open our
+mouths to be recognized at once as Jews and to be treated with contempt.
+If we were but to learn the Russian language, it might save us from many
+a cruel humiliation and the Hebrew tongue might still be preserved in
+our own circle."</p>
+
+<p>"You mistake, my boy; our humiliations do not proceed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> from any one
+fact, such as jargon or customs, but from a variety of circumstances
+combined, principal among which are envy of our domestic happiness,
+fanaticism because of our rejection of the Christian religion, and a
+cruel prejudice which has been handed down through generations from
+father to son. No amount of learning on our side can change this.
+Persecutions will continue, the gentiles will never learn that the Jew
+is made of flesh and blood and has sentiments and feelings the same as
+they. Our right to humane treatment will not be recognized any more than
+at present, and harder, unspeakably harder, will be the sting and pain
+of our degradation, if by deep study we rise mentally above our sphere.
+The ignorant man suffers less than the person with elevated
+susceptibilities. Learning, therefore, while it would not improve our
+treatment at the hands of the gentiles, would but serve to make us the
+more discontented with our own unfortunate condition."</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi was right; he spoke from bitter experience, and Mendel slipped
+his hand into that of his teacher and gazed thoughtfully before him.</p>
+
+<p>"A great head," muttered the old man, looking fondly at the boy. "If his
+energies are directed into the proper channels, he will become a shining
+light in Israel."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Mendel, let us go home," he said aloud, and they started silently
+for the town, both too much engrossed in thought to speak. Only once,
+Mendel asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Rabbi, you are not offended by my questions?" and the Rabbi replied:</p>
+
+<p>"No, my boy. On the contrary, I am glad that you are beginning to think
+for yourself. The world is but a group of thinkers and the best heads
+among them are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> usually leaders. This has been an agreeable walk to me.
+Let us repeat it soon."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing would give me greater pleasure," cried Mendel, with undisguised
+delight. "And if you will be so kind, I should like to hear all about
+your travels."</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi promised, and, having reached the Jewish quarter, pupil and
+teacher parted for their respective homes.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Wallace, p. 179.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Foulke, "Slav or Saxon," p. 91.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Rabbi Chonan.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> "Graetz's History of the Jews," vol. 4, p. 309.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE RETURN OF THE RENEGADE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was just a week since Mendel and the Rabbi had walked out together.</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch Bensef rushed with gigantic strides up the street leading to his
+house, and long before he reached his door he shouted, at the top of his
+voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Miriam! Miriam! I have news for you!"</p>
+
+<p>Miriam had recovered her health, and was in the kitchen preparing meat
+for the following day. This was a most important operation, requiring
+the housewife's undivided attention. According to a Mosaic command blood
+was sacrificed upon the altar of the Temple, but was strictly forbidden
+as an article of diet. The animal is slaughtered in a manner which will
+drain off the greatest amount of the life-giving fluid, and great
+importance is attached to the processes for extracting every particle of
+blood from the meat which is brought upon the Jewish table. A thorough
+rubbing with salt and an hour's immersion in water are necessary to its
+preparation. Scientists who acknowledge that the blood is the general
+vehicle for conveying the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> parasites and germs of disease, recognize in
+this command of Moses a valuable sanitary measure, worthy of universal
+imitation.</p>
+
+<p>Miriam heard her husband's distant call and, with her hands full of
+salt, she ran to the door.</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch entered, completely out of breath.</p>
+
+<p>"Who do you think has arrived?" he gasped.</p>
+
+<p>"How should I know?"</p>
+
+<p>"Guess."</p>
+
+<p>"I might guess from now until the coming of <i>Meschiach</i> and still not be
+right."</p>
+
+<p>"Pesach Harretzki, your cousin and old admirer."</p>
+
+<p>Miriam sank into a chair and a smile rippled over her pretty features.</p>
+
+<p>"Pesach Harretzki here? When did he arrive?"</p>
+
+<p>"To-day. This morning. Itzig Maier, who knows all the news in town, has
+just told me. He has come back from America to visit his old parents and
+take them with him across the ocean."</p>
+
+<p>"Has he changed much?" asked Miriam.</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt of it! Itzig says he is without a beard and looks more like a
+<i>goy</i> (gentile) than like one of our own people. I suppose he has lost
+what religion he once possessed, which by the way was not much."</p>
+
+<p>"You will invite him to call on us, of course."</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch looked askance at his wife and frowned.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," he answered, reflectively; "we shall see."</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch Bensef, the <i>parnas</i> of the chief congregation, and whose
+reputation for piety overtopped that of any other man of the community,
+might well pause before inviting the new arrival to his house. Pesach
+Harretzki was one of those perverse lads that one meets occasion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>ally in
+a Hebrew community, who, feeling the wild impulse of youth in every
+vein, throws over the holy traditions of his forefathers and follows
+rather the promptings of his own heart than that happiness which can
+only be found in a firm adherence to the law and its precepts.
+Unrestrained by his parents' anxious pleadings, bound by no will save
+that of momentary caprice, he overstepped the boundary which separates
+the pious Jew from his profane surroundings and thereby forfeited the
+respect and good-will of the entire community. The young man had never
+been guilty of actual wrong-doing, but had in a thousand petty ways
+displayed his utter disregard of the customs that were so dear to the
+hearts of his co-religionists. The Sabbath found him strolling through
+the city instead of attending divine service at the synagogue. Of the
+Talmud he knew very little, having preferred to play with his gentile
+friends to wasting his hours in the <i>cheder</i>. He had been known to eat
+<i>trefa</i> at the house of a <i>goy</i>, and with a fastidiousness that was
+without parallel in the annals of Kief, he had shaved off all of his
+beard, leaving only a jaunty little mustache. So it happened that his
+name became a terror to all pious Israelites. There was but one
+attraction in Judaism which still fascinated Pesach, and that was his
+charming cousin Miriam. She alone possessed the power of bringing him
+back when he had strayed too far from the fold and her bright eyes often
+recalled him to a sense of duty. He loved the girl, and had she shown
+him any encouragement he might still have reformed the evil of his ways.
+But even had Miriam favored his advances, her father, one of the most
+pious men of Kief, would have dispelled all hope of an alliance between
+the two. Old Reb Kohn, after endeavoring in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> vain to bring the reprobate
+to his senses, finally forbade him the house. Shortly after, the
+betrothal of Miriam Kohn with the learned and wealthy Hirsch Bensef was
+announced. Pesach became despondent and put the finishing touch to his
+ungodly career by becoming intoxicated with beer on the Passover. In
+consequence of this and former misdeeds, he was ostracized from good
+Jewish society, and finding himself shunned by his former associates he
+departed from Kief to seek his fortune in a foreign land.</p>
+
+<p>After wandering about Germany for a year or two, picking up a precarious
+living and a varied experience, he set sail for America, where he
+arrived without a penny. Fortune smiled upon the poor man at last. He
+drifted into an inland city, Americanized his name to Philip Harris, and
+succeeded, through honesty, thrift and perseverance, in building up a
+large business and accumulating a respectable fortune. It was only after
+success had been assured that he communicated with his parents in
+Russia, and in spite of his past record great was the rejoicing when the
+first letter was received. He whom his friends had mourned as dead was
+alive and thriving; he had moreover become rich and respected and had
+been the means of establishing a Jewish synagogue in the land of his
+adoption. The last two facts, coupled with the munificent gifts which he
+sent to the synagogue in Kief and to his parents, were sufficient to
+lift the ban which had so long rested upon his name and to re-establish
+him in the good graces of the community. Pesach, the <i>meshumed</i>,
+continued these contributions to the synagogue and to his parents, and
+the Jews of Kief, having forgotten his former escapades, referred to him
+thenceforth as "Pesach the Gener<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>ous." He had now returned after an
+absence of twelve years, and the whole settlement was in a state of
+pardonable excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"Is he still a Jew? Has he remained true to the old faith?" was asked on
+every side.</p>
+
+<p>It being Friday, the Sabbath eve, the synagogue was crowded and
+curiosity to see the stranger was at its height. The men frequently
+looked up from their prayer-books, and the women from their seats in the
+gallery craned their necks to get a view of the sunburnt, closely-shaven
+American. Yes, he had changed; no one would have recognized him. Of all
+the pious men that filled the house of worship, he was the only one who
+was without a beard. It was against the Jewish custom to allow a razor
+to touch the beard, and had not Philip's benevolence paved the way it is
+doubtful whether his presence would have been tolerated within those
+sacred precincts. In all other respects, however, he bore himself like a
+devout Israelite. He stood by the side of his father, earnestly scanning
+the pages of his prayer-book, the greater part of whose contents were
+still familiar to him. His beardless face was in a measure atoned for.</p>
+
+<p>What a throng of visitors there was that evening at Harretzkis house!
+The little room could scarcely hold them all. Among them was Rabbi
+Jeiteles, who shook the suave and smiling stranger by the hand,
+congratulated him upon his appearance and asked him a hundred questions
+about his travels. Indeed, it seemed as though the worthy Rabbi intended
+to monopolize his company for the rest of the evening. Then came Hirsch
+Bensef and his charming wife, the latter trembling and blushing in
+recollection of the days when she and her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> cousin Pesach loved each
+other in secret. Philip recognized her immediately.</p>
+
+<p>"Why this is my dear cousin Miriam," he said. "How well you look! You
+seem scarcely a day older than when I left you. Is this your husband?
+Happy man! How I used to envy you your good fortune? But that is all
+over now!" and he turned with a sigh to meet other friends.</p>
+
+<p>He recollected every man and woman in Kief; moreover, he had a kind word
+and pretty compliment for each and the worthy people returned home more
+than ever impressed with the true excellence of Pesach Harretzki.</p>
+
+<p>"What a <i>medina</i> (country) America must be to make such a finished
+product of the ungodly youth that Kief turned out of doors twelve years
+ago!" Such was Bensef's remark to his wife, as they wended their way
+homeward.</p>
+
+<p>On the Sabbath morn the capacity of the synagogue was again tested to
+the utmost. Those who had not yet seen Philip hastened to avail
+themselves of this opportunity. The man from America had become the
+greatest curiosity in the province. And to him, the great traveller,
+every incident, however trivial, served to recall a vision of the past.
+The devout men about him, wearing the fringed <i>tallis</i>, the venerable
+Rabbi at the <i>almemor</i>, the ark with the same musty hangings, the
+Pentateuch scrolls with the same faded covers which they bore in the
+years gone by, all appealed mightily to his heart and a tear forced
+itself unchecked through his lashes. Philip would have been unable to
+explain to himself the cause of his emotion. The past had not been
+particularly pleasant; there was nothing to regret. Per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>haps some
+psychologist can account for that sweet and melancholy sentiment which
+the recollection of a dim and half-forgotten past brings in its train.</p>
+
+<p>It was delightful to Philip to find himself once more in the presence of
+all that had been dear to him. His mind reviewed the many vicissitudes
+he had undergone, the many changes he had witnessed, and he fervently
+thanked the God of Israel that he was permitted to revisit the scenes of
+his childhood, and that the people who had rejected him in his youth now
+received him with open arms. After prayers the <i>hazan</i> (reader),
+assisted by the Rabbi, opened the Holy Ark and took therefrom one of the
+scrolls. To Philip, as a stranger, was accorded the honor of being one
+of those called up to say the blessing over the <i>Torah</i> (Law). He
+touched the parchment with the fringes of his <i>tallis</i>, kissed them to
+signify his reverence for the holy words, and began with "<i>Bar'chu eth
+Adonai</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"He knows his <i>brocha</i> yet, he is still a good Jew!" was the mental
+comment of the congregation.</p>
+
+<p>Then followed Rabbi Jeiteles in a short but pithy address, in which he
+laid great stress upon the fact that Jehovah never allows his lambs to
+stray far from the fold, and that charity and benevolence cover a
+multitude of sins. He incidentally announced the fact that Harretzki had
+offered the synagogue new hangings for the ark, covers for the scrolls
+and an entirely new metal roof for the <i>schul</i> (synagogue) in place of
+the present one, which was sadly out of repair.</p>
+
+<p>Such generosity was unparalleled. In spite of the sanctity of the place,
+expressions of approval were loud and emphatic. For a time the services
+were interrupted and general congratulations took the place of the
+prayers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> Philip's popularity was now assured. All opposition vanished
+and the American became a lion indeed. Bensef no longer hesitated as to
+the propriety of inviting the stranger to his house. As <i>parnas</i> he must
+be the first to do him honor and after the services were at an end the
+invitation was extended and accepted.</p>
+
+<p>It was a pleasant assemblage that gathered at Bensef's house. Philip,
+his father and mother, Rabbi Jeiteles, Haim Goldheim (a banker and
+intimate friend of the host), and several other patriarchal gentlemen,
+pillars of the congregation, were of the company. Miriam was an
+excellent provider and on this occasion she fairly outdid herself.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps," thought Bensef, "there still lingers in her breast a spark of
+affection for the man who is now so greatly honored."</p>
+
+<p>But, no! Miriam loved her husband dearly, and if she was attentive to
+her cousin it was but the courtesy due to a man who had been so far and
+seen so much.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel, too, was at the table and could not take his eyes from the
+handsome stranger whose praises every mouth proclaimed. The boy regarded
+him as a superior being.</p>
+
+<p>Tales of adventure, stories of travel, were the topics of conversation
+during the evening. After the dessert the talk took a more serious turn.
+The liberty enjoyed by the Jews in America was a fruitful theme for
+discussion and many were the questions asked by the interested group.
+That Israelites were politically and socially placed upon the same
+footing with their Christian neighbors was a source of gratification,
+but that some religious observances were in many cases neglected or
+totally abolished, appeared to these pious listeners as very
+reprehensible.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You see," said Philip, in explanation, "where a number of Jewish
+families reside in one place it is still possible to obey the dietary
+laws, but in inland towns, where the number of Israelite families is
+limited, it becomes an impossibility to observe them. Nor do they deem
+it necessary that all the ceremonies that time has collected around the
+Jewish religion should be strictly observed. Those Israelites who
+soonest adopt the customs of their new country soonest enjoy the
+benefits which a free and liberty-loving nation offers."</p>
+
+<p>Hirsch Bensef shook his head, doubtingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you mean to imply that it becomes necessary to abolish those
+usages in which one's heart and soul are wrapped!" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all," answered the American. "There are thousands of Jews in
+America as observant of the ordinances as the most pious in Kief. Yet it
+seems to me that a Jew can remain a Jew even if he neglect some of those
+ceremonials which have very little to do with Judaism pure and simple.
+Some are remnants of an oriental symbolism, others comparatively recent
+additions to the creed, which ought to give way before civilization.
+What possible harm can it do you or your religion if you shave your
+beard or abandon your jargon for the language of the people among whom
+you live?"</p>
+
+<p>"It would make us undistinguishable from the <i>goyim</i>," answered Bensef.</p>
+
+<p>"The sooner such a distinction falls the better," said Philip. "You may
+recollect reading in history that in the time of Peter the Great the
+Russian nobility wore beards and the Czar's efforts to make them shave
+their faces provoked more animosity than did all the massa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>cres of Ivan
+the Terrible. Now a nobleman would sooner go to prison than wear a
+beard."</p>
+
+<p>"We never read history," interposed the childish treble of Mendel. "If
+we did we should know more about the great world."</p>
+
+<p>"That is indeed a misfortune," said Philip, sadly. "Every effort to
+develop the Jewish mind is checked, not by the gentiles, but by the Jews
+themselves. Had I been allowed full liberty to study what and how I
+pleased, I should never have been guilty of the excesses which drove me
+from home. A knowledge of the history of the world, an insight into
+modern science, will teach us why and wherefore all our laws were given
+and how we can best obey, not the letter but the spirit of God's
+commands."</p>
+
+<p>The faces of the little group fell visibly. This was rank heresy. God
+forbid that it should ever take root in Israel. Mendel alone appeared
+satisfied. He was absorbed in all the stranger had to say. This new
+doctrine was a revelation to him. But Philip did not observe the
+impression he had created. He had warmed up to his subject and pursued
+it mercilessly.</p>
+
+<p>"The Israelites in America," he continued, "are free and respected. They
+enjoy equal rights with the citizens of other religious beliefs. They
+are at liberty to go wherever they please and to live as they desire,
+and are often chosen to positions of honor and responsibility. Such
+distinctions are only obtained, however, after one has become a citizen,
+and citizenship means adherence to the laws of the land and assimilation
+with its inhabitants. It was not long before I discovered, through
+constant friction with intelligent people about me, the absurdity of
+many of my ideas and prejudices. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> more I associated with my
+fellow-men the more difficult I found it to retain the superstitions of
+by-gone days."</p>
+
+<p>"But in giving up what you call superstition," said the Rabbi, "are you
+not giving up a portion of your religion as well?"</p>
+
+<p>"By no means," said Philip, eagerly. "If Rabbi Jeiteles will pardon my
+speaking upon a subject concerning which he is better instructed and
+which he is better qualified to expound than myself, I will endeavor to
+tell why. You well know that until after the destruction of the second
+Temple the Jews had no Talmud. They then obeyed the laws of God in all
+their simplicity and as they understood them, and not one of you will
+assert that they were not good and pious Jews. Then came the writers of
+the Talmud with their explanations and commentaries, and the laws of
+Moses acquired a new meaning. Stress was laid upon words instead of upon
+ideas, upon conventionalities instead of upon the true spirit of God's
+word. After five centuries of Talmudists had exhausted all possible
+explanations of the Scriptures, the study of the Law eventually paved
+the way for the invention of the <i>Cabala</i>. A new bible was constructed.
+The pious were no longer content with a rational observance of the
+Mosaic command, but a hidden meaning must be found for every word and in
+many cases for the individual letters of the Pentateuch. The six hundred
+and thirteen precepts of Moses were so altered, so tortured to fit new
+constructions, that the great prophet would experience difficulty in
+recognizing any one of his beautiful laws from the rubbish under which
+it now lies buried. New laws and ceremonies, new beliefs and, worse than
+all, new superstitions were thrust upon the people already weakened by
+mental<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> fatigue caused by their incessant delving into the mysteries of
+the Talmud. The free will of the people was suppressed. Instead of
+giving the healthy imagination and pure reason full power to act, the
+teachers of the <i>Cabala</i> arrogated to themselves the power to decide
+what to do and how to do it, and as a result the Jewish observances, as
+they exist to-day in pious communities, are bound up in arbitrary rules
+and superstitious absurdities which are as unlike the primitive and
+rational religion of Israel as night is to day."</p>
+
+<p>This bold utterance produced a profound sensation in Bensef's little
+dining-room. Murmurs of disapproval and of indignation frequently
+interrupted the speaker, and long before he had finished, several of his
+listeners had sprung up and were pacing the room in great excitement.
+Never before had any one dared so to trample upon the time-honored
+beliefs of Israel. For infinitely less had the ban been hurled against
+hundreds of offenders and the renegades placed beyond the pale of
+Judaism.</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi alone preserved his composure. Mendel lost not a word of the
+discussion. He sat motionless, with staring eyes and wide open mouth, as
+though the stranger's eloquence had changed him into stone.</p>
+
+<p>"No, this is too much!" at length stammered Hirsch Bensef. "Such a
+condemnation of our holy religion is blasphemy. Rabbi, can you sit by
+and remain silent?"</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi moved uneasily upon his chair, but said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Philip continued:</p>
+
+<p>"That your Rabbi should be of one mind with you is natural, but that
+does not in any way impair the force of what I have said. You will all
+admit that you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> place more weight upon your ceremonials than upon your
+faith. You deem it more important to preserve a certain position of the
+feet, a proper intonation of the voice during prayers than to fully
+understand the prayer itself, and in spite of your pretended belief in
+the greatness and goodness of God, you belittle Him by the thought that
+an omission of a single ceremony, the eating of meat and milk together,
+the tearing of a <i>tzitzith</i> (fringe) will offend Him, or that a certain
+number of <i>mitzvoth</i> (good acts) will propitiate Him. Do you understand
+now what I mean when I say that superstition is not religion?"</p>
+
+<p>"But," returned Goldheim, "the <i>Shulkan-aruch</i> commands us to do certain
+things in certain ways. Is it not our duty as God-fearing Jews to obey
+the laws that have His sanction?"</p>
+
+<p>"Undoubtedly! If you were certain that this book contained His express
+commands it would be incumbent upon you to observe them, only, however,
+after having sought to understand their meaning. But you know, or ought
+to know, that the book was written by a man like yourselves, who was as
+liable to err as you are. Many of these commands were excellent at the
+time in which they were given, but change of circumstances has made them
+absurd."</p>
+
+<p>"What is godly at one time cannot become ungodly at another," said
+Bensef, with determined obstinacy.</p>
+
+<p>"No; but what is beautiful and appropriate in one land may become the
+reverse in a different country, or at another period. Let us take an
+example: It is an oriental custom to wear one's hat or turban as a mark
+of respect. In Palestine such a usage is proper and the man who keeps
+his head covered before his fellow-men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> certainly should keep it covered
+before God. In America, however, I am considered ill-bred if I keep my
+hat on when I am conversing with the humblest of my associates; should I
+therefore keep it on when I am addressing my God? Thus, many of your
+religious observances take their origin outside of religion and are
+appropriate only to the country in which they were conceived."</p>
+
+<p>"But to appear before God bareheaded is surely a sin!" stammered Hirsch
+Bensef, who would gladly have ended the conversation then and there.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a sin, simply a novelty," answered Philip.</p>
+
+<p>"But our proverb says: 'Novelty brings calamity.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Proverbs do not always speak the truth," replied the American. Then
+after a pause he continued, reflectively: "There is another class of
+ceremonials which find their origin in one or the other of the commands
+of Moses, and which through the eagerness of the people to observe them
+for fear of Divine wrath, have been given an importance out of all
+proportion to their original significance. For instance, Moses, for
+reasons purely humane, prohibited the cooking of a kid in its mother's
+milk, wisely teaching that what nature intended for the preservation of
+the animal should not be employed for its destruction. This law has been
+so distorted that the eating of meat and milk together was prohibited,
+and the severity of the resulting dietary laws makes it necessary to
+have two sets of dishes&mdash;one for meat, the other for all food prepared
+with milk. And so in a thousand cases the original intention of the
+command is lost in the mass of foreign matter that has been added to
+it."</p>
+
+<p>Philip paused and, toying with his massive watch-chain, tried hard not
+to see the indignant glances that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> threatened to consume him. Bensef
+arose from his chair in sheer desperation.</p>
+
+<p>"What would you have us do?" he asked, angrily. "Desert the ceremonies
+of our forefathers and surrender to the ungodly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not by any means," was the quiet rejoinder. "Worship God as your
+conscience dictates, continue in your ancient fashion if it makes you
+happy, but be tolerant towards him who, feeling himself mentally and
+spiritually above superstition, seeks to emancipate himself from its
+bonds and to follow the dictates of his own good common-sense."</p>
+
+<p>With these concluding words, Philip arose and prepared to leave. The
+remaining guests also arose from their chairs and looked at each other
+in blank dismay. Rabbi Jeiteles stepped to the American and placed his
+hand upon his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Pesach," he began, "what you have just said sounds strange and
+very dangerous to these good people. To me it was nothing new, for
+during my early travels I heard such discussions again and again. Your
+arguments may or may not be correct. We will not discuss the matter. One
+thing you must not forget, however: the Jews in Russia and elsewhere are
+despised and rejected; they are degraded to the very scum of the earth.
+Social standing, pursuit of knowledge, means of amusement, everything is
+taken from them. What is left? Only the consolation which their sacred
+religion brings. The observance of the thousand ceremonials which you
+decry, is to them not only a religious necessity, a God-pleasing work;
+it is more, it is a source of domestic happiness, a means of genuine
+enjoyment, a comfort and a solace. Whether these observances are needed
+or are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> superfluous in a free country like America I shall not presume
+to say, but in Russia they are a moral and a physical necessity. You
+have spoken to-night as no man has ever spoken before in Kief. Were the
+congregation to hear of it, you would again find yourself an outcast
+from your native town, shunned and despised by all that now look upon
+you as a model of benevolence and piety. For your own sake, therefore,
+as well as for the peace of mind of those among whom your words might
+act as a firebrand, we hope that you will speak no more upon this
+subject and we on our part promise to keep our own counsel."</p>
+
+<p>Philip readily consented and with his aged parents he left for his home,
+at the other end of the quarter.</p>
+
+<p>The friends bade each other a hasty good-night, and not another word was
+spoken concerning the discussion.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle," said Mendel, as he was about to retire, "is not Harretzki a
+very wise man?"</p>
+
+<p>"My boy," replied his uncle; "our rabbis say, 'Much speech&mdash;much
+folly.'"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h3>FORBIDDEN BOOKS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Philip remained in Kief about two weeks, during which time he was
+hospitably entertained by the leaders of the Jewish community. There was
+some difficulty in obtaining a passport for his parents, for, anxious as
+the Russians are to expel the Jews, by a remarkable contrariety of human
+nature they throw every obstacle in the way of a Jew who endeavors to
+emigrate.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mendel never missed an opportunity of passing Harretzki's house. It had
+a strange fascination for him, and if he but saw the American at the
+window and exchanged greetings with him, the boy returned home with a
+happy heart.</p>
+
+<p>Once&mdash;it was the day before Philip's departure&mdash;Mendel again passed the
+wretched abode in which the stranger dwelt. The door was open and Philip
+was busied with preparations for his coming voyage. Mendel gazed
+wistfully for some minutes and finally mustered up courage to enter and
+ask:</p>
+
+<p>"Can I be of any service to you, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>Philip, who had taken a decided fancy to the boy, said, kindly:</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; you may assist me. Here are my books. Pack them into this chest."</p>
+
+<p>With a reverence amounting almost to awe, Mendel took up the books one
+by one and arranged them as Philip directed. Now and then he opened a
+volume and endeavored to peer into the wondrous mysteries it contained,
+but the characters were new to him; they were neither Hebrew nor
+Russian, and the boy sighed as he piled the books upon each other.
+Philip observed him with growing interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you fond of books?" he asked, at length.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes. If I could but study," answered the boy, eagerly, and big
+tears welled up into his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"And why can't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I have no books but our old Hebrew folios, and if I had they
+would be taken from me."</p>
+
+<p>"Continue to study the books you have," said Philip, "you will find much
+to learn from them."</p>
+
+<p>"But there are so many things to know that are not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> in our books. How I
+should like to be as wise as you are."</p>
+
+<p>Philip smiled, sorrowfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I know very little," he answered. "I am not regarded as a particularly
+well-educated person in my country. What good would learning do you in
+Kief?"</p>
+
+<p>"It would make me happy," answered the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"No, child; it would make you miserable by filling your little head with
+ideas which would bring down upon you the anathemas of your dearest
+friends."</p>
+
+<p>There was a pause, during which Mendel worked industriously. Suddenly he
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"Might I ask a favor, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, my boy; I shall be happy if I can grant it."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me take one of your books to keep in remembrance of you?"</p>
+
+<p>"You cannot read them; they are written in German and English."</p>
+
+<p>"That does not matter. Their presence would remind me of you. Besides I
+might learn to read them."</p>
+
+<p>"But if a strange book is found in your possession it will be taken from
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"I will conceal it."</p>
+
+<p>Philip reflected a moment; then carefully selecting two books, he
+presented them to the overjoyed boy.</p>
+
+<p>"Remember," he said, "that ignorance is frequently bliss. A Rabbi once
+said: 'Beware of the conceit of learning.' It is often well to say, 'I
+don't know.'"</p>
+
+<p>Then the American spoke of the difficulties he had experienced in
+acquiring an education, how he had worked at a trade by day and gone to
+school during the evening. Mendel had a thousand questions to ask, which
+Philip answered graciously; but the packing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> having come to an end, and
+Mendel having exhausted his inquiries and finding no further excuse to
+remain, the two bade each other an affectionate farewell. Mendel ran
+home with his sacred treasures carefully concealed under his blouse, and
+with great solicitude he locked them up in an old closet which served as
+his wardrobe. The following morning Philip and his parents were escorted
+to the limits of the city by the influential Jews of Kief, and the
+travellers started upon their long voyage to America.</p>
+
+<p>During the next few weeks Mendel was at his Talmudic studies in the
+<i>jeschiva</i> as usual, but there was a decided change in his manner&mdash;a
+certain listlessness, a lack of interest, which were so apparent that
+Rabbi Jeiteles could not but observe them.</p>
+
+<p>"I fear that the boy has been studying too hard," he said to his wife
+one day. "We must induce him to take more exercise."</p>
+
+<p>After the close of the lesson, the teacher said:</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Mendel; it is quite a while since we have walked together. Let us
+go into the fields."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel, who adored his preceptor, was well pleased to have an
+opportunity of relieving his heart of its burden, and gladly accepted
+the invitation. For a while the two strolled in silence. The air was
+balmy and nature was in her most radiant dress.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me," at length began the Rabbi; "tell me why you appear so
+dejected?"</p>
+
+<p>"You will reproach me if I confess the cause," answered the boy,
+tearfully.</p>
+
+<p>"You should know me better," answered the Rabbi. "You ought to be aware
+that I am interested in your welfare."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Well, then," sobbed Mendel, no longer able to repress his feelings, "I
+am unhappy because of my ignorance. I wish to become wise."</p>
+
+<p>"And then?" asked the Rabbi.</p>
+
+<p>The boy opened his eyes to their full extent. He did not comprehend the
+question.</p>
+
+<p>"After you have acquired great wisdom, what then?" repeated the Rabbi.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I shall be happy and content."</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi stopped and pointed to a dilapidated bridge which crossed the
+Dnieper at a place to which their walk had led them. Sadly he called his
+pupil's attention to a sign which hung at the entrance of the structure
+and which bore the following legend: "Toll&mdash;For a horse, 15 kopecks; for
+a hog, 3 kopecks; for a Jew, 10 kopecks."</p>
+
+<p>"Read that," he said; "and see how futile must be the efforts of wisdom
+in a country whose rulers issue such decrees."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you are right," said the boy, sorrowfully; "and yet I feel that
+God has not given me my intellect to keep it in ignorance and
+superstition. It must expand. Look, Rabbi, at this river. They have
+dammed it to keep its waters back; but further down, the stream leaps
+over the obstruction and forces its way onward. Its confinement makes it
+but sparkle the more after it has once acquired its freedom. Is not the
+mind of man like this river? Can you confine it and prevent its onward
+course?"</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi gazed with looks of mingled astonishment and admiration upon
+the boy at his side.</p>
+
+<p>The boy continued:</p>
+
+<p>"I would become wise like you and Pesach Harretzki. I would acquire the
+art of reading other works besides our ancient folios. Rabbi, will you
+teach me?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Has Harretzki been putting these new ideas into your head?" asked the
+old man.</p>
+
+<p>"No; they were there before he came. You yourself have often told me:
+'Study rather to fill your mind than your coffers.' I have some of
+Harretzki's books, however, and at night when I cannot sleep I take them
+out of my closet and look at them. But they are not in Hebrew and I
+cannot read them. Rabbi, I beg of you to teach me."</p>
+
+<p>Rabbi Jeiteles was in a quandary. He hated the bigotry and
+narrow-mindedness which forbade the study of any subject but the
+time-honored Talmud. He himself had been as anxious as was Mendel to
+strive after other knowledge. On the other hand, he bore in mind the
+prejudice which the Jews entertained against foreign learning, and he
+clearly foresaw the many difficulties which Mendel must encounter if his
+desire became known.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Rabbi, you do not answer," said the boy, inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"Bring me your books to-morrow and I will decide."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel seized the preceptor's hand and kissed it rapturously.</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks," he murmured.</p>
+
+<p>Teacher and pupil turned their steps homeward, the one perplexed, the
+other overjoyed.</p>
+
+<p>The sun had not fully risen on the morrow, when Mendel, with his
+precious books carefully concealed, sought the Rabbi's presence, and the
+two withdrew into an inner room, beyond the reach of prying intruders.
+The teacher glanced at the titles. They were Mendelssohn's "Ph&aelig;don," and
+Ludwig Philippson's "The Development of the Religious Idea," both
+written in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> German. Mendel did not take his eyes from his teacher; he
+could scarcely master his impatience.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Rabbi," he asked, "of what do they speak?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of things beyond your comprehension," replied the teacher. "The writers
+of both these books were good and pious Jews, who, because of their
+learning, were branded and ostracized by many of their co-religionists.
+Their only sin lay in the use of classical German. You must know that
+many hundreds of years ago, our ancestors lived in Germany, and,
+mingling with men of other creeds, learned the language of their time.
+By and by, persecutions arose and gradually the Jews were driven into
+closer quarters and narrower communities. Many emigrated to Poland and
+Russia, carrying with them their foreign language, which was little
+changed except by the addition of Hebrew&mdash;and, in this country, of a few
+Russian words&mdash;so that what was once a language became a semi-sacred
+jargon in which the translations of our holy books were read. When
+Mendelssohn began to write in the ordinary German, he was thought to be
+ashamed of his fathers' speech and to have abandoned it for that of
+their oppressors. Pause before you choose a path which may estrange you
+from all you love best."</p>
+
+<p>"Did these men accomplish no good by their writings?"</p>
+
+<p>"Much good, my son; but through much travail."</p>
+
+<p>The more the teacher talked, the more gloomy the picture he drew, the
+greater became the enthusiasm of the pupil, the firmer his determination
+to emulate the example of the men of whom he now heard for the first
+time. The Rabbi at last consented to instruct the boy in the elements of
+the Russian and German languages.</p>
+
+<p>While the old man did not for a moment close his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> eyes to the perils
+which his pupil invited by his pursuit of knowledge; while he did not
+conceal from himself the fact that his own position would be endangered
+if the nature of his teachings was suspected, he was happy in the
+thought of having before him a youthful mind, brave to seek truth. Rabbi
+Jeiteles was a learned man; his youth had been spent in travel. He had
+seen much and read more, and even in the bigoted community in which he
+lived he kept abreast of the knowledge of the times.</p>
+
+<p>The first lesson was mastered then and there. It was a hard and tedious
+task and progress was necessarily slow, but Mendel possessed two great
+essentials to progress, indomitable perseverance and an active
+intellect, and his teacher displayed the painstaking care and patience
+with which love for his pupil inspired him.</p>
+
+<p>Day by day, Mendel added to his store of knowledge. He was still the
+most industrious Talmud scholar of the college; his remarkable aptitude
+and zeal for the studies of his fathers was in nowise diminished; but
+when the hours at the <i>jeschiva</i> were at an end, instead of returning to
+his uncle's home, or of spending his time upon the streets with his
+boisterous playmates, he would walk with Rabbi Jeiteles in the fields,
+or remain closeted with him, pursuing his investigations in new fields
+of knowledge. Nor were his labors at an end when he had retired to his
+bed-room. In the still hours of the night, when every noise was hushed
+and he deemed himself safe from intrusion, he would rise, silently open
+his closet for his carefully concealed volume and creep back to bed.
+Then, by the aid of secretly purloined candle ends, he would read hour
+after hour, and often the dawn found him still at his books.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>PERSECUTIONS IN TOGAROG.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The flight of time brings us to the year 1855&mdash;the epoch of the Crimean
+War.</p>
+
+<p>Ever since the days when Bonaparte was driven from burning Moscow, there
+was a popular belief that the Russian soldiery was superior to that of
+the western nations. The Emperor Nicholas was a thorough soldier as well
+as a tyrant, possessing an enormous and well-equipped army, which he
+deemed invincible. This boasted superiority was now to be tested. For
+years the Russians had been groaning under heavy taxes. During this
+period they had been finding fault with their central government in a
+mild, Siberia-fearing manner. To keep them from brooding on their
+oppressed condition, visions of glory and conquest were to be opened to
+them by a foreign war. As the patriotic enthusiasm and military fervor
+increased, the praises of Nicholas were sounded throughout the vast
+dominion. "The coming war was regarded by many as a kind of crusade, and
+the most exaggerated expectations were entertained of its results. The
+old Eastern question was at last to be solved in accordance with Russian
+ideals, and Nicholas was about to realize Catherine's grand scheme of
+driving the Turks out of Europe. That the enemy could prevent the
+accomplishment of these schemes was regarded as impossible. 'We have
+only to throw our hats at them,' became a favorite expression."<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p>
+
+<p>The greater portion of the army was concentrated at the Southern
+extremity of Russia, for it was here that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> the fleets of the allied
+powers would be encountered. Like devastating swarms of locusts the
+semi-barbarous warriors descended upon the fertile fields, destroying
+all that lay in their path. Great was the misery of the peasantry in
+that section of the Empire; greater still the hardships endured by the
+Jews, who were despoiled of their possessions and driven from their
+homes.</p>
+
+<p>In the village of Togarog the Jewish quarter was exactly as we last saw
+it&mdash;poverty-stricken and dilapidated. Nothing appeared to be changed in
+it except the miserable inhabitants. The Governor of Alexandrovsk
+continued to persecute the Jews with relentless ferocity, and the
+kidnapping of their children was followed by other acts almost as cruel.
+If a Jew was suspected of possessing money, he was forced by the gentle
+persuasion of the Governor's men to disgorge. Broken in fortune and in
+spirits, the Israelites were indeed in a pitiable plight.</p>
+
+<p>Mordecai Winenki was reduced to dire want. Deprived of the means of
+livelihood by the removal of his former pupils, despoiled of his meagre
+savings, the reward of years of toil, there was no occupation open to
+him but to peddle, the meagre income from which, added to the earnings
+of his wife by knitting and sewing for the neighboring peasantry, gave
+them a scanty subsistence.</p>
+
+<p>For six days of each week they toiled patiently, saving and scraping to
+provide for the holy Sabbath, the celebration of which alone compensated
+for days of misfortune and privation. On the Sabbath all work was laid
+aside; the dreary room blazed with the lights of many candles; white,
+unsullied linen adorned the table; a substantial meal was served, and
+joy returned to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> oppressed and weary hearts. Then the father and
+mother spoke lovingly of the dear ones whom a cruel despotism had torn
+from them, and a prayer of thanks was sent to the God of Israel that one
+of the boys, at least, was alive and well; for Mendel since his arrival
+in Kief had regularly corresponded with his parents, and his progress
+and welfare were in a measure a compensation for the trials they had
+endured. Of Jacob they had never discovered a trace, and they had long
+since believed him dead.</p>
+
+<p>It was the Sabbath eve. Mordecai and his wife were seated in their
+humble little room, happy for the time being, in spite of their
+deplorable condition. A sudden noise in the street interrupted their
+conversation. The narrow Jewish quarter became animated, and a company
+of Russian soldiers, led by the Elder of the village and followed by a
+group of ragged urchins, marched with martial tread through the crooked
+lane.</p>
+
+<p>"Soldiers!" cried Mordecai and his wife, in one breath. "God help us,
+they will quarter them on us!"</p>
+
+<p>It was the advance guard of the great army that had entered Togarog.
+Before Mordecai and his wife could recover from their fright, the door
+opened and half a dozen soldiers entered the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Give us something to eat!" cried one of the men, boisterously, as he
+relieved himself of his gun and knapsack. His example was followed by
+his comrades.</p>
+
+<p>"We are hungry," said another of the men. "We have had nothing to eat
+since five o'clock this morning. Get us our supper!"</p>
+
+<p>"We have nothing to give you," replied Mordecai, trembling. "Why do you
+come to us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not from choice, I can tell you," said a soldier,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> angrily. "Lots were
+cast and we were unlucky enough to be sent here. As we are here,
+however, let us make the best of it and see what your larder contains."</p>
+
+<p>"Bah!" said another, as Mordecai did not move; "you can't expect these
+people to wait upon us! We must help ourselves," and suiting the action
+to the word, he strode to the cupboard and pulled it open.</p>
+
+<p>The harvest was more plentiful than they had anticipated. Cooking, like
+all other work, being forbidden on the Sabbath, provisions sufficient
+for the holy day were prepared on Friday, and stood temptingly upon the
+shelves. In a twinkling the succulent viands were placed upon the table
+and quickly devoured by the half-famished soldiers. The repast, however,
+failed to satisfy the hunger of these sturdy warriors.</p>
+
+<p>"Come," cried one of them, "what else have you to eat?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing," answered Mordecai, sullenly.</p>
+
+<p>"You lie, Jew. Tell us where we may find something to eat."</p>
+
+<p>"You have just eaten all there was in the house," said Mordecai, gulping
+down a rising lump in his throat, as he thought of the fast he would
+have to endure on the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>"Then give us money that we may buy our own food!" shouted one of the
+soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>"I have no money; it is all gone, all gone," said the poor man, sadly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! ha! ha! that is a good joke!" retorted the soldier, while his
+companions laughed immoderately. "A Jew without money! I'll wager there
+is gold and silver in every closet. I know you Jews; you are sly dogs."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Look for yourselves," cried Mordecai, driven to desperation. "You are
+welcome to all the gold and silver you can find."</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers took him at his word and began to ransack the house, while
+Mordecai and Leah, paralyzed with fear, great beads of perspiration
+starting from their foreheads, sat idly by and watched the work of
+destruction. Not an article of furniture was left entire in the wild
+search for treasure, which, according to popular belief, every Jew was
+supposed to possess. Finding nothing, they bestowed a few resounding
+curses upon the inmates of the house, and in sheer desperation wended
+their way to the village inn and sought the solace of Basilivitch's
+vodka.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Mordecai! Poor Leah! For hours they sat just as the soldiers had
+left them, great tears streaming down their pale and haggard faces,
+viewing the destruction of their few earthly possessions, the loss of
+all they could still call their own. They knew not what course to
+pursue, whether to remain or to flee. The unexpected blow appeared to
+have robbed them of their faculties; all power of reflection seemed to
+have left them, and trembling and groaning they remained where they
+were, in fearful expectancy of what might follow.</p>
+
+<p>Towards midnight the soldiers returned. The liberal potations in which
+they had indulged had washed away the last semblance of humanity. Food
+and money had been the motives of their previous excesses, but on their
+return, hunger and cupidity had made way for lust. Mordecai's wife
+became the object of their insults, and in the resistance which she and
+her husband offered, both were beaten unmercifully. Finally, the
+soldiers, overpowered by the close quarters and by the fumes of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> the
+wretched liquor they had imbibed, dropped off, one by one, into a
+drunken sleep.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us take what we can, Leah," said the wretched man, after assuring
+himself that the soldiers were all fast asleep, "and let us flee."</p>
+
+<p>"We dare carry nothing&mdash;we dare not even travel, for this is the
+Sabbath," answered Leah, sadly.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Jews! In the midst of sorrow, as in the midst of joy, the behests
+of their holy religion are never forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we may travel," replied Mordecai. "It is a matter of more
+importance than life and death, and the Talmud authorizes the
+desecration of the Sabbath in time of great danger."</p>
+
+<p>"Then let us go at once," whispered Leah.</p>
+
+<p>Hand in hand they left the miserable hut, the place they had for so many
+years called home, and wandered out into the world, without a prospect
+to cheer them on their desolate way.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Wallace.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>A HAPPY PASSOVER.</h3>
+
+
+<p>It is the eve of the Passover feast, the birthday of Israel's
+nationality. All is bustle and excitement in the Jewish quarter of Kief.
+Kitchen utensils and furniture have been removed from the houses and are
+piled up in the streets. Dust rises in clouds, water flows in torrents
+through the muddy gutters. Children, banished from the vacant rooms, are
+romping and playing, shouting and crying in the lanes. Feather beds and
+blankets,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> clothing and linen are being aired. Within the houses
+scourers and scrubbers are cleaning, dusting and white-washing. The
+great national house-cleaning is in progress. From closet and cupboard,
+dishes and cooking utensils are brought out for their eight days'
+service.</p>
+
+<p>To-morrow is <i>Pesach</i> (Passover). An entire nation await with passionate
+longing the arrival of this festival and accord it a hospitable welcome.
+The man of wealth lavishly displays on this day his gold and silver, his
+finely wrought utensils and crystal dishes. The poor man has labored day
+and night to save enough to give the guest a worthy reception. The
+stranger and the homeless are made welcome at every table, that they,
+too, may enjoy, free from care and sorrow, the advent of the <i>Pesach</i>.</p>
+
+<p>What yearning, what hopes, what anticipations usher in this feast of
+feasts! Winter, with its manifold hardships, is past. Nature awakes from
+her frigid lethargy, and the balmy air gives promise of renewed life and
+happiness.</p>
+
+<p>The preparations are at length complete. Every nook and corner is
+scrupulously clean; all <i>chometz</i> (leaven) has been banished from the
+house; even the children have carefully emptied their pockets of stray
+crumbs. The round and tempting <i>matzoth</i> (Passover bread) have been
+baked&mdash;the guest is at the door!</p>
+
+<p>In the dining-room of Hirsch Bensef sat a goodly circle of friends at
+the <i>seder</i> (services conducted on the eve of Passover). The lamps shone
+brightly, and the lights in the silver candelabra threw their sheen upon
+the sumptuously set table, with its white embroidered cloth and its
+artistic dishes and goblets. At the head of the table stood a sofa
+covered with rich hangings and soft<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> pillows, a veritable throne, upon
+which sat the king of the family, clad in snow-white attire. In the
+midst of richly-robed guests, surrounded by an almost oriental luxury,
+the master of the house had donned his shroud. It is a custom akin to
+that of the ancient Egyptians, who brought the mummies of their
+ancestors to the festive board, that in the excess of carnal enjoyment
+they might not forget the grim reaper, Death. Upon the table stood a
+plate of <i>mitzvoth</i> (a thicker kind of <i>matzoth</i> prepared specially for
+the <i>seder</i>), covered with a napkin, and upon this were placed a number
+of tiny silver dishes containing an egg, horseradish, the bone of a
+lamb, lettuce and a mixture of raisins and spices&mdash;all symbolical of
+ancient rites. Before each guest there stood a silver wine cup, to be
+refilled three times in the course of the evening. In the centre of the
+table stood the goblet of wine for <i>Elijahu Hanovi</i> (the Prophet
+Elijah), the hero of a thousand legends, and the fondly expected
+forerunner of the redemption of Israel and the coming of the Messiah. By
+each plate was a copy of <i>Hagada</i>, the order of service for the evening.
+It is a book of facts and fancies, containing a recital of Israel's
+trials in Egypt; of its deliverance from the house of bondage; of its
+wanderings in the desert, and the sayings of Israel's wise men&mdash;a
+mixture of Bible stories, myths and prayers.</p>
+
+<p>Contentment, peace and joy were plainly written upon the faces of the
+participants. The terrors of persecution were forgotten in the
+recollection of the miraculous deliverance of the Jews from their
+Egyptian task-masters. Reb Hirsch Bensef having pronounced a short
+blessing over the wine, pointed solemnly to the plate of unleavened
+bread before him.</p>
+
+<p>"See," he said, "this is the bread your fathers ate in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> <i>Mizraim</i>. He
+that hungers let him partake of it, he that is in need let him eat and
+be satisfied."</p>
+
+<p>As though in response to the hospitable invitation, there came a soft
+rap at the door. Mendel opened it and the bright light revealed a man
+and a woman, whose haggard faces and tattered garments presented the
+very picture of misery.</p>
+
+<p>"Father! Mother!" Mendel cried, joyfully. "God be praised!" and he threw
+himself into the arms of his father.</p>
+
+<p>With a single impulse the entire company arose and welcomed the
+unexpected guests. Mordecai and his wife had travelled on foot from
+Togarog to Kief, and, after terrible hardships, had arrived in time for
+the Passover. Great was the pleasure at their unlooked-for appearance,
+and as they hastened to tell the story of their sorrows and wanderings,
+sincere was the joy at their providential escape and the safe
+termination of their journey. All Israel is one family, and had the
+wanderers been in nowise related to Bensef, their reception would have
+been equally cordial and sincere.</p>
+
+<p>A short time sufficed to remove the last traces of their terrible
+journey and to clothe them in the best that the wardrobe of their hosts
+afforded. Two more plates were set, two more goblets of wine were served
+and the ceremonies were continued.</p>
+
+<p>So excited was Mendel over the arrival of his parents that he could
+scarcely compose himself sufficiently to follow the <i>seder</i> and ask the
+conventional question concerning the significance of the <i>Pesach</i>
+festival. In reply, the head of the house recited from his <i>Hagada</i> how
+the Lord punished Pharaoh for his obduracy, how the children of Israel
+were eventually led from captivity, how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> the Red Sea was divided that
+the chosen people might traverse its bed while the Egyptian perished
+miserably, and how the Lord conducted his people safely through the
+wilderness to the promised land. Then followed praise and thanksgiving,
+the <i>Hagadas</i> were pushed aside and feasting followed, continuing far
+into the night.</p>
+
+<p>The woes and adventures of Mordecai and his wife elicited the hearty
+sympathy of their hearers, and the enjoyment of the evening was greatly
+enhanced by the knowledge that the dear ones were, for the present at
+least, safe from persecution.</p>
+
+<p>The quiet dignity which had distinguished Mendel since he had become a
+student vanished. He became a child again, embracing and caressing his
+parents, weeping at their sorrows, laughing over their deliverance, and
+asking a thousand questions without waiting for replies.</p>
+
+<p>It was decided that for the present the fugitives should remain with
+Bensef as his guests.</p>
+
+<p>At the conclusion of the meal, the <i>Hagadas</i> were again taken up, and to
+the prayers of thanksgiving was added a prayer for the welfare of that
+little soul that was lost to Israel, the missing child Jacob.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<h3>TWO LOVING HEARTS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Crimean War had reached its disastrous conclusion. Russia had
+suffered ignominious defeat, the allies were successful in the Black
+Sea, and the despised Turks had shown a bold front along the Danube. It
+was evident that the military organization was as corrupt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> as the civil
+administration, that fraud and dishonesty were prevalent and neutralized
+the bravery of the troops.</p>
+
+<p>"Another year of war and the whole of Southern Russia will be ruined,"
+so wrote a patriot of 1855.</p>
+
+<p>Under this great humiliation, the people suddenly awoke from their
+lethargy. The system of Nicholas had been put to the test and found
+wanting. The Government believed that it could accomplish everything by
+its own inherent wisdom and superiority, and had shown itself wofully
+incompetent. Dissatisfaction was deep and widespread. Philippics and
+satires appeared, and reforms were so boldly demanded that the Czar
+could not close his ears to the universal clamor. In the midst of
+disasters abroad and dissatisfaction at home, Nicholas died, and was
+succeeded by his son, a man of very different type.</p>
+
+<p>The new monarch was well aware of the existing abuses, many of which had
+been carefully concealed from Nicholas by his obsequious counsellors. As
+heir-apparent he had held aloof from public affairs, and was therefore
+free from pledges of any kind; yet, while he allowed popular ideas and
+aspirations to find free utterance, he did not commit himself to any
+definite policy.</p>
+
+<p>To Alexander, the Russians, Jew and gentile, now looked for relief.
+There were many abuses to correct and oppressive laws to repeal, and the
+public heart beat high with hope at the prospect of reforms. He repealed
+the laws limiting the number of students at each university; he reduced
+the excessive fees for passports; he moderated the rigorous censorship
+of the press, and, in fact, the Czar's acts justified the hopes of his
+subjects. Hundreds of new journals sprang into existence. He introduced
+reforms into the civil and military<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> administrations, and, best of all,
+he created the <i>semstvos</i> or town assemblies of the people.</p>
+
+<p>To the Jews, Alexander was particularly gracious. He removed many of the
+restrictions imposed by his predecessor. The stringent laws limiting the
+number of marriages in a community were moderated. In some few instances
+their quarters were enlarged, and an order was issued restoring to their
+parents all children that had been forcibly taken from them during the
+reign of the old Czar.</p>
+
+<p>What rejoicing was there in Israel! How many families, separated by the
+inhuman decrees of Nicholas, were now reunited! Every home was gladdened
+either by the restoration of some beloved son, or in sympathy with the
+general rejoicing. One family in Kief waited in vain, however, for the
+return of a missing child. It was hoped by Mordecai that under the
+general amnesty Jacob, if indeed he were still living, would be allowed
+to return; but there were no tidings of him, and the conviction that he
+had met his death was strengthened.</p>
+
+<p>A new and promising era opened for the oppressed and persecuted Hebrews.
+It appeared as if their patient resignation under adverse circumstances
+would eventually be rewarded by the concession of equal rights with
+their fellow-men. To be sure, all persecution did not cease. The badge
+of disgrace was still worn by every male Jew, the owning of land and the
+following of many trades was still forbidden. The Jew was still the
+object of derision throughout the Empire; he was still judged by a
+severer code of justice than were his gentile neighbors; the entire race
+was still held responsible for the crime of the individual. But active
+hostilities ceased and the Hebrews rejoiced thereat.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mendel continued his studies, and in the course of a few years his fame
+spread from <i>jeschiva</i> to <i>jeschiva</i>, from congregation to congregation.
+By the time that he was twenty-one years of age, he had published a book
+in Hebrew, which, while it respected the religious sentiment of his
+people, paved the way for assimilating the modern knowledge. The work
+created a profound impression. The chief synagogues of Moscow and of
+Warsaw invited him to take up his residence with them. His reply was
+that as his parents resided in Kief, he preferred to remain there.</p>
+
+<p>There was another attraction in Kief more powerful than that exercised
+by his parents, more potent to keep the young philosopher in the city of
+his adoption. Mendel was in love. His heart, schooled in the wisdom of
+many nations, had surrendered unconditionally to the charm of Recha, the
+beautiful dark-eyed daughter of Rabbi Jeiteles. Recha was rapidly
+nearing her seventeenth year and each month, nay each day, added to her
+charms. Like most girls of her ancient race, she was well developed for
+her years, and her symmetrical figure, lustrous eyes and raven tresses
+presented a picture of oriental beauty, whose peer did not exist among
+the Slavonic types that lived and loved round about her. So at least
+thought Mendel, and so thought a score of enamored youths beside.
+Recha's beauty was by no means her chief attraction. The graces of her
+mind and heart were in keeping with her lovely exterior. From her father
+she had acquired learning, wit and wisdom, and from her mother charm of
+manner and gentle ways.</p>
+
+<p>The student's affection for the girl into whose society he was daily
+thrown, exercised great influence in holding him to the path of duty. To
+become worthy of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> such a treasure was his one desire. All that was best
+and brightest in his soul was aroused when he thought of Recha. It was
+she that inspired him, and his mind appeared more active when he thought
+of her. She was the beacon that guided his steps through the difficult
+paths of learning. Nor was his love unrequited. Young, handsome,
+intelligent beyond the generality of Jewish youth, Mendel was to Recha
+the embodiment of all that was good and noble.</p>
+
+<p>No word of love had ever passed Mendel's lips, and yet there was a
+sympathetic understanding between them; they found a paradise in each
+other's society. Recha had not a few admirers. Go where she would, she
+found herself surrounded by willing slaves, who at the slightest
+encouragement would have thrown themselves at her feet. In vain were
+<i>schadchens</i> employed by many of the wealthy and influential Jewish
+residents in Kief to seek the hand of Jeiteles' lovely daughter in
+marriage. But Recha had neither eyes nor ears for any of them.</p>
+
+<p>One evening Mendel entered the Rabbi's house in unusual haste, his face
+wearing an expression of mingled doubt and hope.</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi and his wife were absent. Recha observing his perturbation,
+asked eagerly:</p>
+
+<p>"Has anything happened?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Recha, read this letter."</p>
+
+<p>Recha read the missive which Mendel handed to her. It was a flattering
+invitation from the congregation of Odessa. "Our Rabbi is old and
+infirm," stated the letter, "and desires a staff in his declining years.
+Your reputation as a scholar has reached our people and we would
+consider it an honor to have you with us."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As Recha read, she turned deadly pale and the paper almost fell from her
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>"What will you do?" she faltered at length, while the great tears stood
+in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel's heart throbbed with wild delight as he saw her evident emotion,
+and her eyes fell under his ardent gaze. Seizing her hand, he asked, in
+a low voice:</p>
+
+<p>"What would you have me do?"</p>
+
+<p>Recha gazed fondly into Mendel's eyes, and said:</p>
+
+<p>"I should be very unhappy if you left home. What would my father do
+without you? Think of the void it would create in the lives of your
+parents and of your uncle. What would the congregation do without you,
+whom they already regard as an oracle? Stay with us in Kief."</p>
+
+<p>"God bless you, my dear," replied the young man, fervently. "I will
+remain; I shall never leave this place unless you go with me as my
+wife."</p>
+
+<p>It was simple and unromantic.</p>
+
+<p>The lovers, happy and contented, sat side by side, discussing their
+roseate future, and when the Rabbi and his wife returned, the young
+folks advanced to meet them.</p>
+
+<p>"Rabbi," said the student, bravely, "Recha has promised to be my wife."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Mazal tov</i>," ejaculated both Jeiteles and his wife. "May the Lord of
+Israel bless you."</p>
+
+<p>The messenger from Odessa was dismissed with a negative reply.</p>
+
+<p>There was a merry gathering the following Saturday afternoon to
+congratulate the betrothed couple. Sincere were the wishes for their
+future happiness that were showered upon them. It is a characteristic of
+Israelites<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> the world over to feel a lively interest in whatever befalls
+their co-religionists, high or low. "Despised and rejected" by their
+gentile neighbors, they sought for consolation and found it in the
+society of their own kin, and thus arose this sympathy, this love for
+one another which has so strongly cemented the hearts of the Jews.</p>
+
+<p>"Clannish" has been hurled at them as a term of reproach. So are the
+frightened sheep clannish when they huddle together in the shelterless
+field, for protection against the blasts of the pitiless storm.</p>
+
+<p>The interval between the betrothal and the wedding is usually short, and
+the happy day that made Mendel and Recha man and wife was not long in
+coming.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a request to make," said the student to the Rabbi, a few days
+before the all-important event took place.</p>
+
+<p>"Name it, my son," replied the Rabbi.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wish Recha to have her hair cut off. Her tresses are her
+crowning beauty, and it would grieve me to the heart to see her shorn of
+them."</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi shrugged his shoulders and uttered a short ejaculation of
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"A breach of so old a custom," said he, "will be looked upon by the
+whole congregation as impiety."</p>
+
+<p>"I know," replied Mendel, "but in this instance, I must brave their
+displeasure."</p>
+
+<p>"But," said the Rabbi, still hesitating, "if&mdash;God forbid&mdash;your wife
+should meet with any misfortune, it would be attributed to the anger of
+God at this innovation."</p>
+
+<p>"I must do what I think is right," replied Mendel, "and if the example
+of Recha induces others to disobey an offensive and obnoxious
+injunction, the people will be the gainers."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>After much deliberation, the Rabbi and his wife at last consented. Not
+so easily, however, were the rest of the congregation reconciled.</p>
+
+<p>We will anticipate a little to remark that there was no calamity in the
+course of Mendel's conjugal experience, which could be traced to Recha's
+luxuriant hair.</p>
+
+<p>Great were the preparations with which the happy day was ushered in.</p>
+
+<p>The closely veiled bride, supported by her mother and aunt, was
+conducted into the room in a shower of barley, and was led to the
+supremely happy groom, who, arrayed in cap and gown and wearing a
+praying scarf, stood ready to receive her. Seven times the maiden
+encircled her future husband and then took her position at his side,
+after which the father of the <i>kalle</i> (bride) began the important
+services. Holding a goblet of wine in his right hand, he invoked God's
+blessing with the tenderness of a loving father and the solemnity of a
+priest. Short and impressive was the chanted prayer. The couple sipped
+the wine, the ring was placed on the bride's finger, the words uttered,
+a glass broken into fragments under the heel of the groom, prayers were
+recited by the Rabbi, and the religious ceremony was at an end. Then
+followed the congratulations of the friends, the good-natured pushing of
+the assembled guests in their eagerness to kiss the bride or shake the
+radiant groom by the hand. A bounteous feast closed the festivities.
+Mendel and Recha were bound to each other by indissoluble ties.</p>
+
+<p>The newly wedded pair took up their residence with Rabbi Jeiteles, whose
+advanced age incapacitated him at times from attending to the onerous
+duties of his office. Mendel was ever at his side as a helper, until he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
+grew into the office. Despite the honors showered upon him he remained
+the modest, unassuming, amiable young man, whom flattery could not
+affect nor pleasure lure from the course of strict duty.</p>
+
+<p>When at the end of a year Recha presented him with a little girl-baby,
+which they called Kathinka, he was the happiest man on the face of the
+earth.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE CHOLERA AND ITS VICTIMS.</h3>
+
+<p>A new danger threatened our friends. Scarcely had the fanatical Russian
+given the Jews a brief respite from persecution, when Nature seized the
+rod and wielded it with relentless hand, smiting Jew and gentile, the
+pious and the ungodly, with equal severity. The cholera had broken out
+in Central Russia and its devastations were terrible beyond description.
+The country from Kief to Odessa was as one vast charnel-house. As has
+always been the case during epidemics, the Jews suffered less from the
+ravages of the disease than did their gentile neighbors. The strict
+dietary laws which excluded everything not absolutely fresh and clean,
+the frequent ablutions which the religious rites demanded of the Jews
+and their freedom from all enervating excesses, bore excellent results
+in a diminished mortality. Nevertheless, many a victim was hurried to an
+untimely grave, many a family sat in sackcloth and ashes for a departed
+member.</p>
+
+<p>Amid the general consternation caused by the rapid spread of the plague,
+the <i>feldshers</i> were unceremoniously relegated to the background. Their
+surgery was practi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>cally useless and their drugs proved powerless to
+stay the disease. The <i>snakharkas</i>, on the other hand, prospered
+greatly. Superstition flourished; prayers, sacrifices, incantations,
+magical rites, exorcisms, were invoked to allay the evil. The <i>moujiks</i>
+called frantically upon the saints for assistance, and then deliberately
+frustrated any relief these might have afforded by committing frightful
+excesses. Many a saint fell into temporary disfavor by his apparent
+indifference to the sufferings of his devotees.</p>
+
+<p>The priests invented new ceremonials and each village had its own
+peculiar method of appeasing divine wrath. In Kief, the disease had
+taken a particularly virulent form. The filthy Dnieper, contaminated by
+the reeking sewerage of the city, was in a great measure to blame for
+the rapid spread of the disorder, but to have advanced such a theory
+would have been useless; the ignorant inhabitants ascribed the scourge
+to any source but the true one. At one time the <i>feldshers</i> were accused
+of having propagated the plague for their own pecuniary benefit, and the
+excited populace threw a number of doctors out of the windows of a
+hospital and otherwise maltreated the poor practitioners who fell into
+their clutches.</p>
+
+<p>In Kanief, the inhabitants, crazed with fear at the progress of the
+plague, adopted an original and ingenious method to check it. At
+midnight, according to a preconcerted plan, all the maidens of the
+village met on the outskirts of the place and formed in picturesque
+procession. At the head marched a girl bearing an icon of the Madonna,
+gaudily painted and bedecked with jewels. Behind her came her
+companions, dragging a rope to which was attached a plow. In this order
+they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> made the circuit of the village, and it was confidently believed
+that the cholera would disappear within the magical circle thus
+described.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p>
+
+<p>Many and equally ingenious were the devices employed in Kief by the
+ignorant peasants. A wonder-working icon was brought from St.
+Petersburg, where, according to tradition, it had performed many
+miracles. Yet the plague continued, fed by the ignorance and
+intemperance of the people.</p>
+
+<p>Surrounded by such dense superstition, it is not strange that the Jews,
+too, should resort to absurd rites to rid themselves of the dreaded
+guest. The poorer classes, living in the lower portions of the quarter,
+were the chief sufferers. There, where a dozen half-starved wretches
+were crowded into one small room, the plague was at its height. A
+hundred souls had already succumbed and the list of victims was growing
+daily. Alas! the misery of the stricken families! Deprived of medical
+attendance, of drugs, of fresh air, there appeared little hope for the
+denizens of the infected district.</p>
+
+<p>The busiest man during these troublous times was Itzig Maier, the
+beadle, whose acquaintance we have already made as the messenger sent by
+Bensef to the <i>bal-shem</i> at Tchernigof. The condition of Itzig and his
+family had not improved since we last saw him. The little fortune which,
+if gossip spoke truly, he had acquired by his adroit man&oelig;uvring at
+that time, had been dissipated; his family had grown larger and was a
+constant drain upon his meagre resources, while his income appeared to
+diminish as his expenses increased. Besides, Itzig had a daughter who
+was now of a marriageable age, and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> was obliged to toil and save to
+provide a dowry. Beile was unattractive and uninteresting, and Itzig did
+not conceal from himself the fact that without a dowry it might prove
+difficult to bring her under the <i>chuppe</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Of late Itzig had had little time to think of his family. In the house
+and in the hovel, wherever the cholera had knocked for admittance, there
+was Itzig Maier, performing his duties with an unfailing
+regularity&mdash;preparing the shrouds, attiring the dead and comforting the
+mourners&mdash;all unmindful that he might be the next victim. His services
+were in constant demand and money was actually pouring in upon him.</p>
+
+<p>The first to visit, aid and counsel the stricken community was Rabbi
+Jeiteles, whose unselfish devotion to duty led him from house to house,
+administering simple remedies to the suffering, closing the eyes of the
+dead and consoling the grieving survivors. He knew no fear, no
+hesitation. To his wife's anxious words of warning he had but one reply,
+"We are all in God's hands."</p>
+
+<p>Earnestly he went about his work, conscious of his danger, yet putting
+all thought of self aside until he, too, fell a victim to the dread
+destroyer.</p>
+
+<p>One day, while performing the last sad rites over a dead child, he was
+stricken, and before he could be removed to his home he had breathed his
+last.</p>
+
+<p>Great was the grief in the Jewish community in Kief. From one end of the
+quarter to the other the inhabitants mourned for thirty days, bewailing
+the death of their beloved Rabbi, as though each household had lost a
+revered parent.</p>
+
+<p>The plague continued its ravages, and the people in their wild terror
+resorted to the <i>bal-shem</i> for amulets and talismans. On every door
+could be read the inscription,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> "Not at home." But the cholera would not
+be put off by so flimsy a device and entered unbidden. Even the death of
+a grave-digger did not stay the dread disease, although it had been
+prophesied that such an event would end the trouble. The cabalistic
+books were ransacked for charms and mystic signs with which to resist
+the power of the conqueror, but all in vain.</p>
+
+<p>One morning Itzig ran as fast as his shuffling legs would bear him, up
+the dirty lane that led to his abode, and fell rather than walked into
+the low door that led into his hut. His wife was engaged in washing a
+baby&mdash;the seventh&mdash;and Beile, an ill-favored, sallow-complexioned girl,
+sat at the window sewing.</p>
+
+<p>"Jentele," cried Itzig, sinking into a chair, "God has been good to us!"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you just found that out?" asked his wife, petulantly. "What is the
+matter? Have you come into a fortune?"</p>
+
+<p>"Beile, leave the room," said Itzig.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"Leave the room! I want to talk to your mother."</p>
+
+<p>Beile put away her work and walked out into the lane.</p>
+
+<p>"Rejoice with me, Jentele," said the delighted husband, as he rubbed his
+shrivelled hands. "Beile is a <i>kalle</i>; she will marry to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Has anybody fallen in love with her?" asked the mother.</p>
+
+<p>"No; but she will marry all the same."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, speak out, man! You kill one with suspense."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know Reb Bensef, our <i>parnas</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but what has he to do with our Beile?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Reb Bensef being very much distressed by the death of Rabbi Jeiteles,
+went to Tchernigof to ask counsel of the <i>bal-shem</i> and has just
+returned."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what did the wise man advise?" asked Jentele, burning with
+impatience, while her partially washed baby lay kicking in her arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, I am coming to that," answered Itzig, with provoking slowness.
+"He said that if a poor man would marry an equally poor girl, under a
+<i>chuppe</i> erected in the cemetery between two newly made graves, God's
+anger would be appeased and the scourge would end. To-day Bensef sought
+me out. 'Itzig,' he said, 'you have a daughter. I know a husband for
+her. I will give an outfit to both bride and groom and provide them with
+money to last a year, if you will consent to their marrying in the
+cemetery.' What do you think of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who is the young man?" queried Jentele, her face expressing neither
+pleasure nor pain.</p>
+
+<p>"You know the <i>jeschiva</i> student, Kahn?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is poor, very poor, indeed."</p>
+
+<p>"What is that to us? Reb Bensef will provide clothing and money for a
+whole year."</p>
+
+<p>"And when that is all gone?" queried his wife, resuming operations upon
+the baby.</p>
+
+<p>"Then God will provide. Did we have more when we married?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is an opportunity of a life-time," mused Jentele, looking at her
+parched and yellow better-half. "Do as you think best."</p>
+
+<p>Armed with the support of his wife and without consulting his daughter,
+whose voice in a matter of such minor importance seemed to him
+unnecessary, Itzig hastened to Bensef's house and expressed his consent
+to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> the arrangement. Together the worthies went to the synagogue, where
+the unsuspecting Kahn was engaged in prayer. A few words sufficed to
+explain the situation. Kahn looked timidly at Bensef, then upon the
+ground; finally, he shrugged his shoulders and signified his readiness
+to be led to the altar. It mattered not to him what disposition they
+made of him. He was poor and without prospects and could never hope to
+support a wife by his own exertions. The way was now made easy. Besides,
+in thus sacrificing himself for the extinction of the plague he was
+doing a <i>mitzva</i> (a good deed) in the sight of the Lord. To refuse was
+out of the question. The young man was led in triumph to Itzig's house
+and introduced to his future wife, who heard of the arrangement for the
+first time and evinced neither pleasure nor dissatisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>The betrothal was duly announced and hasty preparations made for the
+coming ceremony, since delay meant new victims to the plague.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel strove with all his eloquence to prevent the carrying out of this
+monstrous purpose. Every fibre within him revolted at such folly, and he
+hurried from house to house, entreating the most influential members of
+the congregation to aid him in opposing it. But the scourge spoke more
+eloquently than did the young Rabbi&mdash;the people listened to him but
+shook their heads. Many who doubted the efficacy of the plan, lacked the
+moral courage to oppose an act which met with the approval of the
+greater portion of the community.</p>
+
+<p>"Every means should be employed to prevent the disease from doing
+further mischief," argued some. "We have vainly tried everything else,
+let us try this. God may at last listen to our prayers."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The <i>bal-shem</i> has commanded it; it is sure to prove successful," said
+others.</p>
+
+<p>After a day spent in earnest but ineffectual arguments, Mendel saw that
+his endeavors in this direction were futile, and concluding that further
+interference would be useless, he sorrowfully wended his way homeward.</p>
+
+<p>The sun shone fiercely on the morrow upon a desolate landscape. All
+nature appeared to be under the ban of the plague. The leaves upon the
+trees were sere and withered, the brooks were dry and the birds had long
+since hushed their melody. The highways were deserted, save where at
+intervals a solemn funeral train carried the dead to a final
+resting-place.</p>
+
+<p>A strange procession wended its way to the Jewish cemetery. It was not a
+funeral, although from the tears and lamentations of those who took part
+in it, it might have been mistaken for one. Young and old, men and
+women, all in whom superstition still dwelt, followed the cortege to the
+field of death and accompanied the bride and bridegroom to the
+improvised altar. Thanks to the generosity of Bensef, Beile was richly
+attired, and the groom in spite of his poverty was neatly clad. They
+walked hand in hand, happy in the consciousness that they were
+performing a service to humanity. As the grotesque train entered the
+burial-ground the lamentations became louder at the sight of the scores
+of newly-made graves. The bride and groom lost their happy look, for a
+stern and terrible reality confronted them. The <i>chuppe</i> had been
+erected between two freshly-dug graves. The people ceased their wailing
+and became as silent as the awful place in which they stood.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel, who had been requested to tie the solemn knot, had refused to do
+so and had absented himself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> The ceremony was, therefore, performed by
+the Rabbi of another congregation, who hurried through the short service
+with almost eager haste. Jentele kissed the weeping bride, Itzig
+embraced his son-in-law.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the father tottered and with a moan fell to the ground. His
+face became livid, his eyes sank in their sockets, his blue lips
+frothed, and his whole body shook with agony.</p>
+
+<p>"The cholera! the cholera!" shouted those nearest him, and while many
+fled for their lives, a dozen willing hands lifted up the prostrate
+beadle and endeavored by every means in their power to restore him to
+consciousness. In vain were all their ministrations, in vain their
+prayers and exhortations. For a short while Itzig suffered intense
+agony, then his shrunken form became rigid, his head fell back, his
+homely and shrivelled features relaxed into a hideous grin, and the
+unfortunate beadle travelled the way of the hundreds he had in his time
+borne to this very spot.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Wallace, p. 78.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>COMMON-SENSE VS. SUPERSTITION.</h3>
+
+
+<p>In spite of the sacrifice, in spite of the fanaticism of the gentiles
+and the equally great superstition of the Jews, the plague continued
+with unabated violence. But few families in Kief had been spared a visit
+from the dread reaper.</p>
+
+<p>On the Sabbath following the events just narrated, the Israelites went
+to their places of worship as usual, and ardent prayers for deliverance
+ascended to the Almighty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> Mendel, notwithstanding his youth, officiated
+in the place of the departed Rabbi Jeiteles, and on this occasion he
+formally entered upon the duties of his honorable office.</p>
+
+<p>Sermons, as we understand them, were not in vogue among the Russian
+Jews, and lectures in the synagogue on topics unconnected with religion
+or morality had not been dreamed of. Jeiteles would at times discourse
+upon some knotty point in the <i>Torah</i>, and on the more important
+holidays expound the meaning of certain ceremonials. When Mendel
+ascended the pulpit, the stricken congregation, with hushed and eager
+expectation, awaited his words.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel began by alluding to the sad demise of the beloved Rabbi. He
+spoke of his great heart, of his benevolence and wisdom, and as his
+powerful and sympathetic voice rang through the vast synagogue, few were
+the eyes that were not suffused with tears.</p>
+
+<p>"Friends," he continued, "in an epidemic such as is at present raging in
+our midst, our thoughts are naturally directed to <i>Adonai</i>, and we
+implore His mercy. If such a misfortune tends to turn our prayers
+heavenward, to arouse our humanity towards our suffering fellow-men,
+then indeed the evil may become a blessing in disguise. But if you lay
+the blame of your misfortunes to God alone, and believe that He inflicts
+His creatures with disease because He is angry with the world, you
+degrade the Lord into an angry, revengeful Being of human type, instead
+of the grand and supreme <i>Adonai Echod</i> whom our forefathers worshipped.</p>
+
+<p>"The many absurd observances of which you have been guilty, and which
+culminated in the marriage at the cemetery, are blasphemous. I will tell
+you why.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> If God has really sent this trouble, it is done for a wise
+purpose, and God will know when to remove the infliction without such
+barbaric ceremonies to propitiate Him. If, on the other hand, your own
+negligence of the laws of health is to blame, then absurd rites, even
+though sanctioned by a wonder-working Rabbi of some distant city, are of
+no avail; but the only effective way to terminate the trouble is to
+investigate our way of living, and to correct whatever we find
+prejudicial to our well-being."</p>
+
+<p>That this new and hitherto unheard-of doctrine should cause a profound
+sensation was but natural. A murmur through the audience showed plainly
+that sentiment was divided upon the subject. Mendel, disregarding the
+interruption, continued. In clear and concise terms he pointed out the
+historical fact that throughout all the epidemics of the past, Israel,
+by the perfection of her sanitary laws, enjoyed almost an immunity from
+disease. He hurriedly enumerated the many excellent Mosaic laws
+concerning diet and cleanliness, and endeavored to show that the ablest
+physicians of modern times could not improve upon these commands. Then
+he spoke of the recent discoveries by the German doctors, and the
+promulgation of the new theory that contagious diseases were due to the
+existence of germs which could only be exterminated by certain
+well-defined means, prominent among which was cleanliness. While he
+spoke his audience hung breathlessly upon his words, and, as they gazed
+upon the inspired countenance of the young man, they felt that he
+expounded the truth, and they believed in him.</p>
+
+<p>"And now, my friends," continued Mendel, "let us drop superstition and
+substitute common-sense. Let us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> show our gentile neighbors that we can
+combat this epidemic with intelligence. In the first place, let us
+determine upon some well-defined plan. Let us organize. With unity of
+purpose much can be accomplished. The greatest danger of the disease
+lies in its contagious nature. Our first duty, therefore, is to isolate
+those who are sick. In this way the spreading of the plague may be
+checked. There is nothing new in this plan. Moses commanded that all
+persons suffering with infectious diseases should be placed outside of
+the camp of Israel. That you have not already resorted to this means
+shows rather a kind heart than a quick wit.</p>
+
+<p>"You have doubtless observed that those living upon the swampy ground
+near the river mourn a greater number of departed than those dwelling
+further inland. That locality must, therefore, exercise a prejudicial
+influence upon the health of the people. It is here that the poor and
+destitute live. Let us care for them. Let the more wealthy and more
+fortunate families take into their houses those to whom Providence has
+been less bountiful. You whose daily business takes you to the hovels of
+the poor, know how wretched and filthy they are, how even the healthy
+can scarcely bear the foulness of their atmosphere. How great must be
+the power of such pest-holes to extend the plague when once it finds a
+foothold there! Let us tear down those hovels. There are enough rich men
+among you to build new and better houses. You have heard that many have
+become ill through drinking the water from the wells. Water you must
+drink; but a German doctor tells us that heat will kill the germs of
+disease. Let us, therefore, boil all the water we drink and diminish the
+tendency to sickness in that way. Finally, it is necessary to avoid all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+excesses, to live temperately, to observe strict cleanliness. Thus you
+may cheat the plague of a great number of victims. God sends the good,
+my friends, but we bring the evil upon ourselves. This evening I shall
+be pleased to see at my house all those who are willing to devote their
+time and money to the great cause, and we will there discuss the ways
+and means of driving out the cholera, and thus avenging the death of our
+beloved and regretted Rabbi Jeiteles."</p>
+
+<p>Such enthusiasm as greeted the speaker when he descended from the pulpit
+had never been known in the synagogue. His manner as well as his words,
+his beauty and imposing presence as well as his profound and magnetic
+intellect, had carried the hearts of his auditors. The men clasped him
+warmly by the hand and promised their co-operation, and the women in the
+gallery gave vent to their approval in a no less hearty manner. When the
+Sabbath service came to a close, the only sentiment among the members of
+the congregation was in favor of immediate action.</p>
+
+<p>The news of the sermon spread rapidly through the community, and the
+other congregations became interested and promised their support.</p>
+
+<p>The young Rabbi still lived with his mother-in-law, and a large company
+assembled at the house to carry out the plans suggested by him that
+morning. The meeting included all the wealthy and influential men of the
+quarter, and they entered into the spirit of the new ideas with as much
+enthusiasm as they had displayed in the superstitious observances of a
+few days before. Those willing to take an active part in the great
+hygienic work were divided by Mendel into committees, one of which was
+to undertake the arduous work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> of isolation and of providing willing and
+capable nurses to wait upon the sick; another to superintend the
+disinfection or removal of the wretched hovels in the lower portion of
+the Jewish quarter; a third to visit the families into which the scourge
+had already forced an entrance, and inculcate such lessons of
+cleanliness as would materially lessen the chances of further contagion.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel placed himself at the head of all these bodies, so that he might
+the better direct their actions. He then explained to them in detail the
+various theories that had been advanced throughout the civilized world
+as to the cause of the cholera and the methods employed in western
+countries to combat the disease. He had read much and his powerful
+memory had retained all that was useful and important, and he spoke with
+such decision that all those pious men, among whom any delving outside
+of the sacred limits of the Talmud was strictly prohibited, now
+listened, in open-mouthed wonder, to the instruction of their youthful
+sage without once demanding whence he had obtained his knowledge. It
+sufficed them to know that they now possessed a tangible weapon with
+which to fight their dreaded enemy, and they were ready to follow their
+leader wherever he chose to conduct them.</p>
+
+<p>The great work was begun without delay. Before undertaking it, however,
+it was necessary to obtain the Governor's consent to the improvements,
+and to Mendel fell the task of calling upon the mighty man at his
+palace.</p>
+
+<p>When Alexander II. ascended his father's throne, his first important act
+was to appoint new Governors of the various provinces, for it was a
+notorious fact that the heads of these departments were as a rule
+totally unfit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> to direct the affairs with which they were entrusted. He
+replaced the old and corrupt Governors by young and vigorous men,
+heartily in accord with his ideas of reform. General Pomeroff, a friend
+and stanch admirer of the Emperor while he was still Czarewitch, was
+selected to govern the influential province of Kief. Pomeroff was a
+strikingly handsome man, progressive in his views, humane in the
+treatment of his subordinates, quick to perceive merit where it existed
+and anxious to assist in any work which promised to redound to the
+credit of his province. With this man Mendel sought an interview. It was
+with difficulty that he gained admittance to the presence of the august
+ruler, into whose sanctum no Jew had yet entered, but after a long delay
+he succeeded in meeting the Governor face to face.</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency," said Mendel, in a quiet and dignified manner,
+speaking in perfect Russian, "I come to seek your assistance in a matter
+of great importance to a large class of your subjects."</p>
+
+<p>The Governor, surprised as much by the purity of language as by the
+temerity of the Jew, looked at the young man, scrutinizingly, for some
+moments.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you wish?" he asked, at length. "Make your application short,
+for I have much to do."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel unfolded his views briefly to the astonished Governor. He
+expressed his desire to rid the Jewish quarter as far as practicable
+from the effects of the plague.</p>
+
+<p>"The cholera has almost run its course," he said, "and while our efforts
+might have been impotent to check its ravages during its early course,
+they may serve to prevent its further spread and to diminish the number
+of its victims. We are amply provided with willing hands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> and with the
+necessary money, but we desire your excellency's sanction, and your
+permission to remove those hovels from our quarter which are dangerous
+to the general health of its inhabitants."</p>
+
+<p>Governor Pomeroff had arisen and was striding up and down his apartment.
+When Mendel concluded, he stopped and held out his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Give me your hand," he said; "you are a man after my own heart. Go on
+with your work, and I will give instructions that no one shall interfere
+with you. If you need assistance, call upon me and I will do what I can
+for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I thank your excellency," replied Mendel, overjoyed, "but your
+good-will is all we ask. The cholera is a frightful evil, and if we
+succeed in lessening its ravages we shall be well repaid for our
+trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"I expect you to come and report to me from time to time," said the
+Governor, so far forgetting his dignity as to accompany the Jew to the
+door.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel bowed and left the apartment. In the ante-room, a number of
+servants had collected, and no sooner did the young man appear than they
+began to banter and annoy him. It was perfectly legitimate for the serfs
+to derive as much amusement from the Jews as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Here comes the Jew," cried one, "and by the Holy St. Peter he is still
+alive."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Jew," said another, seizing Mendel by the beard; "by what charms
+did you force your way into the Governor's presence? Impudence is a
+great characteristic of your race."</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the door opened and Governor Pomeroff appeared at the
+threshold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He severely rebuked the astonished servants for their rude behavior,
+apologized to Mendel for the indignities he had been obliged to endure,
+and sent a guard with him to conduct him to his home.</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi returned to his people with a light and happy heart. He had
+been more than successful, for he had gained a friend in the Governor,
+and his mind lost itself in visions of the good this powerful ally would
+enable him to effect.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Herzberg-Fraenkel's "Polnische Juden" cites a similar
+incident.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE GOVERNOR'S PROJECT.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Great were the energy and zeal which the Hebrew community of Kief
+displayed in carrying out the plans of their young Rabbi. Mendel himself
+led them on with an ardor that knew no abatement. He visited the most
+dangerous pest-holes, helped to move the sick, brought relief and
+consolation to the suffering and bereaved, while ever at his side was
+his wife, Recha. Her devotion to the cause was only second to the love
+she bore her husband. Undaunted by the awful fate that had befallen her
+father, she followed Mendel into the thickest of the danger and like a
+ministering angel brought comfort and relief. Their example was
+contagious. Young and old, male and female, vied with one another in
+doing good and in mitigating suffering. The superstitious dread with
+which they had formerly regarded the disease had disappeared and with it
+much of the danger which fear or an over-wrought imagination causes. A
+large building was secured and fitted up as a hospital. Thither the sick
+were conveyed and there kept in strict quaran<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>tine. It was not difficult
+to find nurses among those who had already had the disease, when told
+that they need not fear its recurrence.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the miserable dwellings of the poor were demolished and the
+ground cleansed and fumigated, their former inhabitants in the meanwhile
+finding ample accommodations in the synagogues or in the houses of the
+wealthy. There was not a family of well-to-do Jews that did not harbor a
+number of those who were thus summarily deprived of shelter. Every well
+which might have become contaminated was filled up with earth and stone,
+and strict injunctions were issued to use no water that had not been
+thoroughly boiled. The schools were temporarily closed to avoid the
+danger of infection, exercise in the fields was recommended, and so well
+were all these regulations observed that at the end of six weeks the
+Jewish quarter was practically free from the disease, while the grim
+monster still raged among the families of the less prudent gentiles.
+Then the work of reconstructing what had been demolished was taken up.
+Thanks to the offerings of Hirsch Bensef and his friends, money was not
+lacking and willing hands were found to supply the necessary manual
+labor. Where wretched huts and unpainted hovels had offended the eye,
+unpretentious but clean and comfortable dwellings now were seen. The
+lower portion of the town had been entirely remodelled and vied in point
+of neatness with the more aristocratic quarter. As home after home was
+completed, the former inmates took possession and great was the
+rejoicing. It was impossible, however, to do away with all the poor
+hovels that abounded in the Jewish quarter: such an undertaking would
+have required a vast amount of money and years of labor. It was only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>
+where the need was most pressing that the work of regeneration was
+carried on.</p>
+
+<p>The sad fact soon forced itself on Mendel that the portion of Kief
+allotted to the Jews was entirely inadequate for the fifteen thousand
+inhabitants who were condemned to dwell there. So overcrowded were some
+of the houses that it seemed a miracle that the death-rate had not been
+even greater; yet there seemed to be no remedy for the evil. The limits
+had been fixed by the government and against its decree who dared
+appeal? By <i>Rosh-Hashana</i> (New Year's) there was not a single case of
+cholera in the Jewish quarter. One morning, several days after the New
+Year festival, Mendel sat in his snug parlor with his wife and her
+mother, speaking hopefully of the coming time.</p>
+
+<p>"How happy we would be," said Recha, "if father were alive to see all
+the good that has been accomplished. His only ambition was to improve
+the mental and physical condition of our people. He would have taken the
+greatest interest in your undertaking, and would have been the most
+zealous of your helpers."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel, Recha," he said, "that all this work was inspired by his death.
+Had it not been for the grief it caused me, I doubt whether I should
+have felt it my duty to open the eyes of our good people, but might have
+allowed them to continue in their accustomed way. Troubles, dear Recha,
+are frequently blessings in disguise, and under the rod of affliction we
+may recognize the loving hand of God. Our hearts groan under the heavy
+blows of misfortune, but in the end we will find ourselves the stronger,
+the better, the more perfect for the tribulations we have undergone."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Recha felt the truth of her husband's words and dried her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I look into the year just begun with great hopes," continued Mendel.
+"Among our own people the greatest harmony prevails. The sorrows we have
+suffered in common have served to knit our souls more closely together,
+and the little quarrels and petty jealousies that formerly agitated our
+community have ceased. All is bright and beautiful without. The Emperor
+purposes to introduce various reforms and the Governor is favorably
+disposed towards us. Let us trust that those who have suffered losses
+through the merciless hand of death may find some consolation in the
+greater happiness and prosperity of the community."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel was interrupted by a knock at the door, and Recha upon opening it
+gave admittance to a soldier, whose uniform proclaimed him one of the
+Governor's body guard.</p>
+
+<p>"I seek Mendel Winenki," said the man, with military precision.</p>
+
+<p>Recha became pale as death; a terrible suspicion flashed through her
+mind. Mendel, too, was ill at ease.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want of me?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"His excellency, the Governor, has instructed me to conduct you into his
+presence," answered the soldier.</p>
+
+<p>"For what purpose?" asked the Rabbi, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know. I am simply to take you with me."</p>
+
+<p>The greatest consternation prevailed among the little group. For a Jew
+to be summoned before the Governor betokened no good.</p>
+
+<p>"You would arrest my husband!" cried Recha, placing herself between the
+soldier and the Rabbi. "He has done no wrong. You shall not take him!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Calm yourself, Recha," said the Rabbi, gently. "There is no need of
+borrowing trouble. The soldier has not intimated that I am to be
+punished. The Governor was at one time very friendly to me; perhaps it
+is upon a friendly matter that he now wishes to see me."</p>
+
+<p>Kissing his wife and mother-in-law and bidding them be of good cheer,
+Mendel accompanied the guide to the Governor's residence. It was a long
+walk through a number of densely populated streets to the animated
+<i>podol</i>, or business centre. Hundreds of shops lined the streets, but
+they were empty and deserted. The cholera had deprived them of their
+customers and in many cases of their proprietors. Business was
+practically suspended during the continuance of the plague. On leaving
+the <i>podol</i>, the road led up a steep incline to the Petcherskoi. This
+was the official portion of the town. Here stood the vast Petcherskoi
+convent, a mass of old buildings, formerly a fine specimen of Byzantine
+architecture, but now gradually yielding to the ravages of time. Here,
+too, were the barracks, and the martial tread of the exercising
+regiments rang out clearly in the September air. Beyond the barracks,
+and by its high position commanding a fine view of the city, stood the
+Governor's palace, an imposing pile of Russian architecture, which, when
+Kief was still the capital of the Empire, was the scene of regal
+festivities and despotic cruelty.</p>
+
+<p>The ante-room of the Governor was filled with a motley crowd of
+petitioners. There were deputations from the provincial towns, haughty
+noblemen attired in lace coats and bedecked with badges, officers,
+soldiers and <i>gendarmes</i> in gorgeous uniforms. Mendel's courage sank
+when he saw the formidable group before him.</p>
+
+<p>"Remain here," commanded the guard who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> accompanied him, "and I will
+announce your presence to his excellency."</p>
+
+<p>A moment later he returned and, to the surprise of the waiting
+petitioners, beckoned Mendel to follow him into the private cabinet.
+That a Jew should be shown such favor was scarcely calculated to put the
+rest in a good humor, and loud murmurs of discontent arose from all
+parts of the room.</p>
+
+<p>If Mendel had any fears of the reception which awaited him, they were at
+once dispelled by the Governor's cordial greeting:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Rabbi," he exclaimed, smilingly, extending his hand, "I have
+waited in vain for you to bring me the promised tidings and have sent
+for you in sheer despair. Why did you not come to see me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency," replied Mendel, "I have been busy day and night, but
+had I thought that you took an interest in our work I would have
+hastened to inform you of our progress. Thank God, the result has
+exceeded our fondest expectations."</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard of it," replied Pomeroff. "It has been the subject of a
+hundred discussions at court and at the exchanges, and there is nought
+but praise for the man who was the first to fight the cholera here in
+Russia with the weapons science has furnished mankind."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel blushed and said, modestly:</p>
+
+<p>"That man is a Jew, your excellency. It is not usual for one of our race
+to be the recipient of compliments at the hands of the gentiles."</p>
+
+<p>The Governor's brow darkened and he remained silent for a moment.
+Finally he replied:</p>
+
+<p>"Such praise would be more plentiful if all Jews were like you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"They are, your excellency," answered Mendel, warmly. "Oh, if you but
+knew how brave, how noble a heart beats beneath the rough exterior of
+the Jew; if you but knew how passionately he yearns for an opportunity
+to show himself in his true character, you would pity him more and judge
+him less harshly."</p>
+
+<p>"It is upon that very topic that I wish to converse with you," said the
+Governor, motioning Mendel to a seat, while he threw himself upon a
+comfortable lounge. Lighting a cigarette, he settled himself for a long
+conversation, apparently unmindful of the dignitaries who awaited an
+audience without. "I would give the Jew an opportunity to become not
+only a useful but a respected citizen."</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency is too good," said Mendel, joyously, as bright visions
+of emancipation flashed through his brain.</p>
+
+<p>"I am told that you have great influence with your people," continued
+the Governor. "Am I correctly informed?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am too young to influence them, but I believe I have their esteem and
+respect."</p>
+
+<p>"They, at all events, place confidence in you," answered Pomeroff. "Now
+listen to me patiently. I have always been a friend of the Hebrews. As a
+boy, I associated with Jews of my own age and found them congenial
+companions. When I had arrived at the age of manhood I awoke one day to
+find myself in grave financial difficulties. There is no need of going
+into details. Suffice it to say that in my dilemma I went to one of the
+companions of my youth, a Jew, who had in the meantime acquired a
+fortune, and appealed to his generosity. My confidence was not misplaced
+and his timely aid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> saved my reputation and my honor. I am therefore
+favorably disposed toward your people and would help them if it were in
+my power to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency can do much," exclaimed Mendel.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me finish what I have to say before you indulge in vain hopes,"
+answered the Governor. "Let us discuss the situation fearlessly and
+without prejudice and try to find the root of the difficulty. Why are
+your people despised? Firstly, because they are not Christians and the
+gentile can never forget that it was your race that was directly
+responsible for the death of our Saviour; secondly, were the gentile to
+forget it, the religious and social observances of your race are so
+thoroughly at variance with his own that he does not understand you and
+therefore looks down upon you. Under usual conditions, however, the Jew
+and the non-Jew live side by side in peace and harmony. It is only in
+time of unusual religious or political excitement that race prejudice
+comes into play and then the Hebrews suffer. Were your people to adopt
+the Christian religion and change their oriental customs for our own,
+race prejudice and persecution would cease, they would be placed
+socially upon a footing of equality with the gentiles and the entire
+human race would be benefited thereby. Do I make my meaning clear?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not quite grasp it," answered Mendel.</p>
+
+<p>"Briefly, then, my idea is this: You have great influence over your
+co-religionists. Use that influence to their lasting advantage. Persuade
+them to accept the Christian faith. Induce them to be baptized and with
+that solemn rite will end the unnumbered persecutions, the untold misery
+which has unfortunately been the lot of Israel. His majesty Alexander is
+most graciously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> disposed towards reform. Now, at the beginning of his
+career, he is eager to accept any innovation which will reflect renown
+upon his rule. He has already considered plans for freeing the serfs and
+would gladly include in that emancipation the three million Jews that
+reside in the Empire. I speak with his august authority when I say that
+as soon as the Jews embrace the holy Catholic faith not only will their
+troubles end, but they will find themselves raised to an enviable
+condition and the fittest among them will fill positions of rank and
+honor."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel had arisen and with a pitying smile waited for the Governor to
+conclude his remarks.</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency does me too much honor," he said, quietly. "The man was
+never born, nor will he ever be, who can wean the Jews from their faith.
+Your excellency would find it easier to turn the waters of the Dnieper
+into the Arctic Ocean than to change the handful of Jews in Kief into
+Christians."</p>
+
+<p>"But there are many who have already deserted the ranks of Israel," said
+the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"There are some renegades, it is true, but they do not in reality desert
+the faith of their people. They merely seek to escape some of the
+observances with which they are not in accord. Such people do not become
+Christians&mdash;they remain Jews to the end of their days."</p>
+
+<p>"But, consider," said the Governor, earnestly, for he had set his heart
+upon this project. "At present you are despised and hated. You are
+forced to vegetate, rather than live, within the narrow confines of an
+uninviting and unhealthy quarter. Your natural capabilities are dwarfed.
+Your property and even your lives are at the mercy of the ignorant
+people that surround you. An acknowledgment of the faith that already<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>
+counts many millions of adherents, a mere profession of belief in the
+great Saviour who came from heaven to save mankind, will change all this
+and you will at once enter into a life of peace and honor and social
+equality with the noblest of the land. Is it not worth considering?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, your excellency," answered Mendel, boldly. "As I have already told
+you, it is impossible."</p>
+
+<p>"Your reasons, Rabbi," said the Governor, with a shade of irritation in
+his voice. "Will not the new avenues for pleasure and happiness
+compensate for your ancient ceremonials and superstitions? The theatre,
+the lecture, the school will be opened to you. We will bid you enter and
+partake of all those delights which are in store for the best of us. Is
+that no inducement?"</p>
+
+<p>Mendel sighed deeply, as he answered:</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency invites me to speak and I will do so frankly, even at
+the risk of incurring your displeasure. Think you that the prejudice
+which the Christian has felt against the Jew for over eighteen centuries
+can be eradicated in a moment by the apostasy of our race? The Russian
+nobility, accustomed to regard the Hebrews as accursed in the sight of
+God, as a nation of usurers and ungodly fanatics, is not in a fit
+condition of mind to forego its prejudices and welcome these same Jews
+as equals. The lower classes of Russians who have at the the mother's
+breast imbibed hatred and contempt for the despised and helpless Jew,
+who have from time immemorial considered the Jews as their just and
+legitimate prey, will scarcely condescend to offer the rejected race the
+hand of brotherly love simply because the Governor or even the Emperor
+commands it. It has been tried, your excellency, at various times;
+notably in Spain. Terrified by threats of torture on the one hand or
+seduced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> by promises of great reward on the other, many an Israelite
+accepted the Catholic faith. Alas! how bitterly was the error regretted.
+Instead of being admitted to that fellowship with which the gentiles had
+tempted them, greater humiliations, greater persecutions followed, until
+the horrors of the inquisition chamber and death at the stake were
+welcomed by the poor wretches as a relief from mental torment still more
+terrible."</p>
+
+<p>So they talked, the mighty ruler and the humble Rabbi, while those in
+the ante-room waited impatiently for an audience.</p>
+
+<p>Finally the Governor arose.</p>
+
+<p>"I will not exact a definite answer at present," he said. "Discuss the
+matter with your friends and come to see me again in the course of a
+week or two. Perhaps you will then think better of it."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"In a few days we shall have <i>Yom-Kipur</i>, our Day of Atonement," he
+said. "If you would know how tenaciously the Israelites cling to their
+faith and to their God, visit the synagogue on that day; behold them in
+fasting and prayer, renewing their covenant with the Lord and relying
+upon his divine protection and assistance. You will find it an
+impressive sight, one that will speak more eloquently than my weak
+words."</p>
+
+<p>"I may come," answered the Governor, half in jest and half in earnest,
+while Mendel bowed himself out through the crowd of angry people in the
+waiting-room.</p>
+
+<p>We shall not attempt to analyze the thoughts of the young Rabbi, as he
+retraced his steps towards his dwelling. On his arrival there, he found
+his wife and her mother greatly alarmed as to his safety. The strange
+and sudden summons and his long absence had aroused terri<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>ble fears in
+Recha's breast that he had been thrown into prison by the Governor, and
+her eyes were red with weeping. It was with a bounding heart, therefore,
+that she heard her husband's step on the threshold, and with a joyous
+cry she rushed to embrace him.</p>
+
+<p>"God be praised, my Mendel has returned," she exclaimed, and smiling
+through her tears she led him into the house.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+
+<h3>YOM-KIPUR.</h3>
+
+
+<p>It is <i>Yom-Kipur</i>, the Day of Atonement.</p>
+
+<p>Long before nightfall the shops and booths of the Israelites are closed.
+The merchant has silenced his cravings for gain, the pedler and the
+wanderer have returned to their families, travelling leagues upon
+leagues to reach home in time for the holy day. The beggar has cast
+aside his rags and attired himself in a manner more befitting the solemn
+occasion. The God-fearing man has closed his heart to all but pious
+thoughts, and, yielding to the holy influence, even the impious cannot
+but think of God and of a future beyond the grave.</p>
+
+<p>The holy night is approaching. A river of light streams through the
+arched windows of the houses of prayer, flooding the streets and
+penetrating into the hearts of the inhabitants. Young and old slowly
+wend their way to the synagogues, there to bow down before the Lord who
+delivered their ancestors from Egyptian bondage and who on this day will
+sit in judgment upon their actions; will grant them mercy or pronounce
+their doom; will inscribe them in the book of life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> or in that of
+eternal death. The women are robed in white, the men wear shrouds over
+their black <i>caftans</i> and carry huge prayer-books. At the door of the
+Lord's House, and before entering its sacred precincts, they ask pardon
+of each other for any sins or shortcomings, for the envy, the malice,
+the calumny of which they may have been guilty.</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive me whatever wrong I may have done thee!"</p>
+
+<p>The phrase is repeated from man to man, for none may enter the holy
+temple unless he be at peace with mankind.</p>
+
+<p>Let us enter the synagogue. Hundreds of candles fill the sacred hall
+with their light and the whitened walls and ceiling appear to glow with
+glory. Rows of men in ghastly attire, constant reminder of the
+inevitable end of mundane greatness, stand with covered heads and with
+their faces turned towards the orient, fervently praying. Screened by
+the lattice-work of the galleries are the women, who, with their treble
+voices, augment the solemn chant that vibrates on the air.</p>
+
+<p>Repentance, fear, self-reproach have blanched the cheeks and dimmed the
+eyes of the devotees. Fervent and sincere are the prayers that rise to
+the throne of God; contrite and remorseful are the blows with which the
+men beat their breasts and with which they seek to chasten their
+sin-encrusted hearts.</p>
+
+<p>Fearfully and tearfully they make the sorrowful avowal: "We have
+sinned!" Down into the depths of his soul does each one search to render
+to himself and to God a truthful account of the deeds and thoughts that
+lie hidden there. And above the din, the voice of the reader is heard,
+beseeching forgiveness for the repentant congregation, pleading for the
+grace of the Lord and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> asking to be enrolled in the book of life and
+happiness. It is a solemn, heart-stirring spectacle, moving the soul of
+the sinner with a mighty force. An observer, who for the first time
+attends the <i>Yom-Kipur</i> services, can arrive at but one verdict
+concerning the beauty of the religion which has instituted this holy
+day.</p>
+
+<p>The heathen is impressed with the fact that in doing wrong he has
+offended a god whom, by means of sacrifice, he seeks to propitiate. The
+Christian proclaims that he sins by compulsion in consequence of the
+original fall of Adam, and, as he is not a free agent in the matter of
+right or wrong, he can expect grace only through the mediation of his
+Saviour. The Jew recognizes the fact that he is entirely free to sin or
+to remain pure, and that, having erred, he can only hope for forgiveness
+by acknowledging his error, by purifying himself from all that is vile
+and by a sincere resolution to do better. Mere faith has never played
+the important part in the Jewish religion that is assigned it in that of
+the gentiles. The Israelite believes that if he has done wrong and
+sincerely repents and by his subsequent actions seeks to repair the
+injury, divine forgiveness will not be withheld; but the dogma that
+belief independent of good deeds purifies the heart has never found
+favor in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>The worshippers stayed until a late hour, and many of them remained in
+the synagogue all night. Early dawn found the congregation again at its
+post, as devout, as fervent as before. The candles were burning low in
+their sockets, casting a fitful glare upon the pale faces of the
+worshippers, reminding them of the flight of time, of the brevity of
+life, of the inevitable moment when repentance will come too late, when
+the account of one's good and evil deeds will be closed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The synagogue was filled to overflowing with fasting men and women. Not
+a morsel of food, not a drop of water was permitted to pass their lips
+for twenty-four hours. "As the body can abstain from food," said the
+wise rabbis, "so shall the soul abstain from sin."</p>
+
+<p>The terrible plague that had left its sad impress upon the community
+greatly increased the solemnity of the occasion. To the expressions of
+repentance were added the prayers of gratitude of those who had escaped
+its fatal breath and the lamentations of those whose hearts still
+smarted under recent bereavement. It was Rabbi Mendel's custom to
+combine instruction with devotion whenever an occasion presented itself,
+and to do this in such homely logic as his congregation could easily
+comprehend, taking especial pains to impress them with the spirit of the
+rites they observed. Being a great favorite with them, they listened
+attentively to his melodious voice and persuasive arguments, and found
+themselves the better for his teaching. On the Day of Atonement he had
+hardly begun to speak when his attention was attracted by a stranger who
+had entered and quietly taken a seat in the rear of the synagogue. With
+the exception of Mendel not one of the assembled worshippers recognized
+the unpretentious looking man.</p>
+
+<p>It was Governor Pomeroff who had come in response to his invitation.
+Mendel's face flushed with emotion when he saw the Governor enter the
+synagogue. After that he paid no further attention to his distinguished
+guest, but took up the thread of his discourse.</p>
+
+<p>He spoke of the effect of sin upon our earthly life and upon our
+possible existence after death, expounded the doctrine of punishment in
+the hereafter as given in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> <i>Midrash</i>, and spoke of the infinite
+mercy of the Father in Heaven.</p>
+
+<p>"Not in idle protestations," he said, "lies the road to forgiveness, but
+in a thorough avowal of sins committed and in a sincere determination to
+avoid the iniquities of the past."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel's inspired words fell upon eager ears and contrite hearts. After
+the sermon the <i>hazan</i> again intoned the prayers, assisted by the
+fervent responses of the congregation.</p>
+
+<p>The Governor remained a long time an interested observer of the
+impressive scene, until the lateness of the hour admonished him of other
+duties, and he left as unceremoniously as he had come.</p>
+
+<p>"The Rabbi is right," he murmured, as he wended his way out of the
+deserted quarter; "it will be a herculean task to alienate the Jews from
+their faith and bring them into the fold of the Russian church; but I
+shall not yet abandon my project!"</p>
+
+<p>The people prayed and fasted until the stars shone out in Heaven and the
+<i>shofar</i> (ram's horn) blast announced the death of the solemn day. Then,
+with cheerful hearts and smiling faces they returned to their dwellings,
+purified in spirit, cleansed and purged of the dross that had defiled
+their souls, more thoroughly in unison with the Lord, who, though the
+sins of His people be as scarlet, will make them white as snow.</p>
+
+<p>Rabbi Mendel was not surprised next morning when a message came from the
+Governor, requesting his immediate presence at the palace. The summons
+did not create the consternation which had been caused by the
+unceremonious call of a few days before. On the contrary, Recha felt
+proud of the distinction accorded her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> husband in being thus made the
+confidant of the mighty ruler of Kief. She had implicit faith in her
+husband's ability to hold his ground even in the Governor's august
+presence.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you thought over our recent conversation?" asked Pomeroff, as soon
+as Mendel entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, your excellency."</p>
+
+<p>"And to what conclusion have you come?"</p>
+
+<p>"Simply to thank your excellency for your kind interest in our behalf
+and to express the conviction that the Israelites of Kief would rather
+endure a thousand persecutions than abandon a jot of their holy faith."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you laid the matter before the people?" queried the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"I have not, your excellency. It would have been worse than useless. You
+have doubtless observed how thoroughly sincere the Jews were in their
+devotions on <i>Yom-Kipur</i> day: such men die for their religion, they do
+not abandon it. If your excellency can assist us in obtaining greater
+liberty of action, if you can gain for our children admittance into the
+schools of the Empire and open for us the various avenues of trade from
+which we have hitherto been shut out, we will hail you as our
+benefactor; but if we can only buy freedom and honors at the cost of our
+ancient and revered religion, we will be content to follow the example
+of our ancestors and suffer."</p>
+
+<p>A long discussion followed, in which Mendel proved that the Jews, in
+spite of persecution, were really happier than the unlettered and
+uncultured Russians and morally far superior to them.</p>
+
+<p>Finally the Governor arose.</p>
+
+<p>"Your hand, Rabbi," he said, heartily, "you have car<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>ried the day. I
+shall not revert to the subject of baptism again."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope your excellency will not renounce the desire to befriend us,"
+answered Mendel. "There is such a large field for improvement in our
+community. I wish you could see the crowded condition of our streets,
+the wretched abodes of our poor. If you knew the secret persecutions
+which the petty officers of the crown visit upon us, outrages which
+never reach the ears of the higher authorities, your excellency would be
+surprised that our moral and physical condition is no worse."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Jews," said the Governor, sadly.</p>
+
+<p>"O, sir," continued Mendel, earnestly; "visit the Jewish quarter!
+Investigate the official abuses on every hand. Extend the limits of our
+homes. Remove the antiquated restrictions that enslave our daily
+actions. Give the Jew an opportunity to develop his great capabilities
+and he will become a desirable citizen and a stanch patriot."</p>
+
+<p>The kind-hearted Governor was visibly affected by Mendel's words.</p>
+
+<p>"I will reflect upon what you have said," he replied. "You are a brave
+champion and your people should feel proud of you."</p>
+
+<p>Governor Pomeroff, who recognized the young Rabbi's cleverness and
+learning, was loath to let him depart. Long after they had exhausted the
+topic that first engaged them, he detained him, conversing upon every
+conceivable subject, and listening with pleasure to the original
+thoughts and eloquent words of the young man. At length Mendel arose and
+prepared to leave.</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency must pardon me," he said, "but my poor wife will be in
+despair at my late return and I must hasten to reassure her."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Go," answered the Governor; "but come again to-morrow or the day after.
+I have much to talk over with you."</p>
+
+<p>As Mendel bowed himself out, Pomeroff muttered to himself:</p>
+
+<p>"Strange man! He thinks more of allaying the anxiety of his wife than of
+currying favor with his ruler. He is right; such a people as he
+represents cannot be forced into baptism. They place their moral law and
+their ancient faith above temporal advantage."</p>
+
+<p>As Mendel had anticipated, Recha was a prey to the liveliest fears at
+the protracted absence of her husband. It seemed incredible to her that
+the busy Governor should have kept him so long. With Mendel, however,
+smiles and contentment returned.</p>
+
+<p>That evening the Rabbi called Hirsch Bensef and the elders of the
+congregation into his house and told them all about the Governor and his
+schemes. Great was the surprise of these worthy men and unanimous their
+approval of Mendel's course in the matter.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe," said the Rabbi, in conclusion, "that we have gained a
+friend in the Governor, and I see rising above the horizon a new era of
+security and prosperity for Israel."</p>
+
+<p>"God grant it," cried the listeners, fervently.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+
+<h3>NEEDED REFORMS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>If Governor Pomeroff abandoned his original plan of Christianizing the
+Jews, he did not relinquish his friendship for Mendel. The Rabbi was
+frequently summoned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> to appear before him, professedly for the purpose
+of giving an account of this or that good work which he had undertaken,
+but in reality to entertain the Governor by his brilliant conversation.
+So frequent had these visits become that the guards about the palace
+were no longer surprised at the strange companionship and the term
+"Jew," with which they were wont to designate Mendel, gave place to the
+more respectful appellation of "The Rabbi."</p>
+
+<p>As Mendel became better acquainted with his powerful friend, his
+appreciation of his noble qualities steadily increased and they became
+warmly attached to each other.</p>
+
+<p>"Would that all the Jews were like you," Pomeroff occasionally remarked,
+to which Mendel would reply: "How fortunate would be our lot if all
+Christians possessed your nobility of character."</p>
+
+<p>Then came the glorious year 1861, the year in which Russia freed
+millions of serfs and removed the shackles of slavery from a debased
+people.</p>
+
+<p>While much praise should be accorded to the liberality and humanity of
+Alexander, the main cause of the emancipation act was the
+unprofitableness of serf labor. Public opinion, too, had demanded the
+change. What "Uncle Tom's Cabin" accomplished in this country Gogol's
+"Dead Souls" and Tourgenieff's "Recollections of a Sportsman" did for
+the Russian slaves. The disasters of the Crimean War were attributed to
+the corrupt condition of all classes, caused, it was claimed, by this
+pernicious institution of serfdom. By the edict of 1861, in the same
+year in which our own struggle for the emancipation of our Southern
+slaves began, the peasants were made free and were granted the right to
+pur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>chase the lands occupied by them at the time. "Enfranchisement was
+effected in Russia in a manner far more skilful than in our own country,
+where it was accomplished through the terrible agency of a civil war.
+Yet the Russian people have been, perhaps, less satisfied with its
+results. Since then the serfs have been compelled to work harder than
+ever to pay for the land they had always cultivated and regarded as
+their own. The complete ignorance of the <i>moujiks</i> has laid them open to
+greater vices than serfdom possessed and drunkenness has greatly
+increased since the emancipation."<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p>
+
+<p>At the time of which we speak, however, there was nought but rejoicing
+in Russia. Freedom had unfurled her banner, and the sanguine prophets
+foresaw in the near future a complete cessation of despotism and a
+constitutional government such as the people had demanded since the
+beginning of Nicholas' reign in 1825. Amidst the general joy, the
+Governor of Kief found an opportunity for materially improving the
+condition of the Jews of his province.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel would have been less than human had he not endeavored to turn
+this condition of affairs and Pomeroff's friendship to practical
+account. For himself he desired nothing. When the Governor, in order to
+have him constantly at his side, tendered him an honorable office in the
+palace, Mendel gently but firmly declined the proffered honor. All his
+energies were directed towards ameliorating the lot of his
+co-religionists.</p>
+
+<p>He one day induced the Governor to stroll with him through the Jewish
+quarter, and with tact and eloquence called his attention to the crowded
+condition of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> houses and streets, explaining how difficult it was to
+preserve health where the hygienic laws were of necessity utterly
+disregarded. He showed how the streets, at first ample for all
+requirements, had in the course of years become overcrowded; how hut had
+been built against hut and story erected upon story, until the lack of
+room deprived many a dwelling of light and air. He led the surprised
+Governor through the squalid lanes near the river and demonstrated how
+difficult it would be to master an epidemic when once it had taken root
+there, and how the welfare of the entire town of Kief depended upon the
+sanitary condition of each of its parts.</p>
+
+<p>With the financial acumen of his race, he appealed to the economic
+aspect of the case, demonstrated how many houses, large and small, were
+standing idle in the city proper, bringing neither rent to their owners
+nor taxes to the province, and depicted the benefits that would be
+gained by granting the Jews the privilege of occupying such dwellings.</p>
+
+<p>The Governor, who had never before visited the haunts of poverty, felt a
+positive repugnance to the system, or rather lack of system, that could
+countenance such a condition of affairs. He hurried away from the
+uninviting neighborhood, and, having again reached a spot where the air
+was fit to breathe, he promised to exert his influence with the Czar to
+have the boundaries of the Jewish quarter extended.</p>
+
+<p>Nobly did he keep his word. He journeyed to St. Petersburg and sought an
+audience with Alexander. What happened at the interview the Jews of Kief
+never discovered, but the result was extremely gratifying. At the end of
+a fortnight there came a ukase extending<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> indefinitely the limits of the
+Jewish quarters of all large cities, granting permission to all Jewish
+merchants who had been established in some branch of trade for
+twenty-five years or over, and to all rabbis and teachers, to reside in
+the city proper, in such streets as they might select, and permitting
+merchants of ten years' standing to dwell on certain streets carefully
+specified in the proclamation. It also made it lawful for Jews and
+Christians to live in the same building, a privilege hitherto withheld.</p>
+
+<p>Many were the Jews who availed themselves of their new privileges.
+Bensef was among the first. His house, since the arrival of Mendel's
+parents, had been too small for comfort and the wealthy man desired a
+dwelling befitting his means. Haim Goldheim, the banker, found that
+there was not enough room in his house for the works of art it
+contained. He took a house in the fashionable Vladimir quarter, where,
+to the intense disgust of the aristocrats, he established himself in
+princely magnificence. A hundred families, at least, followed the
+example thus set, leaving the crowded streets, in order to breathe the
+purer air of the more select quarters of Kief. To their credit be it
+said, however, few went far from their old homes; the synagogue still
+formed the rallying centre of their community. About it revolved their
+daily thoughts and actions and the greatest recommendation a new home
+could have was that it was near the <i>schul</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Upon Mendel, who had brought about this change, the greatest honors were
+showered. His congregation almost worshipped him. There were envious
+detractors, however, who contended that it did not behoove a Jew to
+become so intimate with a <i>goy</i>, and a Governor at that. They claimed
+that the Rabbi labored only to promote<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> his own private ends; but, as
+these malcontents were among the first to seize the opportunity of
+bettering their condition, Mendel could afford to shrug his shoulders
+and smile at their insinuations.</p>
+
+<p>The principal class to benefit by the new order of things were the poor,
+who now found abundant room and greedily availed themselves of it. To
+them Mendel was a saviour in the practical sense of the word, and many a
+grateful woman whose hovel had been exchanged for a more commodious
+dwelling would kiss the Rabbi's hand as he passed through the quarter on
+his errands of mercy.</p>
+
+<p>But the young Rabbi's zeal did not end here. He convinced the Governor
+that the taxes exacted from the Jews were not only excessive, but
+disproportionate, and, as a result, they were lowered to a level with
+those paid by the gentiles.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto the Jews had been forbidden to cultivate land on their own
+account. Mendel, in presenting this subject to the Governor, laid stress
+upon the fact that vast tracts were lying fallow for want of
+agriculturists, and that the crown was thereby losing much revenue which
+could easily be raised by a judicious distribution of these fields among
+the thrifty and industrious Hebrews. Pomeroff saw the justice of the
+argument and a proclamation resulted, removing the restrictions placed
+upon the cultivation of land by the Jews.</p>
+
+<p>The Jews of Kief and the surrounding provinces felt that a day of
+prosperity and happiness had dawned for them. In a measure they enjoyed
+the same liberty and privileges as did the lower classes of Russians.
+They were free to come and go, to live where they pleased and to engage
+in a score of occupations which had hitherto<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> been forbidden, and Mendel
+was justly honored as the author of these changes. His fame spread at
+home and was heralded abroad. During his frequent visits to the Governor
+he came in contact with many of the great and brilliant men of the
+Empire. Dignitaries who at first met the Jew with a feeling of
+repugnance gradually yielded to the charm of his personal influence and
+vied with each other in honoring him, and through him Judaism was
+honored and respected. His character, his benevolence, his patriotism
+and his great mental gifts did more to convince those gentiles of what
+the Jew could be than the keenest arguments could have done.</p>
+
+<p>A great general one day asked him:</p>
+
+<p>"Why are you so different from the Jews one usually meets?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency is in error," Mendel replied. "I am not unlike my
+fellow-men. In disposition and feeling I am the same, but I have had an
+opportunity for mental improvement of which most of my brethren have
+been deprived. Give them the privilege of attending your universities,
+open to them the avenues of knowledge and you will create for Russia an
+intellectual element which will eventually place her in the front ranks
+of the nations."</p>
+
+<p>The general shrugged his shoulders and smiled. The idea seemed
+preposterous.</p>
+
+<p>"You have certainly an exalted opinion of your co-religionists," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"I have, your excellency, and it is borne out by history. Your
+excellency has doubtless read of the intellectual supremacy of Spain
+when the Jews were in the ascendant."</p>
+
+<p>His excellency had not read of it. In fighting but not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> in reading lay
+his strength and, not wishing to display his ignorance, he wisely
+changed the subject.</p>
+
+<p>As might have been expected, violent objections were raised by the
+gentiles to the enlarged privileges granted the Jews. The priests were
+particularly virulent in their denunciation of the new liberties
+conferred, in which they saw but the beginning of the gradual
+emancipation of the Hebrews. Attacks were made against them from press
+and from pulpit, and all of these Mendel answered calmly and
+convincingly. His logic finally silenced the ravings of the unlettered
+and fanatical Jew-haters and the privileges once accorded were not
+repealed.</p>
+
+<p>Had Mendel's zeal ended here he would have avoided much subsequent
+difficulty, but he was well aware that the Jews had not attained to the
+ideal he had formed, that much ignorance, fanaticism and superstition
+still prevailed. He desired to imitate the example of his great
+prototype, Moses Mendelssohn, and spread the light of learning
+throughout the Jewish world. He did not lose sight of the vastness of
+the undertaking, of the dangers he was incurring, or of the animosity he
+was inviting, for the Jews of Russia still regarded all learning not
+found in the folios of the Talmud as sacrilegious and unholy. To
+overcome this antagonism to secular knowledge now became Mendel's
+self-imposed task.</p>
+
+<p>Consulting no one but his friend the Governor, and armed with a letter
+of introduction from this powerful ally, Mendel set out for St.
+Petersburg, to visit the Czar in person. It was an unheard-of experiment
+on the part of a Jew, but Mendel felt the inspiration of right and
+undertook his new mission fearlessly. What nothing else could accomplish
+was done by the Governor's letter of recommendation. After a little
+delay he was admitted into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> august presence of the Czar Alexander
+and presented his petition.</p>
+
+<p>Alexander was not a little surprised at the temerity of a Jew in thus
+appearing before him, but the very strangeness of the proceeding
+enlisted the ruler's interest in the demands of the Rabbi. After a long
+conference, during which Mendel eloquently pleaded his cause, he was
+dismissed with the assurance that the educational disabilities of the
+Hebrews would be in a measure removed, and shortly after his return to
+Kief a proclamation was issued admitting Jewish youth into the Russian
+schools upon terms of equality with the gentiles.</p>
+
+<p>Then arose a storm of indignation among the pious Israelites. Those who
+had antagonized Mendel from the first, now were furious at his attempt
+to force intelligence upon them. They prophesied that these were but the
+stepping-stones to more radical changes and stubbornly refused to yield
+an inch, lest the proverbial ell might be seized.</p>
+
+<p>"Never," they cried, "shall our children be taught the wisdom of the
+<i>goyim</i>. The Law and the Talmud are sufficient for our needs.
+Instruction in the public schools will force rabbinical studies into the
+background and will gradually estrange our children from the religion of
+their fathers. We want no new-fangled education. We are Jews and we will
+remain Jews."</p>
+
+<p>So hostile was the greater part of the community to the idea of
+extending educational facilities, that the friends of Mendel, and there
+were many of them, advised him to make an effort to have the obnoxious
+privileges repealed.</p>
+
+<p>This Mendel positively refused to do.</p>
+
+<p>"It is but a privilege," he answered, "and not at all obligatory. You
+can do as you like about sending your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> children to the public schools.
+As for myself, however, I shall never cease to uphold the necessity of
+education in order to obtain the rights that belong to our race."</p>
+
+<p>The battle thus commenced raged fiercely. Hirsch Bensef was one of the
+ablest supporters of the young Rabbi. Haim Goldheim was another; his
+wealth had procured him the friendship of several aristocratic but
+impoverished families in the neighborhood of his new home, and he never
+forgot that the blessings he now enjoyed were due to Mendel's past
+labors.</p>
+
+<p>The young men were all on Mendel's side. They chafed under the restraint
+that had been put upon them and yearned for instruction in keeping with
+the enlarged sphere of activity now opened to them.</p>
+
+<p>Thus a schism arose in Kief. The progressive Israelites siding with
+Mendel founded a congregation of their own, leaving the more
+conservative to work out their salvation in their old accustomed way. It
+must not be supposed that Mendel observed this break in the ranks of
+Judaism without a pang. He spent many a sleepless night in planning how
+to avert further differences and to appease existing animosities. Balzac
+truly says: "Every great man has paid heavily for his greatness. Genius
+waters all its work with its own tears. He who would raise himself above
+the average level of humanity, must prepare himself for long struggles,
+for trying difficulties. A great thinker is a self-devoted martyr to
+immortality."</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the anathemas of the narrow-minded, in spite of the cry that
+the Messiah could never come as long as such sacrilege was tolerated in
+the household of Israel, the good work went steadily forward, to the
+manifest advantage of the entire body of Jews.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Foulke.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+
+<h3>A DEN OF NIHILISTS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Let us open the records of Kief for the year 1879.</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen years have elapsed since the events last narrated; fifteen years
+of peace and plenty, of security and prosperity for Jew and gentile.</p>
+
+<p>What sudden change do we behold! Is this the country whose future looked
+so hopeful in the early days of Alexander's reign? Is this the people
+who saw the golden promise of a constitutional government? Alas, for the
+instability of human purpose! The reforms then instituted have been
+revoked, the men who were the leaders in these reforms have been exiled
+to Siberia. A period of reaction has set in: Despotism and Nihilism meet
+face to face. The entire nation is in chains.</p>
+
+<p>Russia during these troublous times presents a dreary picture. At a
+period when the intellectual activity of Europe is at its height, she
+still groans under the unrestricted despotism of an autocrat. Here the
+effects of progress that obtain elsewhere seem inverted. Such advance as
+is made in civilization and knowledge is used to buttress imperial
+tyranny and the knout is wielded more cruelly than ever before. We
+behold liberal institutions overthrown and a whole people held in
+bondage worse than slavery. We hear of families torn asunder, of
+innocent men condemned to life-long exile in Siberia, simply because
+they have aroused the suspicion or incurred the ill-will of those in
+authority. Force in its most brutal form holds sway throughout the
+Empire.</p>
+
+<p>What wonder then that the discontented masses writhe in their despair
+and seek redress! What wonder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> that Nihilism should flourish and the
+service of dynamite be enlisted to accomplish what moral suasion failed
+to achieve! The years beginning with 1879 were disastrous for Russia.
+They marked the decadence of those reforms which ten years before had
+given promise of such glorious results.</p>
+
+<p>In one of the most populous portions of Kief, in the shadow of the
+Petcherskoi convent, stood a large, modern house. As is the case with
+the generality of Russian dwellings, it was tenanted by a number of
+families who came and went, beat their children, ill-treated their
+servants and transacted their daily affairs, rarely becoming acquainted
+with each other.</p>
+
+<p>It was a many-storied building, of plain exterior. The lower floor was
+occupied by the worthy family of Pavel Kodasky, a clerk in the employ of
+the government. His wife filled the responsible position of <i>concierge</i>
+to the immense house. The third and fourth floors were the abode of
+families equally worthy but unimportant to our story, while the upper
+floors were inhabited by a vast number of students and officers who, in
+consideration of cheap rent and convenient proximity to the university
+and the barracks, had here furnished themselves with comfortable
+bachelors' quarters.</p>
+
+<p>The second floor still remains to be spoken of. It was occupied by a
+young officer of prepossessing appearance, who was widely known in the
+aristocratic circles of Kief. The dark-eyed Russian beauties adored him
+for his handsome bearing, his flashing eyes, his gallant and fearless
+demeanor; the gay young officers and dandies that hovered about the
+Governor's court admired him for his reckless habits, his daring
+escapades and his lavish expenditure of a fortune which seemed
+inexhaustible.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Loris Drentell, the young lieutenant of the Seventh Cossack Regiment,
+might well be thankful to Fortuna for the gifts she had lavished upon
+him. The reader will remember having met the young man before, when he
+was but a baby in his nurse's arms at the Drentell villa at Lubny. The
+promise he then gave of becoming a spoiled child was fully realized.
+Indulged by his father and neglected by his mother, his every wish
+gratified as soon as expressed, enjoying unlimited freedom in the use of
+a vast fortune, Loris developed a disposition in which indolence,
+recklessness and unprincipled ambition contended for the mastery. The
+young man was unscrupulous and vindictive and he obeyed no law save that
+of his own unbridled will. He was a type of a class of Russian
+aristocrats whose social position and wealth enable them to tyrannize
+over their associates and dependants.</p>
+
+<p>Reckless and fearless as Loris was known to be, none suspected that this
+gay and pampered youth, this officer of the Imperial troops, was the
+acknowledged head of a Nihilist club. None but a chosen few knew that
+this apparently peaceful dwelling, with its many stories and
+multitudinous inhabitants, was the meeting-place of a powerful band of
+would-be patriots, whose mission it was to inaugurate a constitutional
+government by the aid of dynamite. Here was the unsuspected centre from
+which thousands of Nihilist documents were scattered to the ends of
+Russia. Here were concealed papers which if discovered would have
+consigned many of the greatest in Russia to Siberia or the scaffold, and
+here it was that the frightful engine of destruction&mdash;Nihilism&mdash;had its
+cradle. So great was the caution observed by the members of the secret
+organization that the wary and vigilant police did not dream of its
+existence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Loris was walking impatiently up and down his parlor, now looking at the
+clock, now gazing expectantly through his window up and down the street.</p>
+
+<p>"He is late," exclaimed the young man, anxiously. "I wonder what detains
+him."</p>
+
+<p>He began nervously to roll a cigarette, without however leaving his
+watch at the window. Finally he smiled with satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"At last," he cried, as he perceived his belated friend turn a corner
+and hurry towards the house. "We shall soon have news from the
+Governor."</p>
+
+<p>There was a hasty knock at the door and a tall young fellow entered,
+carefully locking the door behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Paulowitch, I began to feel uneasy," said Loris. "What kept you
+so late?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have just arrived from Pomeroff's," whispered Paulowitch. "He had a
+very large audience and it was some time before I could gain his ear."</p>
+
+<p>"What was the result?" asked Loris, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"He will come to-night. I told him that there would be a meeting of
+officers in honor of your birthday and that we would like to have him
+with us."</p>
+
+<p>"Does he suspect anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"How should he?"</p>
+
+<p>"He will find out soon enough."</p>
+
+<p>"You are mistaken, Loris, if you think he will join us. I know Pomeroff
+too well. Although he has had much to suffer from the arbitrary rulings
+of the Czar, the recollection of former favors will not permit him to
+desert his Emperor."</p>
+
+<p>"Mere sentimentality," answered Loris. "Do you forget how the Czar, in a
+proclamation, publicly reprimanded him for allowing the Jews too many
+liberties,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> and of harboring treasonable sympathy with them? I know that
+Pomeroff has been smarting under the insult ever since. He will be glad
+to have an opportunity of avenging himself."</p>
+
+<p>Paulowitch shook his head, in doubt.</p>
+
+<p>"And if, after having learned our secrets, he should refuse to join us?"
+he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"If he does not affiliate with us, we must render him harmless. We dare
+not give him an opportunity to betray us."</p>
+
+<p>"But what is to prevent him from informing the police of our plans and
+having us all sent to Siberia?"</p>
+
+<p>"We have foreseen such a possibility. Moleska, his secretary, who has
+access to his desks and closets, and who is one of us, has full
+instructions how to act in such an emergency."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Pomeroff," murmured Paulowitch. "I am sorry for him."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!" exclaimed Loris; "we need him to insure our success. While
+his police are prying about to discover something new, we are in
+constant danger of detection and can accomplish little. If, however, he
+declines to join us, we dare run no risk. He must be removed."</p>
+
+<p>"In that event, who do you suppose will take his place?"</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot say. But the arrest and execution or exile of the Governor
+will cause such a disturbance in the affairs of the province that
+several months must elapse before order is again restored. In the
+meantime our association will flourish unimpeded. We will be able to
+scatter our pamphlets and manifestoes broadcast, and to prepare
+everything necessary for the final stroke, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> shall rid us of the
+imperial tyrant and pave the way for liberty."</p>
+
+<p>There was a peculiar knock at the door and a man, in the garb of a
+student and possessing a countenance that displayed rare intellect, was
+admitted. The new-comer was about twenty-three years of age. In fact,
+Martinski was one of the leaders of the order and most of its master
+moves were conceived by him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," asked Loris, addressing him, "have the papers been forwarded?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; both Myra Sergeitch and Paulovna Tschorgini left for St.
+Petersburg at noon. The documents were concealed in secret compartments
+of their trunks. There is no danger of detection."</p>
+
+<p>"But if they should be found in spite of all precautions?" asked
+Paulowitch.</p>
+
+<p>"Bah! Who will suspect two inoffensive-looking women? Besides, the
+messages were written in cipher which no one can read. Should the worst
+happen, however, both ladies are devoted to the cause and would rather
+die than betray us."</p>
+
+<p>"Noble hearts," said Paulowitch, reflectively. "A cause like ours makes
+heroes."</p>
+
+<p>"Come," said Loris; "it is growing late. Let us take a stroll while our
+landlady prepares the feast for to-night."</p>
+
+<p>It was a large and heterogeneous assembly that partook of the cheer of
+Loris' table that evening. There were a few army officers, some
+students, two or three political writers and half-a-dozen young
+noblemen, who, as a rule, possessed more money than brains. Supper was
+already begun, and the expected guest, Governor Pomeroff, had not yet
+made his appearance. The sus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>pense was great, for it was felt that much
+depended upon securing Pomeroff as an ally. Few doubted that he would
+join them, for he, if any one, had just cause to detest the Czar, and
+the arrangements made to prevent disclosures would not be needed.</p>
+
+<p>After a long wait, during which the conspirators conversed in an
+undertone, the door was opened and the Governor entered in company with
+Paulowitch. He appeared surprised to find himself in so large a company,
+when he had expected to meet but a few intimate friends, but he greeted
+all cordially and sat down in the place of honor accorded him.</p>
+
+<p>The conversation was comparatively uninteresting during the progress of
+the repast. There was none of that conviviality which one is accustomed
+to find at a friendly banquet; each member of the circle appeared
+constrained and nervous in the presence of his comrades and an undefined
+suspicion that he had been decoyed into a trap of some kind flashed
+through Pomeroff's brain. Drinking, rather than eating, formed the chief
+part of the entertainment and the spirits of the party rose as the
+bottles were emptied.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Loris sprang to his feet and lifting his glass proposed the
+toast:</p>
+
+<p>"To his excellency, the Governor of Kief, the champion of liberty, the
+enemy of the autocrat at St. Petersburg!"</p>
+
+<p>"Long may he live!" shouted his associates.</p>
+
+<p>Pomeroff sat in his chair as if thunderstruck. The suspicion which up to
+this moment had but faintly suggested itself had become a terrible
+certainty. As soon as he could master his excitement he arose.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," he began, endeavoring to smile, "what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> jest is this? You
+are certainly in error. Allow me to correct it. I drink to the health
+and long life of his majesty the Czar!"</p>
+
+<p>A storm of hisses greeted this toast and Pomeroff, after trying in vain
+to make himself heard above the din, sat down. His face was pale and his
+frame shook with suppressed anger.</p>
+
+<p>Quiet was finally restored and Martinski rose and addressed the meeting,
+speaking more directly to the Governor. He rehearsed the outrages
+committed upon submissive Russians by the Czar Nicholas, whose despotic
+government had finally driven the country into the disastrous Crimean
+War. He spoke in terms of praise of the noble aims and ambitions of
+Alexander during the early years of his reign, only to denounce in
+unmeasured terms the reaction which had destroyed the little good that
+had been accomplished. He depicted the cruelty and the tyranny practised
+by the Czar upon those who had incurred his displeasure, the utter lack
+of educational facilities and the consequent ignorance of the masses,
+the rigorous censorship of the press and the arbitrary rule of the men
+in power. He pictured in vivid colors the cruelties of Siberian exile
+and the sufferings of the prisoners in those distant mines, from which
+there was no escape but through the valley of death.</p>
+
+<p>"But," continued he, warming up to a genuine outburst of eloquence,
+"there is still a lower depth; a dungeon, a human slaughter-house
+rather, has recently been contrived, the horrors of which surpass
+anything hitherto conceived by man. It is the Troubetzkoi Ravelin, where
+convicts condemned upon the most trivial charges are confined for life;
+a hell for those for whom the mines of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> Siberia are not considered
+severe enough. Compared to this prison, the Bastile of France was a
+palace of luxury. Woe to him who is obliged to enter this frightful
+place: hardships, hunger, disease and insanity await him.</p>
+
+<p>"The convicts of Siberia cry to us for help. The scurvy-stricken
+prisoners of the Troubetzkoi Ravelin appeal to us to avenge their wrongs
+upon the author of their misfortunes. The French destroyed their
+Bastile. Why should we not also demolish our dungeons before we
+ourselves are called upon to fill them. O, Russia, how pitiable is your
+condition! 'Despotism has blasted the high hopes to which the splendid
+awakening of the first half of the century gave birth. The living forces
+of later generations have been buried by the Government in the Siberian
+snows or Esquimaux villages. It is worse than the plague, for that comes
+and goes, but the Government has oppressed the country for years and
+will continue to do so. The plague strikes blindly but the present
+r&eacute;gime chooses its victims from the flower of the nation, taking all
+upon whom depend the fortune and glory of Russia. It is not a political
+party that they crush, it is a nation of a hundred millions that they
+stifle. That is what the Czar has done.'<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> Down with such despotism!
+Down with its instigator, the Czar!"</p>
+
+<p>At these concluding words, the whole party arose and, holding out their
+right hands in token of allegiance to their cause, they repeated the
+cry:</p>
+
+<p>"Down with the Czar!"</p>
+
+<p>For a few moments absolute silence reigned. Then Governor Pomeroff
+struggled to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"I fear I am out of place here," he began. "You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> will do me the favor to
+remember that I came here ignorant of your purposes. Whatever cause you
+may have for complaint, you have taken the wrong means for correcting
+your grievances. Rest assured, gentlemen, that I sympathize with your
+troubles, even though I cannot agree with your method of changing the
+condition of things. I promise, moreover, to forget what I have heard
+and beg of you to excuse me from further attendance." And bowing
+politely, the Governor moved towards the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop!" cried Loris, excitedly, barring the passage and leading the
+Governor back to his seat. "Do you for a moment imagine that after
+having heard our deliberations and learned our secrets you will be
+allowed to leave here and denounce us? It is too late for you to
+retreat. You have cast your fortunes with us and must share our dangers
+and our glory."</p>
+
+<p>"You mistake," answered the Governor, proudly. "I came to a feast, not
+to a conspiracy. Your motive for bringing me here is not known to me,
+but if it is to make me a traitor to my country and my Czar you do not
+know me. A Pomeroff has never yet stooped to treason. Again I say, let
+me go!"</p>
+
+<p>"Governor, hear me," now said Martinski, in a tone of persuasion. "We
+need your assistance. Without your sympathy we are in constant fear of
+detection from your officers; with you on our side we can continue our
+noble work without fear of molestation. The work will go on, the
+glorious end will be achieved in spite of all difficulties, and our
+labors will only end when the Czar lies buried with his ancestors. Ours
+is not a society for wilful destruction of life or property. Our aims
+are just. We demand a general amnesty for political offenders and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+convocation of the people for the framing of a liberal constitution, and
+meanwhile we demand as provisional concessions freedom of the press,
+freedom of speech and freedom of public meetings. These are the only
+means by which Russia can enter upon the path of peaceful and regular
+development. We will be content with nothing less. We will turn to
+dynamite, only when all else fails. Governor Pomeroff, will you join us
+in the attainment of these rights, which every civilized nation already
+possesses?"</p>
+
+<p>"No!" thundered the Governor, his eyes flashing.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I beg to call your excellency's attention to the fact that a trip
+to Siberia or to the gallows as a condemned Nihilist awaits you."</p>
+
+<p>The Governor turned pale, but remained silent.</p>
+
+<p>"Think not that we have rushed blindly into this danger," continued
+Martinski. "It was necessary to have you on our side or out of the way.
+Therefore, we brought you here this evening. We have carefully weighed
+our chances. Having made you our confidant we dare not jeopardize our
+lives by allowing you your liberty. By to-morrow you would have us all
+in chains. We therefore offer you the alternative of joining our
+fraternity or of being denounced to-morrow as an enemy of the Czar."</p>
+
+<p>"I refuse to identify myself with a band of assassins," answered
+Pomeroff, boldly. "Throughout my life I have ever striven to be on the
+side of right and justice, have ever protected the oppressed and
+assisted those who came to me for help. I have been loyal to my Czar and
+to my country. I will not now be frightened into doing that which my
+nature loathes and against which every fibre of my body revolts. I defy
+your power and laugh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> at your threats. You leave me no alternative but
+to inform his majesty of this diabolical plot upon his life."</p>
+
+<p>"And you leave us no alternative but to render you harmless," replied
+Martinski. At these words, all arose and silently surrounded the
+Governor.</p>
+
+<p>Pomeroff had by this time forced his way to the door which he tried to
+open. It was locked. Pale with anger, he turned upon the Nihilists.</p>
+
+<p>"Cowards!" he hissed, "you would force me to join your fraternity. Then
+I give you my brotherly greeting," and, drawing his pistol, he fired
+into the group.</p>
+
+<p>Loris was wounded in the side, but the ball striking a rib glanced off.
+A dozen men threw themselves upon the Governor, who defended himself
+with the strength of despair; but superior numbers quickly gained the
+mastery, and after a short struggle Pomeroff lay helpless upon the
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>Then one of the students took a vial of chloroform from his pocket.
+Seizing a napkin he saturated it with the liquid and applied it to the
+nostrils of the prostrated man. In a few minutes the victim was
+insensible.</p>
+
+<p>"Flee for your lives!" ordered Martinski, "we have not a moment to lose.
+It is fortunate that the shot has not already brought the police down
+upon us. We must carry the Governor at once to his palace. Drentell, you
+will pass the night with me."</p>
+
+<p>Under cover of a dark and cloudy night Pomeroff was carried to his home,
+and with the assistance of his secretary, Moleska, was carefully placed
+upon the couch in his private cabinet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Stepniak.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A MODERN BRUTUS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>When Pomeroff awoke next morning, he rubbed his eyes sleepily and looked
+about him.</p>
+
+<p>"By St. Nicholas, I have had a horrible dream," he muttered. "I must
+have slept on this couch all night."</p>
+
+<p>On attempting to rise, however, he felt a soreness in every limb and the
+events of the preceding night flashed through his mind. Instantly his
+face became grave.</p>
+
+<p>"Can it be that I have not been dreaming after all; that I was really in
+the lair of the Nihilists? Bah, it must be a mistake!"</p>
+
+<p>He arose with difficulty and opened the window. It was a glorious day.
+The birds were chirping merrily in the trees that shaded the courtyard,
+but though the sun was high there were no signs of the usual activity
+below.</p>
+
+<p>"It must be early," mused the Governor; "no one is stirring. What!" he
+cried, looking at his watch, "ten o'clock! There is something wrong."</p>
+
+<p>He crossed the room and tried to open the door leading to the
+ante-chamber. It was locked. He tried a smaller door leading to the rear
+of the palace. It, too, was locked and resisted his efforts to open it.</p>
+
+<p>With a cry of anger and surprise, Pomeroff exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"This is carrying the farce to extremes. So I am a prisoner in my own
+house! Can it be that they will carry out their diabolical threats and
+have me tried as a suspect? Nonsense! I will subvert their plans and
+turn the tables on them."</p>
+
+<p>He rang the bell violently, but there was no response. As a last resort
+he hurled his whole weight against the oaken door, but it remained
+immovable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It appeared probable to him that his enemies would carry out their
+threat of accusing him, and he carefully mapped out his line of defence.
+He would prove that he had innocently walked into a trap, set for him by
+a band of conspirators, who had planned to assassinate the Czar, and
+that he had used every argument to dissuade them from their murderous
+project. He would prove that he had firmly refused to join their ranks,
+and that he had been obliged to use his pistol in his effort to escape
+from their midst.</p>
+
+<p>Prove it? How? A little reflection showed him that he had no proofs
+whatever and that he was absolutely powerless to defend himself against
+any charges that they might bring. Wearied with his vain exertions and
+furious at his helplessness, he threw himself upon the sofa. As he
+became calmer he began to reflect upon his situation.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the hours passed without affording relief. About noon Pomeroff
+heard the key turn in the lock and an instant later the apartment was
+filled with officers of the <i>gendarmerie</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The Chief of Police, Polatschek, was the first to break the silence.</p>
+
+<p>"I regret, your excellency," he said, sadly, "that I am obliged to take
+this step against one who has been my friend and benefactor, but the
+Czar's orders are imperative. You will consider yourself my prisoner."</p>
+
+<p>"Of what am I accused?" asked the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"You are accused of associating with Nihilists and of being at the
+present time involved in a plot to take the Czar's life."</p>
+
+<p>"It is false," cried Pomeroff.</p>
+
+<p>"We will hear your defence in due time," answered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> Polatschek. "In the
+meantime it becomes my unpleasant duty to search your desk and closets
+for Nihilistic papers, which the deposition accuses you of having in
+your possession."</p>
+
+<p>Pomeroff smiled bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>"Search, gentlemen. The absence of such documents will, I hope, convince
+you that I am innocent of this outrageous charge."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to see you vindicated," said
+the Chief, politely, as he gave orders to ransack the drawers and
+receptacles of the Governor's writing-desk.</p>
+
+<p>Alas, poor Pomeroff! Almost the first roll of papers examined proved of
+a most damaging nature, being the rules of an association of Nihilists
+in St. Petersburg. A further search revealed plans of a dynamite mine to
+be laid beneath the imperial palace at the capital.</p>
+
+<p>In vain were all the Governor's denials. Never was proof of guilt more
+complete and convincing, and Polatschek, who was almost as much unnerved
+by the discovery as the prisoner, reluctantly gave orders to seize and
+secure the unfortunate man, and Pomeroff was hurried away to the house
+of detention, to await his trial.</p>
+
+<p>Since the beginning of the so-called terrorist period, and the first
+attack upon the life of the Czar, a short time before the occurrence of
+the above events, the trial of political offenders had been taken from
+the civil tribunals and transferred to the military. Even counsel for
+the prisoner must be an army officer. The court to try Governor Pomeroff
+was hastily convened next morning. Instructions concerning the judgment
+to be rendered were telegraphed from St. Petersburg and the military
+judges had but to obey their imperial mandate.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> Under such conditions
+the trial was a mere form. The evidence against the prisoner was
+positive. Within an hour Pomeroff, who had no opportunity of saying a
+word in his defence, was sentenced to death.</p>
+
+<p>"The secret 'council of ten' that once terrorized Venice, and which,
+without process of law, condemned men to punishment upon secret charges,
+preferred by unknown accusers, often where no crime had been committed,
+has long been regarded as the most odious form of injustice. Yet the
+Russian system of to-day is quite as repugnant to every idea of justice.
+Men who have never been tried, nor perhaps even accused, but who are
+simply suspected by the police, are often without the slightest
+investigation hurried into exile or death."<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the following morning, Governor Pomeroff, the just and merciful, the
+friend and protector of the Jews, was secretly executed in the fortress
+of Kief.</p>
+
+<p>Excitement was at fever heat. The Governor was beloved by all. Never had
+the province been so well governed as during his administration.</p>
+
+<p>Among the Jews whom Pomeroff had especially befriended the grief was
+deep and sincere. Rabbi Mendel Winenki, in an address to his
+congregation, fearlessly denounced a system by which an innocent man
+could be put to death. In the synagogues the <i>kaddish</i> (prayer for the
+dead) was recited as for a beloved parent. In consequence of these
+demonstrations the authorities warned the Jews that any further
+expressions of disapproval of the Government's course would be severely
+punished.</p>
+
+<p>Well might the Jews mourn their friend and protec<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>tor. With his death
+their bright hopes and dreams, their prospects of emancipation, were
+rudely dispelled.</p>
+
+<p>Within a week of Pomeroff's execution Count Dimitri Drentell, our old
+acquaintance whom we left at Lubny and whom the Crimean War had made a
+General, arrived in Kief as its future Governor.</p>
+
+<p>While the majority of the inhabitants of the province were indifferent
+as to which creature of the imperial autocrat oppressed them, there were
+two classes who viewed the change with great misgivings: the Jews and
+the band of agitators to which Loris Drentell, the new Governor's son,
+belonged. The Jews had learned from their co-religionists in Poltava of
+the implacable hatred Dimitri bore their race. They had for fifteen
+years basked in the sunshine of Pomeroff's favor, but now trembled at
+the dismal prospect before them.</p>
+
+<p>The Nihilists had equal cause for fear. Their safety required a Governor
+who could be controlled or hoodwinked by them. But they well knew that
+this man was unapproachable, that neither bribes nor threats would avail
+to win him over. Besides, Loris felt that by remaining the leader of the
+Nihilist Club he would come in conflict with his father. The elder
+Drentell was not merely the civil Governor of Kief&mdash;he was also one of
+the Generals appointed by the Czar with unlimited power to punish the
+guilty; with the right to exile all persons whose stay he might consider
+prejudicial to public welfare; to imprison at discretion; to suppress or
+suspend any journal, and to take all measures that he might deem
+necessary for public safety. With a man of such vast powers, it was
+dangerous for even a beloved son to trifle. For the time being,
+therefore, the Nihilists were doomed to inactivity.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>General Drentell began his administration with a careful examination of
+the evidence which had caused the condemnation of his predecessor. He
+had a strong conviction that Pomeroff was innocent, but if guilty he
+felt it his duty to ferret out the conspiracy and discover Pomeroff's
+accomplices. He owed it to his own safety to purge the palace of such as
+might be there.</p>
+
+<p>With the skill of a trained detective, and with the utmost secrecy, he
+began the work. His first investigations were made in the palace which
+he was henceforth to occupy. Drentell soon discovered that Moleska,
+Pomeroff's secretary, had duplicate keys to the desk and closets in the
+private cabinet. If Pomeroff was innocent, this would explain the
+presence of the incriminating papers in the Governor's desk. Acting
+entirely upon this suspicion, he ordered the arrest of Moleska, who,
+overcome by terror, confessed the entire plot.</p>
+
+<p>On the following day, Loris was hastily summoned into the Governor's
+presence. He found his father striding up and down the apartment, a prey
+to the most violent agitation.</p>
+
+<p>"You have sent for me, father?" said the young man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; sit down," answered Drentell, curtly. "Have you ever read the
+history of Rome?"</p>
+
+<p>Loris opened his eyes wide at the unexpected question.</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you ask?"</p>
+
+<p>"Answer my question. Have you ever read the history of Rome?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you remember the story of Brutus, whose son was engaged in a
+conspiracy against the republic?"</p>
+
+<p>Loris became very pale and stammered an indistinct reply.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You do; I see it in your face! Tell me how did Brutus act towards his
+son?"</p>
+
+<p>"He condemned him to death," faltered Loris.</p>
+
+<p>"Right! He condemned him to death. The malefactor paid the penalty with
+his life."</p>
+
+<p>The General arose and again paced up and down the room, in a vain
+attempt to control his agitation.</p>
+
+<p>"What have these questions to do with me?" asked Loris, nervously.</p>
+
+<p>"Simply this," answered the Governor, coming to a sudden stop before his
+son, while his eyes flashed and big blue veins stood out upon his
+forehead: "I have proofs that my predecessor died an innocent man. I
+have also the names of those Nihilists who should have suffered in his
+stead. Shall I tell you whose name is at the head? My duty is clear. I
+should follow the example of Brutus and deliver my son into the hands of
+the law."</p>
+
+<p>Loris, a thorough coward at heart, sank into a chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Father," he stammered; "you would not condemn me to death; me, your
+only child?"</p>
+
+<p>"Coward!" cried the General, looking scornfully at his son, whom terror
+had robbed of strength to stand. "You have the courage to plan
+cold-blooded murder, but when the time comes to face your own death you
+show yourself a miserable poltroon. Fear nothing: you shall not die. I
+have passed a sleepless night, struggling between duty and parental
+affection. But were it known in St. Petersburg that I had shown you
+mercy, I would answer for it with my life."</p>
+
+<p>"Father!" exclaimed the young man, remorsefully, hiding his face in his
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't interrupt me," said the General, savagely. "I have already
+requested the immediate removal of your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> regiment to the frontier. The
+Turks are aggressive, and our forces in that neighborhood should be
+increased. By to-morrow you will receive your order to march. It is
+absolutely necessary that you should leave Kief. Of your misguided
+companions, Moleska, who revealed the conspiracy, is already in the
+fortress, and the others will soon follow. For your own safety, you must
+leave Kief before the arrests are made, or I will not answer for the
+consequences."</p>
+
+<p>"But, father, you will be lenient towards them," cried the young man.
+"You will not condemn them to death. Remember that whatever may have
+been their guilt, had it not been for the death of Pomeroff, you would
+not now be Governor of Kief."</p>
+
+<p>"For shame, Loris!" cried the General, red with anger. "Are you so lost
+to all sense of honor that you must remind me that I stepped into office
+over the corpse of my predecessor and my friend, murdered by my own son?
+Do not provoke me too far! Your associates have been guilty of the most
+grievous of crimes. They must die. Besides, were they to live they would
+denounce you as their leader and even I could not save your life. Go!
+Arrange your affairs, avoid further intercourse with your companions. By
+this time to-morrow you must be on the way to the frontier while they
+will mount the scaffold."</p>
+
+<p>Loris shuddered and for the first time a sentiment of humanity moved
+within him.</p>
+
+<p>"I will not go," he said, resolutely. "I have lived and plotted with
+them and I shall die with them."</p>
+
+<p>"No, Loris, no," replied his father, softened. "You must depart. There
+is no other course. A Drentell must not die a traitor's death. It would
+break my heart<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> and kill your mother, who dotes upon you. It will be
+better not to see her before your departure. Questionings and
+explanations are dangerous. After all this is forgotten, you may return
+and work out the career I had hoped for you."</p>
+
+<p>Loris, sorrowful and conscience-stricken, kissed his father's hand and
+slowly left the room.</p>
+
+<p>On the morrow, the Seventh Cossack Regiment received orders from St.
+Petersburg to proceed to Kothim without delay, and long before nightfall
+it was on the march. Next morning twelve conspirators were arrested at
+their homes and dragged before the tribunal of judicial inquiry. Their
+trial, like that of Pomeroff, was a mockery, for their fate had already
+been decided. Defence was useless. The incriminating papers found in the
+places designated by the informer Moleska sealed their doom. Governor
+Drentell himself pronounced their sentence. Two days afterward they were
+secretly executed.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Foulke.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>LOUISE'S PRACTICAL ADVICE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Tyranny, which for a brief period had slept, was now wide-awake and
+aggressively active. Throughout the entire Empire despotism stalked
+unimpeded. The recent attempt upon the Czar's life had increased the
+vigilance of the police, and the most frightful atrocities were
+committed in the holy name of Justice. The blood curdles with horror
+when reading of the indignities and the injustice visited upon the
+people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"When the police deem it best," says one writer,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> in portraying the
+condition of that period, "they steal noiselessly through the streets
+and alleys, surround a private dwelling in the dead of the night, and
+under some false pretence, invade every room in the house, waking the
+sleeping occupants. Each member of the household is given in charge of a
+policeman, everything is turned topsy-turvy, books, papers, private
+letters are carefully inspected&mdash;nothing is secret. It is not necessary
+that the police should have any evidence for these searches. An
+anonymous charge, a mere suspicion is enough. Houses have sometimes been
+inspected seven times in a single day. If anything is discovered to
+excite the suspicions of the police an arrest follows and the supposed
+culprit is sent to the house of Preventive Detention. There he awaits
+his trial for weeks and months and sometimes for years. He is brought
+out occasionally for examination. If he confesses nothing he is sent
+back to reflect. Sometimes the wrong man is arrested and confined a year
+or two before the mistake is discovered."</p>
+
+<p>The solitary confinement to which prisoners were doomed in this house of
+detention was often fatal. The hardships to which they were subjected
+frequently led to consumption, insanity or suicide. The examination of
+prisoners and witnesses was dragged out to an interminable length. In
+one celebrated case it lasted four years and over seven hundred
+witnesses were kept in jail during that time. The prosecutor admitted
+that only twenty persons deserved punishment, yet there were
+seventy-three who died from suicide or the effects of confinement.</p>
+
+<p>Louder and louder grew the clamor of the masses and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> the threats against
+the imperial autocrat. Wholesale arrests could not quell the popular
+voice. A prisoner wrote from his living tomb in the Troubetzkoi Ravelin:
+"Fight on till the victory is won! The more they torment me in prison,
+the better it is for the struggle!"</p>
+
+<p>Governor Drentell entered upon his new duties at a trying time. His
+existence was embittered by political strife and tumult, and by
+complications with which he found it difficult to cope.</p>
+
+<p>Let us seek him in his palace, by the side of his wife, Louise.</p>
+
+<p>When we first met Louise, she was young and frivolous; now she is old
+and frivolous. The years have dealt gently with her, however, for she is
+still quite handsome and as vivacious, as capricious, as kind-hearted
+and as religious as when we last parted from her, twenty-seven years
+ago.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Dimitri," she said, dolefully, after her husband had recounted the
+events of the day. "Eighteen persons exiled to Siberia and two sentenced
+to death. How hard you toil! You will kill yourself with overwork!"</p>
+
+<p>The General sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"I should think," continued Louise, "that Loris could be of service to
+you in these difficult affairs of State. Why don't you recall our boy?"</p>
+
+<p>The General's brow clouded.</p>
+
+<p>"He must remain at his post for the present," he answered. "After he has
+achieved military glory, it will be time enough to initiate him in civil
+affairs."</p>
+
+<p>"But you need an adviser, an assistant who can take some of your work
+off your hands."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right! But who shall it be? There are so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> many Nihilists about,
+that I cannot be too careful whom I take into my confidence."</p>
+
+<p>Louise rocked herself awhile in silence. Suddenly she said, impetuously:</p>
+
+<p>"I wish we were back in St. Petersburg, or even at Lubny. Do you know,
+Dimitri, our days at Lubny were pleasant, after all?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps," answered Drentell, sarcastically, "that accounts for your
+incessant desire to leave the place."</p>
+
+<p>"I never know when I am happy," said Louise, truthfully.</p>
+
+<p>For some minutes she again rocked herself vigorously. It was her way of
+stimulating her mental faculties. Suddenly she cried:</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, if you had only brought Mikail along. He might assist you."</p>
+
+<p>"You appear too fond of Mikail's society," answered the Governor,
+sharply; "and that is just why I left him in St. Petersburg."</p>
+
+<p>"Fool," replied Louise, half in jest, half in earnest. "Why, he is only
+my father confessor. You surely would not be jealous of a priest?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, even of a priest, especially when he is as handsome and
+fascinating as our Mikail."</p>
+
+<p>Louise broke into a merry laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Then that is why you were so solicitous about placing him with the
+Minister of War in St. Petersburg. You were afraid to bring him along on
+my account?"</p>
+
+<p>"Candidly, yes. In spite of his priestly robes, I fancied he was too
+fond of your society and you of his, and I deemed it best for my peace
+of mind to leave him at the capital while we came here."</p>
+
+<p>For a time Louise's mirth appeared uncontrollable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why, you goose!" she said, after her laughter had subsided. "Mikail has
+never approached me but with the greatest respect. He knows that I have
+been his benefactress, and I am sure that, while he thinks me awfully
+ignorant, he respects me as he would an aged relative."</p>
+
+<p>"And what are your feelings towards him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know what he was in the past; and, while I have unbounded admiration
+for his wisdom, I can never forget how he first came into our house."</p>
+
+<p>"Then there is no danger of your falling in love with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"None, whatever. I am old enough to be his mother."</p>
+
+<p>"But his beauty&mdash;his charms?"</p>
+
+<p>"They do not compare with those of my dear husband," replied Louise, as
+she twined her arms about Dimitri's neck, with all the coquetry of
+twenty-seven years ago.</p>
+
+<p>There was no reason to doubt Louise's sincerity, and the General felt a
+little ashamed of his unfounded suspicions.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you heard from the Minister since our departure from St.
+Petersburg?" asked Louise.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; he has written several times. He cannot sufficiently praise the
+keen intellect of our young priest."</p>
+
+<p>"He is the very man you want. Have him come to Kief at once. You need an
+assistant and Mikail is bound to you by ties of gratitude and
+affection."</p>
+
+<p>The General looked sharply at his wife. He still felt doubtful as to her
+feeling for Mikail. But Louise rocked away, unconscious of her husband's
+penetrating glance.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it will be best to have him come," he re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>flected. "Yes, it must
+be so. After having had him educated, after having given him the
+opportunity of becoming what he now is, it would be folly not to employ
+him to my own advantage. I shall write for him to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall see," he said, at length.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Foulke.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>A DANIEL COME TO JUDGMENT.</h3>
+
+
+<p>A week later Mikail arrived in Kief. He appeared to be about thirty
+years of age, was tall of stature, well built and sturdy. His complexion
+was dark, his features oriental, his face oval, framed by a coal black
+flowing beard, which gave him an appearance at once imposing and
+attractive. His large black eyes shone with the lustre of intelligence.
+A deep and melancholy calm seemed fixed in their commanding gaze. His
+quiet countenance and stately form, his black clerical garments, his
+sedate step and thoughtful mien added to the impressive effect of his
+appearance. His beauty, however, was marred by two serious defects. The
+lower half of his right ear had been torn away and his left arm was
+stiff at the elbow and almost useless.</p>
+
+<p>We find him in earnest conversation with Governor Drentell and a few of
+the counsellors of his court.</p>
+
+<p>"It is to be deplored," said the Governor, "that there seem to be no
+efficient means of quelling the popular discontent. Arrest and exile do
+not have the desired effect. Our prisons are filled to overflowing and
+there is scarcely a day that does not send its quota of criminals<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> to
+Siberia. Here, in the southern part of Russia, the state of affairs is
+particularly threatening. It is becoming alarming."</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency," remarked Mikail, in a deep, musical voice, "the
+object of exile is, or ought to be, corrective rather than vindictive.
+But, in my opinion, it exasperates the community and increases the
+discontent."</p>
+
+<p>"But," objected one of the counsellors, "to allow discontented persons
+to remain unmolested will make them dangerous to the State."</p>
+
+<p>"Undoubtedly," replied Mikail, "unless we remove the cause of their
+discontent."</p>
+
+<p>"Remove the cause?" interrupted Drentell, surprised. "To remove the
+cause would mean to grant them liberty of action, to grant them a
+constitutional government, to acquiesce in the thousand reforms they
+demand."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us not disguise from ourselves the fact that the people are
+entitled to all they ask," said Mikail, quietly; "that the inhabitants
+of other countries enjoy these rights and more, too, and that they only
+ask for what is the prerogative of every human being&mdash;liberty and
+happiness. But," continued he, emphasizing the little word; "while other
+nations may prosper under such a rule, Russia would not. Her people are
+not ready to enjoy the rights they demand. They would look into the full
+glare of the mid-day sun before having accustomed their eyes to
+candle-light. When I spoke of removing the cause, I did not mean to
+abolish the cause of their discontent, but to obviate the necessity of
+sending people into exile."</p>
+
+<p>The assembly, which had at first been appalled by the priest's
+unpatriotic sentiments, now breathed more freely.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"How would you accomplish your purpose?" asked the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"By directing the attention of the masses to something which will for
+the time divert their minds from their present projects."</p>
+
+<p>"It has been tried," replied the Governor. "We have begun quarrels with
+all the countries surrounding us without accomplishing our object."</p>
+
+<p>"Naturally enough. A war with Turkey or with Bulgaria is of very little
+interest to those living far from the scene of conflict. Beyond taking a
+few soldiers out of the country such quarrels are productive of no good.
+There must be some strong excitement in which every one can take a part
+and feel a personal interest, and then Nihilism will decline."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you propose?" asked the Governor, whose curiosity was now
+thoroughly aroused.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing new," answered the priest, deliberately. "I have already had
+the honor of suggesting it to his excellency, the Minister of War, who
+graciously commended it. <i>We must attack the Jews</i>. They have enjoyed
+immunity long enough. For over twenty years they have lived in security,
+feeding upon the fat of the land, engaging in trades that are unlawful
+and amassing wealth which rightfully belongs to the faithful of the Holy
+Catholic Church." And Mikail crossed himself devoutly.</p>
+
+<p>The Governor and his counsellors looked at each other, significantly.</p>
+
+<p>The priest continued: "The Jews have entered every branch of trade and,
+worse still, have acquired lands. This is clearly against the laws of
+the Empire which forbid a Hebrew's owning land. They have crowded into
+our cities to the exclusion of our own people. Kief now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> contains over
+twenty thousand Jews, whereas I am confident that the ancient laws limit
+the population to less than one-half that number. They have
+systematically robbed and plundered the gentiles and by their wiles
+defrauded the poorer classes. They control the trade in intoxicants and
+the vast quantities drunk by the <i>moujiks</i> pass through the hands of the
+Jews. Their wives are arrayed in satins and laces and wear the most
+elaborate jewelry, while our lower classes suffer poverty and misery. Is
+it right, gentlemen, that the Jews should have such advantages over the
+faithful? Something must be done to check their dangerous progress."</p>
+
+<p>"Your reverence evidently bears the race no great love," suggested one
+of the counsellors.</p>
+
+<p>"I have cause to hate them," answered Mikail, with darkening brow and
+heaving bosom.</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, Mikail," answered the Governor, eagerly; "they are a
+despicable, blood-thirsty race."</p>
+
+<p>"But how will a crusade against the Hebrews relieve the troubled
+condition of Russia?" inquired another of the gentlemen.</p>
+
+<p>"It will divert the attention of the masses from their present sinister
+projects. Once let them taste the blood of the Jews, give pillage and
+carnage unrestrained license, and they will forget their chimerical
+schemes, and, paradoxical as it may seem, domestic order will be
+re-established."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right," said Drentell, rising. "It is eminently proper that the
+Government should give its attention to the Jews and their relations
+with the rest of Russia's inhabitants. I do not believe, however, that
+this agitation can be brought about in a month or even in a year.
+Unfortunately, too many of our peasants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> live upon terms of friendship
+with them, absolutely blind to the fact that they are being preyed upon.
+We must open the eyes of these poor victims. We must point out to them
+that the Jew saves money and amasses wealth, while they toil in penury;
+that Jews fill our schools and colleges, while our people remain
+ignorant; that the Jew, base, deceitful, and avaricious, fattens on
+their misery."</p>
+
+<p>"The <i>moujiks</i> once aroused," resumed the priest, "and the race struggle
+begun, the Czar may sleep in peace."</p>
+
+<p>"Will his majesty approve our plans?" inquired one of the counsellors.</p>
+
+<p>"There will be no interference from St. Petersburg," answered the
+priest. "I have already prepared the Minister of War for such a course
+and he is thoroughly in accord with us. We have but to notify him of our
+intentions, and he will order a similar movement in all parts of the
+Empire simultaneously."</p>
+
+<p>This course being decided on, the Council broke up, the Jews little
+dreaming of the sword that hung suspended over their heads.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2>
+
+<h3>MIKAIL THE PRIEST.</h3>
+
+
+<p>In Russia, the ecclesiastical administration is entirely in the hands of
+the monks belonging to the "Black Clergy," in contradistinction to the
+village priests, called "White Clergy." A black priest must be brought
+up in one of the five hundred rigorous monastic establishments of the
+Empire. The order is under the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> supervision of bishops, of whom there
+are a great number. The black priest looks upon the parish priest as a
+sort of ecclesiastical half-caste, who should obey blindly, sharing all
+the onerous duties but none of the honors of the calling.</p>
+
+<p>The history of monastic life in Russia does not differ materially from
+that in Western Europe. The early monks were mostly ascetics, living in
+colonies in a simple and primitive manner, subsisting on alms and
+charity. Their only aims in life were the glorification of God and to
+live as Christ commanded, in poverty, humility and self-denial. With the
+flight of time, this comfortless existence gave way to more luxurious
+customs. Money, lands and serfs were given to these simple monasteries,
+which gradually grew into a mighty power in the land, engaging in
+commerce, exercising jurisdiction over large domains, and moulding the
+religious sentiment of the Church and State. During this century,
+however, they grew less powerful. Secularization of church lands and the
+liberation of the serfs reduced many of them to poverty.</p>
+
+<p>The monks, nevertheless, hold a position in the church vastly superior
+to that of the village priest, or <i>batushka</i>, as he is called. These
+<i>batushkas</i> belong to a hereditary caste, the members of which have been
+priests for generations. They are subject to the rulings of the district
+bishop; their livings, their distinctive names, even their wives&mdash;for
+they are allowed to marry&mdash;are provided for them by their religious
+superior. Their condition is not enviable. They are for the most part
+poor and ignorant, with no higher ambition than to perform the rites and
+ceremonies prescribed by their church. The parishioners are satisfied
+with very little, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> <i>batushkas</i> have but little to give. They
+preach but rarely, and only after having submitted the sermon to the
+provincial <i>consistorium</i>. The moral influence they exercise over the
+people is necessarily small.</p>
+
+<p>It was to the "Black Clergy" that Mikail belonged. As far back as he
+could remember, his home had been in a monastery and his daily
+associates austere monks. He was taught that the Catholic faith is the
+only path to salvation. In so far, his education was similar to that of
+his brother priests, but while the Jew Jesus inculcated love of all men,
+Mikail was taught to hate the Jews. No occasion was permitted to pass,
+no opportunity neglected to instil the subtle poison into his young
+mind. The monks would point to his torn ear and palsied arm, and so
+vividly portray the tortures he had suffered, that Mikail clenched his
+little fists, his face became flushed and his bosom heaved at the
+recital of his wrongs. They took delight in repeating the tale, that
+they might witness his childish outbursts of passion and fury. This
+treatment had its desired effect; the boy developed into a rabid
+Jew-hater.</p>
+
+<p>As a child, Mikail was but a servant in the monastery, ill-treated and
+ill-fed. The only joyful episodes of this period of his existence were
+the occasional visits to the Count and Countess Drentell, at Lubny, to
+whom he believed himself distantly related. They received him with every
+appearance of cordiality, made inquiries about his progress, allowed him
+to revel in the companionship of Loris for a day or two, and finally
+sent him back to his dreary prison.</p>
+
+<p>As he grew up, his treatment at the hands of the Poltava monks improved.
+The Superior, Alexei, discovered a keen intellect in this reserved and
+sullen lad.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> It was astonishing with what avidity he read the limited
+number of books which the convent bookcase contained. His desire for
+learning appeared insatiable, and the few kopecks which he earned in
+showing strangers through the chapel and running errands for the monks,
+were invariably spent at the book shops for some bit of precious
+literature. By the time he was eighteen he had mastered all the learning
+that Alexei could impart, and the superior was by no means an illiterate
+or ignorant man. Mikail read Latin and German fluently, developed a
+talent for theology, and his shrewd arguments won the admiration of his
+fellow-priests.</p>
+
+<p>"He has a brilliant mind," said Alexei to himself one day. "Who knows,
+he may yet become a bishop."</p>
+
+<p>The Russian Catholic Church occupies a unique position as compared with
+the churches of Southern and Western Europe. She is now, as she was
+centuries ago, apparently oblivious of the world's advancement and
+impenetrable to new ideas. Her ancient traditions are still cherished.
+The theological discussions and quarrels, the reformations and schisms,
+which at various times shook the Roman Catholic Church to its centre,
+had no terrors for the church of Russia. Intellectual advancement,
+scientific research, inventive progress left her untouched and
+uninfluenced. Her theology remained precisely as it was in the days of
+Constantine and, like the self-sufficient snail, she withdrew into her
+shell, her convents, and allowed the world to wag as it saw fit.</p>
+
+<p>This apathy is easily explained. The Czar, the autocratic temporal
+ruler, is also the spiritual head of the church. Hence, she has had all
+her thinking done for her and has remained stationary. This trait has
+had its influence over the intellectual character of her priests,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> who
+are for the most part indolent and ignorant, content to believe whatever
+their religion requires, without question or debate. Theological
+discussions, such as we find in Protestant countries, are hardly known
+in Russia.</p>
+
+<p>To the monks of his convent, Mikail formed a noteworthy contrast. His
+mind, remarkably active for one so young, refused to accept the
+intricate mass of dogmas without endeavoring to analyze them and trace
+them back to their original sources. For years he had accepted the
+stories of miracles and revelations unquestioningly, but after he had
+begun a course of independent reading and reflection he discovered
+discrepancies and contradictions, which sowed the seed of grave doubts
+in his restive brain.</p>
+
+<p>He confided his doubts to Alexei, his superior. This worthy gave the
+matter very little consideration; he shrugged his shoulders, stroked his
+beard, now a venerable white, and answered:</p>
+
+<p>"I, too, had my doubts at your age, but I got bravely over them. The
+miracles of which the Bible speaks are undoubtedly true, for the people
+living in those times beheld them. That such things do not occur
+nowadays is no proof that they could not have happened then. Our duty is
+to believe what our ancient writings tell us, to see that the lamps are
+kept burning before the icons, and that our ceremonials are observed to
+the letter. A priest has no right to question what is sanctioned by
+tradition and belief."</p>
+
+<p>For a time, Mikail was content to accept this explanation and to keep
+his peace. But doubt was not so easily quieted. Ever and again he would
+seek the solitude of his cell and ponder over the grave and perplexing
+questions that disturbed him. He found no solution. He had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> been
+educated in an atmosphere of bigotry and superstition, had been brought
+up rigorously in the belief that God himself had descended from Heaven
+and adopted the form of man; had been daily taught that blind faith,
+independent of deed, would lead to salvation. These dogmas now appeared
+at variance with his conception of truth. Harassed by doubts, tormented
+by superstitious fears for the safety of his soul, Mikail led a wretched
+existence.</p>
+
+<p>Gradually, the monotonous, inactive life of the monastery began to pall
+upon him. He soon found, too, that many of his brethren believed as
+little as he did; that others were too indolent to reflect and believed
+as a matter of course. The thousand ceremonials, the carelessly recited
+prayers, the perfunctory invocations, the prescribed signs, crosses and
+genuflections before the rudely painted icons, appeared to him as hollow
+mockeries, and soon the place seemed redolent with deceit.</p>
+
+<p>It was a severe struggle for the young man, and the Superior, who
+observed the storm which was surging within the doubter's breast, did
+not hesitate to attribute it to the wiles of Satan.</p>
+
+<p>"Cast yourself at the feet of the Saviour, O thou of little faith!"
+exhorted Alexei. "He will help thee drive out the evil spirit! Fast,
+pray, torture thy body if necessary, but cleanse thy soul of its doubts,
+purge thy heart of the unholy thoughts which the Devil has planted
+there."</p>
+
+<p>Mikail fasted and prayed and scourged himself until his flesh was a mass
+of sores. In vain the torture! The doubts would not be driven out, Satan
+would not be exorcised.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At the age of twenty-three, Mikail could endure it no longer.</p>
+
+<p>"I must go out into the world, father," he said one day to Alexei. "The
+convent is too small, too limited for me. I must work and toil with and
+for humanity. Let me go into the parish for a short time. The Bishop,
+who thinks well of me, may be able to procure me the position of
+<i>blagotchinny</i>.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> I will have an opportunity of learning the world, of
+succoring the needy, of aiding the sick. Perhaps a life of activity will
+dispel the shadows which have darkened my soul."</p>
+
+<p>Alexei was quite willing to grant this request. He was anxious, in fact,
+to send Mikail from the cloister, for his doubts, which he took no pains
+to conceal, were beginning to affect the torpid intellects of the monks.
+A short conference was held with the Bishop, and Mikail obtained the
+coveted position.</p>
+
+<p>A new life of work and constant activity now opened for the young
+priest, but he still found what he had sought to escape, hypocrisy and
+deceit.</p>
+
+<p>The village priests with whom he came in daily contact were a pitiable
+set. He found among them many honest, respectable, well-meaning men,
+conscientiously fulfilling their humble tasks, striving hard to serve
+the religious needs of the community. There were, on the other hand,
+however, fanatics and rogues, men representing the worse elements of
+society. The people shunned the clergy, and held them up to ridicule.
+They formed a class apart, not in sympathy with the parishioners. They
+committed serious transgressions, were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> irreligious and transformed the
+service of God into a profitable trade.</p>
+
+<p>Could the people respect the clergy when they learned that one priest
+stole money from under the pillow of a dying man at the moment he was
+administering the sacrament, that another was publicly dragged out of a
+house of ill-fame, that a third christened a dog, that a fourth while
+officiating at the Easter service was dragged by the hair from the altar
+by the deacon? Was it possible for the people to venerate priests who
+spent their time in gin shops, wrote fraudulent petitions, fought with
+crosses as weapons and abused each other at the altar? Was it possible
+for them to have an exalted opinion of a God-inspired religion, when
+they saw everywhere about them simony, carelessness in performing
+religious rites, and disorder in administering the sacrament?<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p>
+
+<p>Mikail's heart turned sick. Nowhere could he find that truth which he
+sought. Even the better educated priests appeared to have given their
+creed no thought, no reflection.</p>
+
+<p>Still the young priest did valuable service in the field assigned to
+him. Through his indomitable will be corrected many of the abuses which
+existed in his district, and raised the parish clergy to a higher
+standard of efficiency and morality.</p>
+
+<p>So the years passed. The friendship between Mikail and General Drentell
+grew stronger as the nobleman learned to value the brilliant intellect
+of his <i>prot&eacute;g&eacute;</i>. His occasional visits to Lubny continued, and the
+General usually profited by the clear, good sense of the young man, who
+displayed as thorough a knowledge of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> agriculture as he did of theology.
+Mikail and Loris, on the other hand, could never agree. The priest had
+no patience with the hare-brained, pampered young aristocrat, and
+occasional differences were the result. For the sake of the General's
+friendship, however, as well as for the preservation of his own dignity,
+Mikail restrained his feelings. At the age of twenty, Loris entered the
+army, and for a while the growing animosity of the two was happily
+checked.</p>
+
+<p>The Bishop, greatly admiring his assistant's ability, offered him an
+important position in his consistorium. This Mikail firmly refused. He
+assigned as his reason that he found congenial work among the
+parishioners; but in reality the priest felt in his heart that his
+veneration for the Catholic creed was growing daily less, and that
+vexing doubts and difficulties had gradually crowded out the faith he
+had once possessed. It was at this time that General Drentell's
+influence obtained for him a desirable position with General Melikoff,
+the Minister of War. The priest gladly accepted the honor, happy to
+escape from the continual hypocrisy of his clerical duties.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> A <i>blagotchinny</i> is a parish priest who is in direct
+relations with the consistorium of the province, and who is supposed to
+exercise a strict supervision over all the parish priests of his
+district.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Mr. Melnikof, in a secret report to Grand Duke
+Constantine. Wallace's "Russia," p. 58.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>A DAUGHTER OF ISRAEL.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Rabbi Mendel Winenki sat in his study, reading. Before him and within
+easy reach stood a massive table covered with books and papers. There
+were strewn upon it in motley confusion ancient folios and modern
+volumes. It was a comprehensive library which the Rabbi had col<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>lected.
+There were works on comparative theology, on medicine, on jurisprudence
+and philosophy. The <i>Shulkan-aruch</i> and a treatise on Buddhistic
+Occultism stood side by side. The Talmud and Kant's "Kritik der reinen
+Vernunft" were placed upon the same shelf, and Josephus and Renan's
+"Life of Jesus" were near neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>Time was when the Jew who would have exposed a single work printed in
+any characters but the ancient Hebrew letters would have been ostracized
+by his co-religionists. The Rabbi remembered with a smile how carefully
+he had concealed the precious volumes which Pesach Harretzki had given
+him, how furtively he had carried them into his bed that he might read
+them undetected.</p>
+
+<p>How different now was the condition of things! True, the greater portion
+of the Jews of Kief still held tenaciously to their prejudices,
+absolutely refusing to learn anything not taught at the <i>cheder</i>. In the
+eyes of these people Mendel was a renegade and a heretic. The only thing
+which prevented them from hurling the ban of excommunication against him
+was their recollection of the good he had accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel's greatest achievement was the introduction of secular education.
+Many years elapsed before his ideas took root, but with the spread of
+better instruction in the public schools, which were now open to Jewish
+youth, there came a desire for greater knowledge and the difficult
+problem worked out its own solution. At the time of which we speak many
+Jewish lads were pupils of the gymnasium and quite a number of them
+students at the University of Kief.</p>
+
+<p>Seated by the side of the Rabbi, and sewing, sat his wife and his
+daughter, Kathinka, now a girl of eighteen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> Many changes had occurred
+in the interval since we last saw our friends. Mendel was now a man of
+about forty-five and in the full vigor of contented manhood. A wealth of
+coal-black hair shaded his massive forehead and a long but neatly
+trimmed beard set off his handsome face. Recha had become stouter and
+more matronly, but one would scarcely take her for the mother of the
+blooming girl by her side.</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka was a perfect specimen of Hebrew beauty. She had inherited the
+commanding form of her father and the regular features of her mother. To
+this perfection of body she united a sweetness of disposition which made
+her beloved by all who knew her.</p>
+
+<p>Women among the Eastern Jews, as indeed among all oriental nations,
+being considered intellectually inferior to their lords and masters,
+rarely aspire to learning. Occasionally one might find an example of a
+well-directed and thoroughly developed mind among the daughters of
+Israel, even though surrounded by the retarding influences of the
+<i>ghetto</i>. We have seen how well Recha had been educated and her daughter
+Kathinka was being brought up in the same way. She was independent in
+thought as well as in action, but never at the cost of maidenly
+sentiment. Piety and purity shone in her lustrous eyes. Superior to her
+position, she possessed the faculty of adapting herself to her
+surroundings. There was no pride in her breast save that which might
+arise from the consciousness of doing right. The poor had a
+commiserating friend in her and the sick a tender nurse. The children
+that played in the squalid lanes of the old quarter ceased their romping
+when she passed and lovingly kissed her hand. She desired no better lot
+than to do good in her own sphere, and to deserve the appro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>bation of
+her own conscience. Such was Kathinka, a girl of many graces and
+sterling worth&mdash;in heart and soul a Jewess.</p>
+
+<p>Rabbi Mendel looked up from his books and gazed fondly at his daughter,
+who, seated with the full light of the window falling upon her face,
+appeared the embodiment of loveliness. Then turning to his wife, he
+asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Recha, have you spoken to Kathinka about young Goldheim?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied Recha; "I left it for you to tell."</p>
+
+<p>"Briefly then, my dear," said the Rabbi, addressing his daughter, who
+looked up from her work in surprise; "Reb Wolf, the <i>schadchen</i>, has
+been here for the third time, to induce us to give him a favorable reply
+for Samuel Goldheim. I told him that I feared my intervention would be
+useless."</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka blushed deeply.</p>
+
+<p>"You did right, father," she answered.</p>
+
+<p>"But, my dear child," said the Rabbi, thoughtfully; "tell me why you
+refuse Goldheim? He is a fine-looking young man, of a rich and respected
+family, and will make you a good husband."</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka arose and, crossing to her father, put her arms lovingly about
+his neck.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear papa," she said, softly and caressingly, "I know you love me too
+well to insist upon my doing a thing which will make me unhappy for
+life. You have often told me how you and mamma first found one another,
+how heart went out to heart, so that there was scarcely any need to tell
+each other that you loved. That is an ideal affection, and the only one
+that my heart could recognize. I abhor the notion of a marriage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> brought
+about by the efforts of a third party, who has no other interest in the
+matter than the fee he receives for his labors. There is to me something
+repugnant in the idea of uniting two beings to each other for life,
+without consulting their inclinations or their tastes."</p>
+
+<p>"I agree with you, Kathinka," answered the Rabbi, stroking his
+daughter's long curls, "and it is far from my thoughts to see you united
+to any man you do not truly love. In former days the system of marrying
+through the agency of a match-maker undoubtedly possessed great
+advantages. It is incumbent upon every good Israelite to marry, but
+originally the villages were sparsely settled, in many places there was
+a lack of marriageable men, in others the maidens were in the minority,
+and as facilities for travelling were limited, and often entirely
+absent, a <i>schadchen</i>, who made it a business to bring eligible couples
+together, was a great convenience. The necessity for such a mediator is
+constantly growing less."</p>
+
+<p>"But there can be no romance, no pleasant anticipation in such a union."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear child, Israel has never had time for romance. Your youth has
+fortunately been spared the dreadful persecutions which have from time
+to time been visited upon our people; but, if you can picture the
+constant dread of outrage and the incessant fear of persecution, which
+have been our portion; if you can conceive the miserable existence in
+wretched hovels and the weary struggle for the barest necessities of
+life, you will understand why the Jews have had little of that spirit of
+chivalry and romance of which modern books give us so fascinating a
+picture. But tell me, Kathinka," continued the Rabbi, looking intently
+at his daughter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> "is there not another reason for your refusal of
+Samuel's hand?"</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka became very red, and looked pleadingly at her mother.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," said Recha, "you had better confess all to your father. He
+has a right to know."</p>
+
+<p>Still the girl remained silent.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my child; who has stolen your heart?" asked the Rabbi, kindly.</p>
+
+<p>"Father, I love Joseph Kierson," said Kathinka, faintly, hiding her
+blushing face upon the Rabbi's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"What, my former pupil?" asked the Rabbi, astonished. "I must have been
+blind not to have observed it. And does he love you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think he does," she archly answered.</p>
+
+<p>"But Joseph is poor," returned her father. "He has nothing and has as
+yet no profession. He is merely a student at the University."</p>
+
+<p>"But he has a brilliant intellect," retorted Kathinka, proudly. "I have
+heard you say a dozen times that he will achieve renown. It is one of
+your favorite maxims that a man must rise by his own exertions. Joseph
+is destined to rise."</p>
+
+<p>"How long has this understanding existed?" asked Mendel.</p>
+
+<p>"We were fond of each other as children, when he first began his lessons
+at <i>cheder</i>," replied the girl, earnestly; "but it was only recently
+that he declared his love."</p>
+
+<p>"He found that you were surrounded by admiring youths and feared that
+you might be taken from him," added her mother.</p>
+
+<p>"And did you promise to be his wife?" asked the Rabbi.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, father. I could not do that without your consent. He did not
+even ask me. He simply told me that he deplored his ignorance and
+poverty and that it was his intention to study medicine and become a
+learned doctor that he might be worthy of obtaining my hand. That was
+all."</p>
+
+<p>"He could not have made it plainer. And what did you answer?"</p>
+
+<p>"I encouraged him in his determination and told him I would wait."</p>
+
+<p>"And that is why he requested me to speak to his parents and obtain
+their consent to his pursuing a course of study, and that is why you
+took such an interest in his welfare and were so pleased when I told you
+that he had been admitted to the University."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," answered Kathinka, with radiant face.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know how long it will take before he has finished his course? He
+cannot expect to obtain his diploma in less than six years."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it," replied Kathinka.</p>
+
+<p>"And then it will be some time before his profession will enable him to
+support a wife."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it. I will wait."</p>
+
+<p>"Brave girl," said Mendel, fondly. "You are doing right and may he prove
+worthy of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Will it take so long?" asked the mother. "You will then be twenty-four
+years old, Kathinka, and will be obliged to marry a poor man. Had you
+not better consider before refusing Goldheim? He is wealthy and quite
+learned."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not care for him," replied the girl, quietly but with decision.
+"You married father for love, did you not?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Mendel, replying for his wife. "She took me although I was
+but a poor Talmud scholar without a kopeck that I could call my own.
+Joseph will succeed. He has ambition and talent."</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka kissed her father, affectionately.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you are satisfied with my choice?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my dear, I am content. When Reb Wolf, the <i>schadchen</i>, comes for
+his answer we will know just what to tell him."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>AT THE RABBI'S AND AT THE GOVERNOR'S.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Joseph Kierson was a fine manly fellow of twenty-two, not particularly
+handsome, but possessing what in Kathinka's eyes outweighed mere
+personal appearance, a fine mind, great courage and indomitable zeal.
+His youth had been uneventful. His father was a hard-working butcher,
+who in spite of his industry found it difficult to provide food for his
+family of half-a-dozen. Until recently Joseph had assisted his father in
+his business, but felt an irresistible desire to achieve something
+higher than was possible in that humble calling. Recognizing the need of
+skilled physicians in the Jewish community, he conceived the idea of
+taking up the profession of medicine. We have seen that his ambition was
+strengthened by his desire to obtain the hand of Kathinka, in whom all
+his hopes were centred.</p>
+
+<p>Old Jacob Kierson was bitterly opposed to his son's project. His
+objections were in a measure selfish, for he could not reconcile himself
+to the thought of hiring an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> assistant while Joseph spent his time in
+idleness. Moreover, he belonged to the old school and sincerely abhorred
+all learning that savored of the gentiles. He therefore peremptorily
+forbade his son's entertaining such an impious purpose. In this
+emergency Rabbi Winenki's eloquence was brought into requisition. He
+skilfully argued away the old man's prejudices and painted in such
+glowing colors the possibilities of Joseph's future as a physician, that
+Kierson's scruples were gradually quieted and he gave a reluctant
+consent. Joseph, having passed a brilliant examination and being
+recommended by Rabbi Winenki&mdash;a name that still carried great weight
+with it in Kief&mdash;was admitted into the University.</p>
+
+<p>It was Friday evening. Without, the snow was falling hard and fast; a
+fierce wind, from the northern steppes, howled through the streets, and
+dismal was the sound of the storm. In the houses of the Jews, however,
+there was peace and comfort. The pious Hebrews, who had toiled
+industriously during six days of the week to provide for the seventh,
+had ceased from their labors, had cast aside their cares and sorrows,
+and rejoiced in the presence of their God.</p>
+
+<p>Around Rabbi Mendel's hospitable board there was assembled a goodly
+company. The table was unusually attractive on this Sabbath eve and the
+company uncommonly joyous, for it was the first family gathering since
+the announcement of Kathinka's betrothal with the young student. There
+was much surprise that this bright maiden should have bestowed her
+affections upon the poorest of her suitors, but Kathinka gazed in happy
+contentment at the man by her side, to whom in her heart she had erected
+a holy altar of love.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The goblets with their sparkling contents, the snow-white linen and the
+dainty dishes spoke a cheery welcome to the merry guests, and the
+seven-armed lamp hanging from the ceiling and the silver candlesticks
+upon the table threw their friendly glow over the scene. Happiness and
+pleasure, contentment and gratitude, beamed in every countenance.</p>
+
+<p>There were present Mendel's father and mother, old and venerable but
+still active, Hirsch Bensef and his wife Miriam, Rabbi Winenki and his
+wife and daughter, (Recha's mother had died some time before,) and
+finally the happy Joseph Kierson with his delighted father and mother.</p>
+
+<p>Their conversation was animated and cheerful. Out in the streets the
+wind might blow and the snow descend; here there was naught but good
+cheer and comfort. The storm served, however, to recall many a dark and
+dreary day in the past, and, like soldiers sitting about a campfire, the
+men related the chief incidents of their eventful lives. There was a
+melancholy pleasure in recalling the trials they had experienced,
+contrasted with which their present security was all the more
+comforting.</p>
+
+<p>Mordecai Winenki related with tears in his eyes how he saved his wife's
+honor by a hasty flight from home, and how he arrived in Kief just in
+time for the <i>Pesach</i> festival. "Yes, it was a marvellous escape from
+the soldiers; <i>Adonai</i> be praised for it!" Old Kierson had a story of
+privation and suffering to relate, events which carried his hearers back
+to the days of Nicholas, the Iron Czar, and they smiled to think that
+those days were gone, never to return. The Rabbi told, for the hundredth
+time, of his memorable trip from Togarog to Kharkov; related how he and
+Jacob had been torn from their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> mother's fond embrace, how they had
+suffered, how they finally escaped from the guard that accompanied them,
+and how, after enduring the misery of hunger and thirst, Jacob
+disappeared to be seen no more.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Jacob," sighed the bereaved mother; "nothing has been heard of him
+since. The poor lad must have perished under the rough treatment of the
+soldiers."</p>
+
+<p>"Peace to his soul!" said the Rabbi, reverently, and the company
+responded "Amen."</p>
+
+<p>These bitter-sweet memories were compensated for by the great
+improvement which had taken place in the condition of the Jews during
+the past twenty years. Mendel related how, on arriving in Kief, he found
+his uncle in a weather-beaten hovel, through the neglected roof of which
+the snow leaked in little rivulets. Hirsch Bensef now resided in a
+commodious dwelling in one of the best streets of the city.</p>
+
+<p>Would this state of affairs continue? Would Governor Drentell show the
+same leniency and magnanimity towards the Hebrews as did his
+predecessor? The new ruler had now been in power for nearly a year,
+during which time there had been no hostility, no curtailing of their
+liberties.</p>
+
+<p>"God grant that our condition will not grow worse," said the Rabbi. "The
+mental improvement of our people during these twenty years has been
+marvellous. If it continues at the same pace, there is no telling
+whither our progress will eventually lead us."</p>
+
+<p>Thus passed the Sabbath meal in pleasant conversation, during which
+plans were laid for future improvement. After supper, friends and
+relatives trooped in to congratulate the newly-betrothed couple.</p>
+
+<p>While this homely feast was going on at the Rabbi's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> house, an
+entertainment of a different nature was in progress in the Petcherskoi
+quarter.</p>
+
+<p>The Governor's palace was ablaze with light. The glare of a thousand
+lamps shone through the windows upon the falling snow, converting icy
+crystals into scintillating gems. Long lines of sleighs and covered
+carriages were drawn up before the entrance, and from them emerged
+richly uniformed officers and handsomely attired ladies. Within,
+liveried lackeys relieved the guests of their furs, and ushered them
+into the presence of the Governor and his wife, who, with smiling
+countenance, greeted each new arrival.</p>
+
+<p>It was a court ball, such as the Governors of the various provinces
+give; miniature reproductions of the magnificent entertainments in which
+the Imperial Court at St. Petersburg delights.</p>
+
+<p>Here all was beauty and refinement. The court circle of Kief was
+composed of officers attached to the provincial government, men who
+remained in the city only so long as their official duties demanded.
+They were accompanied by their wives and daughters, ladies who for the
+most part possessed every advantage of education, who had studied abroad
+and brought into Russia the choicest of French and German fashions.
+There were also many young army officers, always welcome guests at these
+affairs, in which young ladies were apt to predominate. It is not
+strange, therefore, that these balls should present the most fascinating
+aspects of Russian life, and form a charming contrast to the dark scenes
+of ignorance and misery which it has been our duty to depict.</p>
+
+<p>The ball at the Governor's was given to introduce into polite Russian
+society Loris Drentell, the Govern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>or's son. Loris had returned after a
+short absence from Kief. There was no need of his remaining away any
+longer. No one suspected that a Drentell had been even remotely
+connected with the Nihilist plot, and there were none of the
+conspirators left to tell of his connection with it. The trouble in
+Turkey had subsided and there was no longer any necessity for keeping
+Loris' regiment on the frontier. The lieutenant was, therefore, recalled
+and a grand ball was given in his honor.</p>
+
+<p>Court balls in Russia do not differ materially from those of other
+countries, and we will leave the gay cavaliers and pretty women whirling
+through one of Strauss' waltzes, while we enter the Governor's private
+room.</p>
+
+<p>General Dimitri Drentell and his intimate advisers had withdrawn from
+the festivities and had sought the seclusion of the cabinet. Mikail the
+priest had just entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! Mikail," said the Governor; "you are a late caller."</p>
+
+<p>"The train brought me from St. Petersburg but a few minutes ago, and I
+hastened to present myself to your excellency at once. Had I known that
+there was a ball this evening, I should have deferred my visit until
+to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Make no apologies," answered Drentell. "We would have been disappointed
+had you not come to-night. What news do you bring us from the capital?"</p>
+
+<p>"The best, your excellency. I spoke to his imperial majesty in person.
+He desires to be commended to you, and approves of your energetic
+measures in bringing the suspected Nihilists to judgment. He counts your
+excellency among his stanchest supporters."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Governor flushed with pleasure. Bright visions of future advancement
+passed through his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"And our policy as regards the Jews?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Has his sanction! In fact, any project which will divert the minds of
+the populace from political questions, meets with imperial favor. But
+the animosity towards the Jews must not appear too sudden and
+unwarranted. Convinced that they have in many cases assumed privileges
+not allowed them by law, and rendered themselves punishable by the
+statutes, the Minister of War has decided to appoint a commission of
+inquiry, which shall investigate the following questions." The priest
+took an official paper from his pocket and read:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>First</i>&mdash;In what trades do the Jews engage which are injurious to the
+well-being of the faithful inhabitants?</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Second</i>&mdash;Is it impracticable to put into force the ancient laws
+limiting the rights of the Jews in the matter of buying and farming
+land, and in the trade in intoxicants.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Third</i>&mdash;How can these laws be strengthened so that they can no longer
+be evaded?</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Fourth</i>&mdash;To what extent is usury practised by the Jews in their
+dealings with the Christians.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Fifth</i>&mdash;What is the number of public houses kept by the Jews, and what
+is the injury resulting to Christians by reason of the sale of
+intoxicants.</p>
+
+<p>"The commission is to report to the Minister of War as soon as
+practicable," continued Mikail, replacing the paper in his pocket. "I
+have the honor to be one of the commissioners, and as soon as we have
+obtained definite information upon these points&mdash;information which is
+sure to be damaging&mdash;we will be ready to proceed against the accursed
+race."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But if the reports are not damaging to the Jews?" asked one of the
+officials.</p>
+
+<p>"They will be," answered the priest; "the commission has been appointed
+for that purpose."</p>
+
+<p>"Then woe to the Jews!" answered the official.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, woe to the Jews!" responded the priest, and the malignant
+expression of his countenance boded ill to his kindred.</p>
+
+<p>"Come! let us return to the ball room," said Drentell, taking the priest
+by the arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency must pardon me," answered Mikail, "My clothes are
+travel-stained, and I am neither in a condition nor in the humor to
+enjoy the festivities."</p>
+
+<p>"But Loris is here," continued the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>Mikail suppressed a grimace of displeasure.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no haste. I shall see him to-morrow," he answered, and bowed
+himself out of the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Strange man," muttered the Governor, when the door had closed upon the
+priest's retreating form. "I almost fear him when he is attacked by his
+fits of gloomy anger. Poor Jews! You will find Drentell a different man
+from your soft-hearted Pomeroff. Ah, if Mikail but knew; if he but
+knew!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE PRIEST IN THE SYNAGOGUE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Mikail did not allow the grass to grow beneath his feet. Stimulated by
+the approval of the Czar as well as by his own undying hatred, he lost
+no time in collecting the statistics that were required for his
+purpose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Hitherto he had been content to accept hearsay evidence in his estimate
+of Jewish life and character; he had never knowingly come in contact
+with one of the race. Convinced, however, that public opinion was not
+half severe enough, he determined to personally investigate their manner
+of life. For some days, therefore, he made periodical trips through the
+old Jewish quarter, sounded the Christians with whom the Jews
+occasionally associated, and with an acute but not impartial eye, made
+his observations.</p>
+
+<p>It was Saturday of the week following the events narrated in the last
+chapter. The snow that mantled the earth was frozen solid, and the bells
+tinkled merrily as the sleighs skimmed over the glistening road. A cold
+bracing air sent the blood surging through the veins of the pedestrians
+and brought the ruddy glow of health to their cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>The priest, bent upon new discoveries, walked rapidly in the direction
+of the Jewish quarter. Suddenly he stopped. He had almost run against a
+man who was hurriedly walking in the opposite direction.</p>
+
+<p>"What, Loris! is it you?" he cried, upon recognizing his protector's
+son. "What are you doing in this part of the town?"</p>
+
+<p>"I might repeat the question," answered Loris. "Why is a priest roaming
+about these streets, when he should be counting his beads up in the
+Petcherskoi convent?"</p>
+
+<p>Mikail frowned. Loris' sneering tone grated harshly upon him.</p>
+
+<p>"I owe you no explanation," he said, curtly; "but if it will give you
+any satisfaction to know, I am following up a subject of importance to
+the State."</p>
+
+<p>"And I," said Loris, confidingly, "am following up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> a far more
+interesting subject. You should see her, Mikail! Such a head, such eyes,
+such a form! To think that I have wasted so many months abroad while
+Kief held such a treasure!"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" asked the priest, dryly.</p>
+
+<p>"A young girl, of course. She must live about here somewhere. I saw her
+come up this street, but when I turned the corner she had mysteriously
+disappeared. I tell you, Mikail, she is a beauty. I shall not rest until
+I find her!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are seeking perdition," exclaimed the priest, wrathfully. "A pretty
+face is Satan's trap to lure a weak soul into his toils."</p>
+
+<p>"Convent talk!" answered Loris, disdainfully. "Why do I stand here and
+speak to a priest about a woman? When you take your vows of celibacy you
+pretend to dislike anything that wears petticoats. But I doubt whether
+even you could resist the temptation of a handsome face and voluptuous
+form."</p>
+
+<p>Mikail's eyes flashed. He was about to reply to Loris' sneer, but, by a
+severe effort, he checked his rising anger, and without another word
+turned on his heel and walked away.</p>
+
+<p>"Ill-natured cur!" muttered Loris. "They are all alike&mdash;hypocritical
+fools! With all their pretended virtue, I would not like to expose the
+best of them to even a moderate temptation."</p>
+
+<p>Mikail walked through a maze of lanes until he came to the street which
+had formed one of the boundaries of the "Jews' town." He now observed,
+for the first time, groups of Jewish men, women and children, dressed in
+their holiday attire, pass him and enter a large building not far away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It is their Sabbath, and they are going to their barbarous worship,"
+thought the priest, as he crossed himself.</p>
+
+<p>He went further into the quarter, carefully avoiding the groups that he
+encountered, and finally entered the dwelling of a Christian woman, who
+sublet rooms to Jewish tenants. The information which awaited him here
+must have been important, for it was quite a while before he emerged
+into the street and retraced his steps towards the city. His path led
+directly past Mendel's synagogue. Through the window he heard the chant
+of the <i>hazan</i>, and he paused, reflectively.</p>
+
+<p>"After all," he murmured, "what harm can it do if I go in. I am in
+search of facts and where shall I be better able to find them than in
+the Jews' stronghold, their synagogue?"</p>
+
+<p>Crossing himself devoutly, he opened the door and entered.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>shamas</i> (sexton), surprised to see a <i>gallach</i> (priest) in the
+synagogue, stood for some moments in doubt, but finally shuffled up to
+the stranger and showed him a seat in the last row of benches.</p>
+
+<p>Mikail sat down passively. For a moment he seemed dazed and stupefied.
+Perhaps it was only the heat and the glare of the burning candles; but
+gradually a strange spell came over him, which he tried in vain to shake
+off.</p>
+
+<p>He could not remember ever having been in a synagogue, and yet the
+praying-desks, the pulpit and the ark for the holy scrolls seemed
+singularly familiar. He looked up. Yes, there was the latticed gallery
+filled with women, just as he had expected to find it!</p>
+
+<p>The <i>hazan</i> was intoning a prayer. Between the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> words he interjected a
+number of strange trills and turns. How weird it all sounded, and yet
+how familiar to the wondering priest. Mikail found himself almost
+instinctively supplying the following word before it was uttered by the
+reader. Then the congregation arose and responded to the prayer, and
+Mikail arose, too, and it seemed as though the words of the responses
+were laid upon his tongue.</p>
+
+<p>It was strange, very strange, and yet it was fascinating.</p>
+
+<p>Again the congregation arose. The Rabbi went to the ark at the back of
+the pulpit and took out one of the scrolls, covered with a red velvet
+cloth curiously embroidered with golden letters. Mikail followed his
+every movement with intense interest. He scarcely breathed.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Shema Israel,</i>" sang the Rabbi; "<i>Adonai Elohenu,</i>" and then he paused
+a moment to clear his throat of something he must have inhaled.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't he continue," thought Mikail, impatient at the momentary
+interruption, and then in a voice loud enough to be heard over the
+entire synagogue, he ended the sentence by crying:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Adonai Echod!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>All turned to look at the speaker, and they whispered among themselves
+in surprise at hearing a monk recite the <i>shema</i> in a <i>schul</i>. The women
+looked down from the gallery in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>Mikail's face flushed. His first impulse was to flee, to get out of the
+accursed place, to break the spell of enchantment that bound him. With a
+muttered prayer he strode to the door, only to find it locked from
+without. It was customary to bolt the door during certain portions of
+the service, to prevent noise and consequent disturbance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The priest was therefore obliged to remain. Obeying a natural impulse,
+he made the sign of the cross, set his jaws firmly, and awaited further
+developments.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>hazan</i> opened the Pentateuch and the <i>parnas</i> of the congregation
+was called to the <i>Torah</i>. Every movement was anticipated by the priest.
+The parnas reverently lifted the fringes of his <i>tallis</i>, and with them
+touched the sacred Scroll; then, kissing them, he recited the customary
+blessing. Mikail repeated it with him. It sounded almost as familiar as
+his own liturgy. Suddenly a reaction came over the stern and haughty
+priest as the services continued. A strange storm broke within his
+bosom; undefined recollections, visions of a once happy home, a tangled
+revery of fanciful memories chased each other through his excited brain.
+Without knowing why, he felt the hot tears coursing down his cheeks,
+tears which not even the harsh treatment he had endured during his early
+years at the monastery could force from their reservoirs. One after
+another, seven men were called to the <i>Torah</i>, and their actions and
+prayers were a repetition of those of the <i>parnas</i>. The monotonous
+reading at length came to an end, Mikail heard the bolts withdrawn, and
+with hasty strides he cleared the passage into the street. On he sped
+through the city, looking neither to the right nor the left, scarcely
+knowing whither he went, until he finally reached the Petcherskoi
+convent, where he had taken up his temporary quarters. Without returning
+the greetings of the monks, apparently unconscious of his surroundings,
+he went straight to his cell and there gave way to a flood of passion.</p>
+
+<p>An hour afterwards a monk found him upon his knees before an icon, in
+fervent prayer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I have been bewitched, Sergeitch," he said, with his wonted calmness.
+"Pray for me that the evil spirit may leave me."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2>
+
+<h3>LORIS FALLS IN LOVE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Kathinka, well wrapped in a heavy mantle, walked briskly along the
+darkening street. She had gone to the extreme end of the city to succor
+a sick and needy widow and was now hastening homeward with a light and
+happy heart. The world seemed bright and cheerful to the young girl
+whose every desire was gratified and every wish granted. As she neared
+her home, she became aware of the presence of a man some yards behind
+her, keeping pace with her own steps. Kathinka quickened her gait, but
+the man was evidently determined not to lose sight of her and hurried
+after her. The girl remembered that she had been followed by the same
+person some days before, and, while she attached no importance to the
+incident at that time, she now became frightened and glanced timidly
+about her. The street was deserted and there was no place of refuge in
+sight. With a little cry of alarm, she lifted her skirts and ran at full
+speed in the direction of her dwelling, but she had not proceeded far
+before the stranger caught up with her, and, grasping her by the arm,
+held her as in a vise. Kathinka stopped and, with flushed and angry
+look, faced the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"Lovely creature," said the man, insinuatingly, when he had recovered
+his breath, "why do you flee from me? Can you not see that I am anxious
+to speak with you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Let me go!" cried the girl, indignantly. "You hurt me."</p>
+
+<p>Loris, for the stranger was no other than the Governor's son, released
+the girl's arm, but he barred her escape by placing himself directly
+before her. Kathinka tried in vain to pass him; then, pausing, with
+heaving bosom, she cried:</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, sir? Have you no manhood left, that you molest a
+defenceless woman?"</p>
+
+<p>"Listen to me but a moment," answered Loris, passionately; "and then go
+your way if you will. I have been following your footsteps for the last
+two weeks, desiring, yet fearing, to speak to you. From the day I first
+beheld you, I have thought of nothing else. I have sighed for you and
+dreamed of you. I was happy when I caught a glimpse of you and sad when
+you were out of my sight, sad until I saw your features again. Do not
+now repulse me. Take pity upon me."</p>
+
+<p>These sentences, expressed with all the passionate earnestness of which
+youth is capable, greatly terrified Kathinka.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, I do not know you," she exclaimed; "and if I did I could have
+nothing in common with you. Let me go, and if you are a gentleman, you
+will in future avoid troubling me."</p>
+
+<p>"By God, you shall not leave me without giving me some encouragement.
+Kathinka, I love you! When you know who I am you will not treat me so
+cruelly."</p>
+
+<p>"If you were the Governor himself I should have but one answer for you,
+and that is that you have outraged every sentiment of honor," cried the
+girl, with growing indignation.</p>
+
+<p>Loris seized her hand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No, do not despise me; hear me to the end!" he cried, passionately. "I
+am Loris Drentell, the son of your Governor. I know what I am risking in
+loving a Jewess, but I cannot help it. Kathinka, you have bewitched me.
+I love you! Do you understand me? I love you! I only ask you to think
+kindly of me, to see me of your own free will, and to give me the
+blessed hope that you will in time return my affection. Do not consign
+me to misery!"</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka struggled to free her hand from his grasp. Overcome by terror,
+it was some time before she could gain strength to reply.</p>
+
+<p>"Count Drentell," she said, at length; "you have spoken the truth. I am
+a Jewess, and any contact with me would dishonor you. Moreover, I am
+betrothed to one of my own race, and while I feel the honor you would
+bestow upon me in offering me your love, I have but one reply to make: I
+do not wish to see you again."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't drive me to despair, Kathinka; I cannot live without your
+friendship, without your love. Why should your betrothed stand in the
+way? I am rich and powerful. I can give you whatever your heart desires.
+You shall want for nothing, if you will only look upon me with favor."
+And he again seized her hand and covered it with kisses.</p>
+
+<p>This flattering speech filled Kathinka with loathing. Well she knew that
+it meant not love, but the basest of passions, and that a Jewess could
+never become more than the passing fancy of Count Drentell. With a
+disdainful glance at him, she turned to go.</p>
+
+<p>"Count Drentell," she answered, calmly; "this is disgraceful. You seem
+to forget your position, your birth. You forget that I belong to a
+proscribed race."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You are right," replied the young man, bitterly; "I forgot everything
+but my love for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Then try and forget that. And now, sir, enough of this farce. Let me
+pass, or I shall call for help."</p>
+
+<p>Loris bit his lips in vexation.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not decide so hastily," he said. "A terrible danger threatens the
+Jews. My father, who detests your people, is even now plotting their
+destruction. I may, perhaps, avert the calamity, may dissuade him from
+his terrible projects. Will you allow me to serve you? One word of
+encouragement and I will be your willing slave."</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka started. Was it true that a new danger menaced her people? She
+could not tell. Perhaps it was but an invention of the Count to further
+his own ends. In her opinion, he was base enough for anything.</p>
+
+<p>"The God of Israel has been our support in the past," she answered,
+firmly; "He will not desert us in the future. Come what will, I shall
+not endeavor to avoid it by the loss of my self-respect. Now, make way,
+sir; let me go."</p>
+
+<p>"And is this the end of all my dreams? Am I to abandon all hope of ever
+seeing you again?" asked Loris, gloomily.</p>
+
+<p>"Count Drentell," replied the girl, with a proud glance. "Do not
+persecute me with your attentions, which are extremely distasteful to
+me. I trust we shall never meet again."</p>
+
+<p>And with a haughty sweep of her beautiful head, she passed the
+astonished Loris and walked rapidly down the street.</p>
+
+<p>The young man looked after her for a moment in silence; then he stamped
+his foot in rage.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"She refuses my attentions, the proud Jewess! But I will conquer her in
+spite of her pride."</p>
+
+<p>It was not until Kathinka reached home that her strong spirit gave way,
+and she threw herself into a chair and wept bitterly. Her mother and
+father, surprised at such an outburst of emotion, hastened to her side,
+but it was some time before the girl attempted an explanation. Then she
+told her parents of her encounter with the Governor's son.</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi walked up and down the room in great perturbation. The affair
+promised no pleasant conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>"Alas, that your beauty should have attracted the young Count!" he said.
+"It is very unfortunate. Who knows to what extremes he may go to revenge
+himself upon you for having refused his advances."</p>
+
+<p>"Was there any other course for me to take?" asked Kathinka.</p>
+
+<p>"No, my child; you acted honorably. There was nothing else for you to
+do."</p>
+
+<p>"But the calamity which the man predicted would befall Israel?" said
+Recha.</p>
+
+<p>"It may have been an idle threat. There is no need of borrowing trouble.
+Misfortune has ever found the Jews steadfast and ready to bear the
+greatest hardships for their faith. If new troubles come, we will not be
+found wanting. In the meantime there is nothing to do but wait."</p>
+
+<p>"If I should meet him again and he should again force his attentions
+upon me, what could I do?" sighed Kathinka, nervously.</p>
+
+<p>"For the present do not venture out unless with me or Joseph. We must
+inform Kierson of this matter at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> once. He has doubtless frequent
+opportunities of seeing this young Count and can keep his eyes on him.
+Perhaps Drentell is honorable enough to desist if he sees that his
+advances are repelled."</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka shook her head, despondently.</p>
+
+<p>"I fear not, father. You should have seen his face and heard his words.
+Such passion is not subdued by neglect. I am afraid that he will become
+our implacable enemy and that we will eventually have more to fear from
+his hatred than from his love."</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi did not reply, but his heart echoed his daughter's
+forebodings.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2>
+
+<h3>AN UNFORTUNATE ENCOUNTER.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Kathinka now rarely went out, and never alone. On her way to the
+synagogue and upon her little errands of mercy, she was invariably
+attended by her devoted Joseph. The very danger to which the girl had
+been exposed served to cement their hearts more closely.</p>
+
+<p>For a time, nothing was seen of Loris. One day, however, Joseph and
+Kathinka had just left the Rabbi's house.</p>
+
+<p>"Look," whispered Kathinka, pressing Joseph's arm, "he is following us."</p>
+
+<p>Joseph turned rapidly and perceived the form of Loris at some distance
+behind them. The Count, seeing that he was observed, turned a corner and
+disappeared. For several months after, Kathinka saw nothing more of her
+persecutor, and the disagreeable episode gradually faded from her
+memory.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>One bright afternoon the girl sat at her window, reading. Her father was
+engaged in his duties at the school, and her mother had gone from home
+to take a bottle of wine to a sick neighbor and would probably remain
+away until evening. Kathinka was not alone, however, for she had the
+companionship of her books, more congenial entertainers than were the
+gossiping maidens of her intimate circle.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a knock at the door; before she could rise it was
+thrown open, and Loris Drentell stood before her. He deliberately closed
+the door again and placed his hat and coat upon a chair.</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka could not utter a word, so great was her consternation. Loris
+stood facing her for some moments in silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Kathinka," he said, at length, "I have come at the risk of offending
+you, to repeat the declaration I made some time ago; to tell you that I
+love you. Do you still bear me the ill-will that you evinced towards me
+then?"</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka rose from her chair and, drawing herself up to her full height,
+pointed to the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Go!" she said, "or I shall summon help."</p>
+
+<p>Loris smiled cynically.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not excite yourself unnecessarily," he said, coolly. "You are alone
+in the house. I know it, for I have been watching for some time and saw
+both your parents leave. It will be useless for you to call for
+assistance. Sit down and hear me out."</p>
+
+<p>Finding resistance useless, the girl fell back into her chair, and with
+a gesture of despair hid her face in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Winenki," said Loris, quietly at first, but gradu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>ally becoming
+more passionate in his appeal, "do not judge me harshly for taking this
+means of seeing you. I knew of no other way of gaining your ear. I love
+you sincerely, madly. For the last two months I have been vainly
+struggling with this feeling, have been trying to conquer my
+infatuation, but I am ever haunted by the vision of your beauty. Do not
+turn from me as though I were unworthy of you. Think not of me as a
+cold, selfish man who lives but to satisfy the desires of a moment.
+Never had maiden so devoted a lover as I will be to you. I will grant
+your every wish, I will bestow upon you wealth and luxury. You shall be
+the envied of all the ladies of the land and I will have no other aim
+than to make you happy. Can you still doubt me when I, who might win the
+proudest in the Empire, now kneel at your feet and ask you to smile upon
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>Loris had fallen upon his knees and had seized the girl's hand, which he
+lifted passionately to his lips.</p>
+
+<p>Alone with this singular man, who seemed swayed only by his passions,
+Kathinka was overcome by a terror which robbed her of the power of
+speech. She could only gaze into Loris' upturned face in mute despair.</p>
+
+<p>Drentell interpreted her silence favorably, and with a joyful cry he
+arose and folded the astonished girl in his arms.</p>
+
+<p>"You will be mine, you will not reject my love? Turn your eyes upon me
+and make me happy with your smile. Do not struggle in my embrace, but
+tell me that you love me."</p>
+
+<p>By a violent effort Kathinka succeeded in freeing herself from his
+passionate clasp and now stood with her back to the wall. Her black eyes
+flashed with an angry fire, as she cried:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Count Drentell, you have taken advantage of my helplessness to intrude
+upon my privacy and have acted, not as befits a gentleman, but in a
+manner that one would scarcely expect from the meanest of your father's
+serfs. Let us understand one another. In spite of my repulses you still
+continue to assert that you love me."</p>
+
+<p>"To desperation," murmured the Count.</p>
+
+<p>"Were I to yield to your entreaties and accept your love, would you make
+me your wife? Would you present me to the world as the Countess
+Drentell? Answer me, sir!"</p>
+
+<p>Loris hesitated before replying.</p>
+
+<p>"I would surround you with all the luxury and pomp that money could
+command. I would make you the happiest of women."</p>
+
+<p>"I demand an unequivocal reply. Would you make me your wife?" insisted
+the girl.</p>
+
+<p>"Before God we would be man and wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Count Drentell, would you brave the anger of your father and the
+opinion of the entire court and present me, the Jewess, as your wife?"</p>
+
+<p>Loris looked for a moment at the flashing eyes of the indignant girl,
+and then his glance sought the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not deny," he said, at length, "that there would be grave
+difficulties in the way of such a step. I fear the court would never
+recognize a Jewess as the Countess Drentell. But what of that? It is but
+an idle formality. Even though the world do not know of our
+relationship, we will be none the less man and wife."</p>
+
+<p>"In other words, you would make of me your puppet, your plaything, to be
+fondled to-day and cast aside to-morrow! You would have me renounce my
+family, my betrothed, my religion, my honor and my reputation, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>
+become the creature of your pleasures until you weary of me! Vile
+wretch! you are a greater villain than I thought. Go, and never again
+darken my path with your presence."</p>
+
+<p>Loris uttered a cry of fury. He had counted upon an easy victory over
+the poor Jewess, and he saw his wicked dreams rudely disturbed. With one
+bound he was by the side of Kathinka and wound his arms about her.</p>
+
+<p>"So you think to brave me, poor fool!" he said, savagely. "You think to
+escape me! But I will have you yet; you shall be mine in spite of your
+petty scruples. If you will not come to my arms peaceably, I must use
+force; but come you shall!"</p>
+
+<p>He clasped the frail girl in both his arms, and lifting her up from the
+ground, he bore her towards the door. Anger and despair lent Kathinka
+tenfold strength. With a cry for help, she struggled in his embrace and
+by a mighty effort freed herself.</p>
+
+<p>Again, Loris, blinded by rage, seized her, and Kathinka, overcome by
+terror, uttered a piercing cry and fainted away.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the door opened and Joseph Kierson entered the room. He
+was on his way to Kathinka's house and her cry of terror had lent wings
+to his feet. He rushed upon the Count and threw him to the floor. In an
+instant the two men were locked in each other's grasp, the hand of each
+upon the other's throat.</p>
+
+<p>The contest was almost equal. They were both of powerful physique and
+equally courageous and for some minutes the battle raged with varying
+success.</p>
+
+<p>Joseph was aware that upon his victory depended the honor of his
+betrothed and his own happiness; he believed that if the Count obtained
+the mastery, he would not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> scruple to kill him outright. He exerted all
+his strength and freed himself from the powerful clasp of his foe. Then
+he struck the Count so violent a blow as to render him senseless.</p>
+
+<p>Joseph paused for breath and for reflection. His first care was to
+restore Kathinka to consciousness, and he soon had the satisfaction of
+bringing her back to life. With a sigh she opened her eyes and turned
+them in gratitude upon her preserver. Then she gazed about her and, as
+her glance fell upon the prostrate form of the nobleman, she shuddered
+and stretched out her hands to Joseph. The young man helped her to her
+feet and led her to a sofa. In a few words she related all that had
+occurred previous to Joseph's arrival.</p>
+
+<p>A great difficulty now presented itself; how to dispose of the Count. A
+glance showed Kierson that he was not dead, yet it was almost half an
+hour before Loris regained his senses and with difficulty rose to his
+feet. His face was badly bruised and scratched, one eye being entirely
+closed. Kierson humanely went to his assistance, but Loris, with an
+oath, declined the proffered aid and moved slowly to the door.</p>
+
+<p>"You shall hear from me again," were his parting words; "my reckoning
+will come later on!"</p>
+
+<p>Passing out into the street, he entered the <i>droshka</i> which was in
+waiting, and in which he had intended carrying off Kathinka, and was
+driven to his home.</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi on his return was at once informed of the occurrence. While
+his daughter related her story, he walked up and down with clenched
+fists and heaving breast. He now realized, for the first time, the
+terrible danger which threatened his beloved child, and his indignation
+against the villain who had molested her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> found vent in vigorous
+language. At the same time he did not close his eyes to the fact that
+the rage of the baffled man would spend itself not only upon Kathinka
+but upon the whole Jewish population.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not likely," he said, after he had heard the end of the
+narrative, "that Drentell will allow the matter to rest. A man who is so
+unscrupulous as is this young tyrant, will go to extremes to carry out
+his purpose or to take vengeance upon those who have thwarted him. It is
+for your safety I fear most, Joseph, and I advise you to absent yourself
+from Kief for some time at least, until this affair has been forgotten."</p>
+
+<p>"Never!" cried Joseph, bravely, "I have but done my duty and I will
+abide the consequences. To leave Kief would be to abandon the promising
+career I have mapped out for myself; besides, Kathinka may again require
+my assistance. I shall remain."</p>
+
+<p>"You incur a great risk," admonished the Rabbi.</p>
+
+<p>"I will not seek to escape it by flight, but will remain here and meet
+the danger."</p>
+
+<p>Joseph returned to his parents' roof, but in spite of his courage he
+felt ill at ease. His parents heard him relate his adventures, and
+lifted their hearts in prayer to God to avert the catastrophe which they
+felt would in all probability follow the encounter between their boy and
+the Governor's son.</p>
+
+<p>Their fears were not unfounded. At eight o'clock that evening there was
+a rap at the door of old Kierson's dwelling, and two uniformed officers
+confronted the terror-stricken family.</p>
+
+<p>"We seek Joseph Kierson," said one of the soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>"I am he," answered the young man, with as much firmness as he could
+command.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I arrest you in the name of his majesty the Czar," continued the
+officer, placing a heavy hand upon the poor lad's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Of what am I accused?" asked Joseph.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know. Perhaps the warden of the prison can tell you."</p>
+
+<p>Joseph was well aware that resistance would make the matter worse.
+Kissing his weeping parents and offering them all the consolation in his
+power, he accompanied the officers to the prison, there to await the
+action of the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>Within an hour, the whole Jewish community knew the events of the day,
+and there were lamentations throughout the quarter, for the blow that
+had fallen upon the young man portended disaster to them all.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2>
+
+<h3>KIERSON'S ESCAPE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>For weeks Joseph languished in prison, in total ignorance of the fate
+that awaited him. At first the Governor was too busy to attend to the
+case and it afterward slipped his memory entirely. For reasons of his
+own, Loris did not interfere. Although he had instigated the arrest of
+the Jew, he was careful not to inform his father of the true cause of
+the trouble. His injured eye and general appearance required some
+explanation and a drinking bout with some of the University students was
+given as the cause. For the preservation of order, however, he advocated
+the arrest of the offender and Kierson was taken into custody. Loris'
+course was not dic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>tated by caprice. If his august father knew that he
+had sought an alliance with a daughter of the despised Hebrew race, he
+would vent his wrath upon Loris' head for compromising the honor of the
+noble family of Drentell.</p>
+
+<p>The punishment usually inflicted upon students for quarrelling among
+themselves was light and limited to a small fine. Kierson's was an
+aggravated offence, however. The dignity of the Governor's son had
+suffered, and as there was no precedent the case was allowed to drag on
+indefinitely. Loris used his influence with the authorities to keep
+Joseph in durance.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the Israelites were not idle. Convinced that Kierson had done
+nothing but his duty, they drew up a petition to the Governor, pleading
+for mercy. Rabbi Mendel himself carried the document to the palace,
+trusting to supplement the petition with his own eloquence.</p>
+
+<p>Alas! the time when Mendel Winenki was a power in the Governor's house
+had long since passed. There was a ruler now who knew not of the Rabbi
+and his deeds, and Mendel had not even the satisfaction of speaking to
+his excellency in person. He and his petition were referred to the Chief
+of Police, the official who was supposed to have the entire matter in
+charge.</p>
+
+<p>Sick at heart, Mendel sought that worthy functionary. He carefully read
+the petition, put it in his pocket and promised to look up the case and
+report it to the Governor as soon as possible.</p>
+
+<p>It was poor consolation that the Rabbi took to his people. Their
+petition had accomplished nothing. It was not even possible to discover
+where Joseph was concealed and whether he had already been sentenced or
+not. Kathinka was heart-broken. She knew not what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> to do. A praiseworthy
+impulse to go to the palace and throw herself at the Governor's feet was
+checked by the thought that Loris might be there to delight in her
+humiliation and to use his power to defeat her prayer.</p>
+
+<p>After several weeks of suspense, the poor girl received a letter. It was
+in a strange handwriting and she opened it with trembling hands. She
+glanced hastily at the signature and with a cry allowed the missive to
+fall to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Kathinka?" asked the Rabbi, who had been sitting near-by.</p>
+
+<p>"Read it, father; it is from Drentell!" cried his daughter.</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi took the letter up anxiously and his eyes ran eagerly over its
+contents. Kathinka saw the deadly pallor that spread over his
+countenance, watched his quivering lip and darkening brow. He read to
+the end, and crumpling the letter in his hand, he threw himself upon the
+sofa in a paroxysm of grief. The girl who had never before seen her
+father so affected became seriously alarmed.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, father? What does he write?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Read it, my child; it is for you," sobbed the poor man. "Read it and
+decide," and he handed the letter to his daughter, while the tears ran
+down his cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka, with varied emotions, opened out the paper and read the
+contents. The note was as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Beloved Kathinka</span>:&mdash;You will justly reproach me for having
+remained silent so long, but do not attribute it to a waning of my
+affection. I love you more devotedly, more tenderly than ever. Your
+cruelty to me at our last interview has but served to fan the flame
+of my passion. I have since thought only of you. I know your heart
+is set against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> me on account of the arrest of your betrothed. Do
+not blame me for having a hand in his incarceration. The law of the
+land is severe, and although I exerted my influence, I was
+powerless to stay its hand in the matter. Your friend is condemned
+to a life-long exile in Siberia. It is a terrible fate, worse than
+death itself. You alone can save him from it. Consent to come to
+me, to share my heart, to make me the happiest of men, and I myself
+will plead with the Governor and obtain his pardon. The day that
+sees you at my side will restore your friend to liberty. Do not
+deem me cruel. I would serve you if you but gave me the right to do
+so. I await your reply. LORIS.</p></div>
+
+<p>When Kathinka had ceased reading, she dropped the letter and hid her
+burning head in her hands, while her body rocked with grief and despair.</p>
+
+<p>Her father gazed at her in silence, with a look of intense commiseration
+on his face.</p>
+
+<p>"What can I do?" she moaned, at length. "What would Joseph have me do?
+He would rather die a thousand deaths than owe his liberty to my
+degradation. Father, my duty is clear! Joseph is innocent of any crime
+and the God of Israel will protect him."</p>
+
+<p>"God bless you, my daughter," replied the Rabbi. "You have spoken well.
+Will you answer this letter?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, father; I shall treat it with contempt. The writer can draw his own
+conclusions from my silence."</p>
+
+<p>It was a sad day for both the Rabbi's and Kierson's families. The
+latter, much as they loved their only son, sincerely approved of
+Kathinka's decision.</p>
+
+<p>"If he must go to Siberia," they sobbed; "he will go without a sin upon
+his soul. We are all in the hands of the Almighty."</p>
+
+<p>Old Kierson thenceforth went daily to the police headquarters,
+endeavoring in vain to obtain information<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> about his son. He found no
+one that could enlighten him as to his present condition or future fate,
+and he trudged homeward, feeling daily more sick at heart, more
+depressed in spirit.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of a week, Kathinka received a second letter from her
+persecutor. It was more offensive than the first. It stated that Joseph
+was still a prisoner; that owing to his (Loris') influence the sentence
+had not yet been carried out. There was still time to save him from
+ignominious exile. He hinted, moreover, at a movement to drive the Jews
+out of Kief and promised to avert the catastrophe if Kathinka yielded to
+his persuasions. There were passion and insult in every line.</p>
+
+<p>The poor girl was almost distracted with grief and mortification, the
+more so as it became necessary to take the entire Jewish community into
+the secret.</p>
+
+<p>Rabbi Mendel hastily summoned a meeting of the influential men of his
+congregation and laid the matter before them. There was great
+consternation when it was learned that a new danger threatened the race,
+but there was not one among them who would not have suffered the
+cruelest persecution rather than allow the Rabbi's daughter to sacrifice
+her honor for their salvation. It was impossible to form a plan of
+action, for as yet the peril that menaced them was too indefinite, but
+Mendel exhorted them to do nothing that might throw the slightest
+reproach upon Israel.</p>
+
+<p>The Governor's animosity towards the Jews now became manifest. The acts
+of intolerance were in themselves insignificant, but they were like the
+distant rumblings of thunder that precede the storm and were not easily
+mistaken by the poor Hebrews.</p>
+
+<p>Because of Kierson's thrashing the ruler's son, an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> edict was issued
+expelling Jewish students from the University of Kief. Some time after,
+a Jew who, through Mendel's influence during Pomeroff's palmy days had
+obtained the office of under-secretary to a police magistrate, was
+summarily dismissed "because he was a Hebrew." Then followed an edict
+restricting the attendance of Jewish children at the public schools, and
+expelling all children whose parents had not resided in the city for at
+least ten years, retaining the others only upon the payment of an
+exorbitant tax which none but the wealthy could afford. These and many
+other petty acts of intolerance caused the Jews no little uneasiness.</p>
+
+<p>One day Rabbi Winenki was sitting in his study. It was raining in
+torrents without, and the landscape appeared deluged and desolate. The
+Rabbi gazed out at the dismal scene and sighed regretfully as he thought
+of those whose occupations compelled them to remain out of doors in such
+miserable weather.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the door was thrown open and Joseph came, or rather rushed,
+into the room. His face was pale as death; his garments, torn and
+tattered, were soaked with rain. He had become thin through long
+confinement and every line of his features betokened abject misery.</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi started as though he beheld a spectre, but seeing that the
+young man was about to sink to the floor exhausted, he sprang to his
+feet and helped him to a chair.</p>
+
+<p>"What, Joseph! God be praised! Kathinka, Recha, come quickly," he cried,
+running to the door leading to an adjoining apartment. "Bring some
+brandy."</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka was not long in coming, and unmindful of his appearance, with a
+cry of joy, she fell upon Joseph's bosom and kissed him rapturously.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Joseph, I am so happy!" murmured the girl. "Are you free, entirely
+free?"</p>
+
+<p>Joseph gasped for breath. He could not speak. The Rabbi hastily poured
+some liquor into a glass which Recha had brought and held it to the
+young man's lips. The draught seemed to revive him.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurry," he whispered, looking about him, anxiously; "hide me somewhere
+before the officers come after me."</p>
+
+<p>A look of disappointment passed over the Rabbi's face.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you are not acquitted?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No! I escaped. I'll tell you all about it, but not here. They might
+come and find me. Let us go upstairs, anywhere out of sight. Send for my
+parents! It would be dangerous for me to visit them, but I must see them
+before I leave."</p>
+
+<p>"You are not going away again!" cried Kathinka.</p>
+
+<p>"I must. It is death to remain here!"</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi supported the young man while he went to an upper floor, and
+leaving him to the ministrations of his wife and daughter, he despatched
+a messenger to the Kiersons to inform them of the arrival of the
+unexpected guest.</p>
+
+<p>By the time they were all assembled, Joseph had, in a measure revived
+and recovered his cheerful spirits.</p>
+
+<p>"But where have you been and what have you been doing?" asked the Rabbi,
+after the first loving greetings had been exchanged.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been in a terrible place," sighed the student, shuddering at the
+mere recollection of his experience. "When I was taken from home I was
+led to the jail near the barracks, up in the Petcherskoi quarter, and
+without a trial, without a hearing of any kind, I was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> thrown into a
+cell about five feet square. After my eyes had become accustomed to the
+darkness, I looked about me. In one corner I found a bed of straw with a
+cover as thin as paper. A broken chair and a rough wooden basin
+completed the furniture. The place reeked with corruption and filth, and
+the stench was almost unbearable. Of the vile food they placed before
+me, I could eat nothing except the bread. It was <i>trefa</i>, but had it
+been prepared according to our rites, its nauseating appearance would
+have caused me to reject it.</p>
+
+<p>"There I lay for weeks, perhaps months, for I lost all reckoning of
+time, without knowing what was to be done with me. I almost wished they
+would send me to Siberia, so that I might escape that foul atmosphere.
+If their jails are so terrible, what must be the condition of their
+Troubetzkoi prison?"</p>
+
+<p>"Poor boy," sobbed his father, "what a terrible experience you have had.
+But tell us, how did you escape?"</p>
+
+<p>"By the merest accident. They recently changed the warden of the prison,
+and the new incumbent, a kind-hearted man, at once visited the cells and
+inquired into the charges upon which each prisoner was detained. When he
+heard my story, he evinced the greatest surprise, and on investigating
+the matter, he came to the conclusion that I had been forgotten by the
+authorities, as it was not customary to detain a prisoner so long upon
+so slight an offence. The charge against me was simply participating in
+a student's quarrel, and the warden was inclined to be lenient with me.
+He at once made inquiries concerning my future fate, and learned that I
+was to be kept a prisoner until my punishment had been definitely
+decided upon. As there was no order to keep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> me in a cell, the warden
+allowed me to roam about the prison at will, and I made myself generally
+useful about the place. I tried to write to you, to inform you of my
+condition, but it was forbidden. To-day, the warden sent his assistant
+to town upon an errand, and he himself went down into one of the lower
+corridors to dispose of some new prisoners. He had left his keys upon
+his table. At last I saw liberty within reach! There was nobody about. I
+seized the keys, unlocked the outer gates and ran for my life. I feared
+I would be seen and recognized if I came directly through Kief, so I ran
+to the outskirts of the town and came here by a roundabout road. I have
+walked and run for the last two hours, through mud and rain, through
+swamps and ditches, until my feet would support me no longer. I thought
+I would never get here."</p>
+
+<p>"And if you should be discovered?" asked the Rabbi.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I will be taken back and treated more harshly than before. I would
+rather die than go back to that dreary cell. It is dangerous for you to
+harbor me. I must leave here at once, this very night."</p>
+
+<p>"Where will you go?" asked Kathinka, who was seated at the sufferer's
+side, and wiped the perspiration from his fevered brow.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know. Anywhere! Wherever I can find friends to succor me, and
+where I can occasionally hear from you and see you."</p>
+
+<p>Mendel reflected a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"The Rabbi of Berditchef is my friend," he said, at length. "Go to him.
+I will give you a letter of introduction, and he will do all in his
+power to assist you. It is not far from here. If you start on foot
+to-night you can reach the place by morning."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you surely are not going to-night, and in such weather," cried the
+girl. "Don't leave us yet, Joseph; stay with us. We will conceal you."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't make my departure harder than I can bear, Kathinka. I must
+go&mdash;for your sake as well as for mine. I tremble even now, lest they
+should discover me. I will go to Berditchef for the present."</p>
+
+<p>"And your aspirations for a physician's career&mdash;what will become of
+them?" asked his father.</p>
+
+<p>Joseph sighed, and his eyes were dimmed with tears.</p>
+
+<p>"It will be hard to give up my plans, but I see no alternative."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't worry, my boy," said the Rabbi, consolingly. "There are more ways
+than one to make an honorable living. Honesty, thrift and energy will
+enable you to succeed in any undertaking. Whether you be a doctor or a
+cobbler, we will not think the less of you, and I am sure Kathinka will
+love you none the less."</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka threw her arms about her lover's neck and clung to him
+affectionately. Joseph's face brightened.</p>
+
+<p>"Get me something to eat," sighed the young man, "for I am famished and
+the way is long."</p>
+
+<p>A meal was hastily brought, and a substantial lunch was prepared by
+Kathinka's hands, to cheer the wanderer upon his lonely path.</p>
+
+<p>Night came. The storm had not abated, the wind still moaned and the rain
+fell in torrents. It was a wretched night for a foot-journey to
+Berditchef, and Joseph's mother and his affianced endeavored to persuade
+the young man to postpone his journey until morning.</p>
+
+<p>Joseph shook his head, sorrowfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I would be recaptured if I waited. No, I have no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> time to lose; every
+moment is precious. Think of me, my dear ones, and pray for me. When I
+can do so in safety, I shall return to Kief; until then, God bless you
+all."</p>
+
+<p>Kissing his weeping friends farewell, he wrapped himself in a stout
+mantle which the Rabbi had procured for him, and stepped out into the
+inhospitable night.</p>
+
+<p>For a time the sorrow-stricken families wept silently; then Mendel
+advised the Kiersons to return to their home at once.</p>
+
+<p>"If the police follow him," he said, "they will naturally search your
+dwelling first. It will be unfortunate if they find you absent, and
+might lead to inquiries which would give them a clue to his whereabouts.
+As it is, you can truthfully say that he has not shown himself in your
+house."</p>
+
+<p>The old people acted upon the suggestion and reached their house not a
+moment too soon. They had scarcely entered before a number of officers
+demanded admittance and began a thorough search of the premises.
+Satisfied by the replies of the lad's parents that he had not visited
+the house, they withdrew in no very amiable humor to continue their
+investigations at the house of the Rabbi, where they were equally
+unsuccessful. Failing to trace him in the Jewish quarter, the officers
+returned to the fortress and reported their lack of success to the
+warden. This worthy was at first inclined to lose his temper, but he
+finally shrugged his shoulders and muttered:</p>
+
+<p>"Let him go, poor fellow! He has been here nearly two months, and that
+is punishment enough for having thrashed a man, were that man the
+Governor himself."</p>
+
+<p>A few days later, Kathinka received two letters. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> first she opened
+was from Joseph. It announced his safe arrival in Berditchef and his
+kind reception by the Rabbi's friend, who had at once found him
+congenial employment. It abounded in expressions of affection and
+undying love. Kathinka pressed it to her lips and, with an overflowing
+heart, thanked the Almighty that her lover was safe.</p>
+
+<p>The second letter was from Loris. It, too, was full of passionate
+yearning, but its flowery phrases created a feeling of intense disgust.
+The Count, evidently ignorant of Joseph's escape, ended his missive with
+the assurance that unless Kathinka acceded to his demands, her friend
+would be sent to Siberia on the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka threw the paper into the fire.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2>
+
+<h3>AN ATTEMPT UPON THE CZAR.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Kathinka remained unmolested for some time, not because Loris had ceased
+to admire her, but because the young Count was condemned to a
+twelve-months' absence from Kief. This unsuspected stroke of good
+fortune for the girl happened in this wise:</p>
+
+<p>Towards the end of the year 1879, it became very evident that Nihilism
+was spreading to an alarming extent in the army. Four officers of Loris'
+regiment were arrested on a charge of disseminating revolutionary
+pamphlets and were summarily exiled. Another officer had assisted eight
+political offenders to escape and was kept in close confinement. General
+Drentell, in conse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>quence, declared Kief, Kharkov and other districts
+under martial law.</p>
+
+<p>A stormy scene took place between the Governor and his son Loris, in
+which the former, mindful of the latter's past escapades, expressed his
+belief that his son was implicated in the plots of his comrades, while
+Loris indignantly denied all knowledge of the matter.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen to me, Loris!" said the General, purple with rage. "I saved your
+life once, at the risk of losing my own. As true as St. Nicholas hears
+us, if ever you repeat your plottings, I shall be as inexorable as
+though you were the meanest of the Czar's subjects."</p>
+
+<p>Loris saw that his father was in earnest and recoiled before the wrath
+of the stern old soldier. He again asserted his ignorance of any
+conspiracy.</p>
+
+<p>Not knowing how many more officers of the regiment were implicated,
+Drentell decided to transfer the entire division to another district, in
+the hope of severing any connection which might exist between the men
+and the Revolutionary Committee.</p>
+
+<p>Loris had to obey the order and accompany his regiment to the steppes of
+Central Russia, where he remained until the active disorders in Kief a
+year later recalled him.</p>
+
+<p>Nihilism was not to be rooted out by the removal of any particular set
+of men. It had spread its branches among all classes and conditions of
+society, and the number of its adherents was increasing with alarming
+rapidity.</p>
+
+<p>The martyr who unflinchingly faces death for the sake of his faith, the
+Nihilist who exposes himself to imprisonment or death in the hope of
+attaining constitutional liberty, are examples of the heroic endurance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>
+of minds exalted by principle. The Jew's devotion to his religion has
+always been most intense when intolerance and persecution were at their
+height. In like manner the love of liberty is developed to its greatest
+extent when despotism seeks to stifle it.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Brightest in dungeons, liberty thou art,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For there the habitation is the heart."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Twenty-one persons were arrested in Kief, and almost as many in Kharkov,
+and still Nihilism was not stamped out. Ph&oelig;nix-like it arose from the
+ashes of its martyrs.</p>
+
+<p>On February the 17th, 1880, just as the imperial family were about to
+dine, a mine was exploded beneath the winter palace, the guard-room was
+demolished, ten soldiers were killed and forty-five wounded; but, the
+divinity which sometimes hedges a king preserved the royal family from
+harm.</p>
+
+<p>Excitement was intense. A commission of public safety, with authority to
+preserve order at any cost, was at once appointed, with General Melikoff
+at the head.</p>
+
+<p>On the second day of March, during the festival, General Melikoff was
+shot at as he alighted from his carriage. The would-be assassin was so
+close that the General struck him in the face, and the man was arrested.</p>
+
+<p>At the trial it was discovered that the malefactor was a baptized Jew,
+by the name of Wadetsky Minsk. The trial excited universal interest. The
+culprit was asked by the judge why he had deserted his faith.</p>
+
+<p>"Because I found it impossible to live as a Jew," he replied, bitterly.
+"You took from me my children to send them to the army; you deprived me
+of the lands I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> had cultivated and left me penniless; you despised and
+degraded me, and when I had suffered until the fibres of my heart were
+torn, you showed me a glowing picture of the happiness that awaited me
+here and in heaven if I became a Christian. I allowed myself to be
+baptized."</p>
+
+<p>Minsk paused, and the expression of his face showed the mental anguish
+he was at that moment enduring. Suddenly, he continued, with great
+vehemence:</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I became a Christian, or rather a godless hypocrite, who had
+bartered away the sympathy of his co-religionists as well as his
+self-respect. How did you treat me after I had embraced your faith?
+Humiliations, worse than any I had experienced as a Jew, were showered
+upon me. I was regarded as something impure, shunned and execrated. It
+was too late to turn back, and in spite of your treatment, I remained a
+Christian, I adhered to the glorious faith which teaches 'Peace on earth
+and good-will to men.' In sheer desperation, I joined the band of
+unfortunates as reckless as myself, whose self-imposed mission it is to
+pave the way to liberty."</p>
+
+<p>Minsk preserved a defiant demeanor throughout the trial. He made no
+defence, nor did he endeavor to have his punishment mitigated. His
+condemnation followed, as a matter of course.</p>
+
+<p>The scaffold found him unsubdued.</p>
+
+<p>"My attempt has failed," he cried, "but think not that General Melikoff
+is safe! After me will come a second, and after him a third. Melikoff
+must fall, and the Czar will not long survive him."</p>
+
+<p>The fifth of March witnessed his death struggles upon the scaffold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Darker and darker it grew in Israel. The sun of its brief prosperity was
+gradually becoming obscured by heavy clouds of intolerance and
+fanaticism, clouds which did not display the proverbial silver lining of
+hope and comfort. This was a period of great activity for Mikail; never
+before had he found such congenial employment. After making a series of
+one-sided investigations, in which he interrogated principally those who
+had real or imaginary cause for complaint against the Hebrews, the
+priest embodied his conclusions in a book, entitled "The Annihilation of
+the Jews." Unquenchable hatred breathed in every page. With a cunning
+hand, he subverted facts to suit his fancy. He drew a vivid picture of
+the great dissatisfaction existing because the Hebrews were achieving
+success in various branches of enterprise to the exclusion of the
+gentiles. With peculiar logic he argued that sooner or later quarrels
+must ensue between the races, that if there were no Jews there could be
+no trouble, and that they should therefore be driven out of the country.
+His work accused the Jews of thriving almost entirely upon usury and
+gross dishonesty, in spite of the fact that many of the chief industries
+of Russia were in the hands of thrifty and honorable Israelites. It
+purposed to forbid the Jews from keeping inns, on the ground that they
+fostered intemperance, in the face of statistics which showed
+drunkenness to be most prevalent in provinces where no Jews are allowed
+to reside. It finally advised the confiscation of all property belonging
+to the Jews and the summary expulsion of the despised race from the
+Empire.</p>
+
+<p>Such a book, at a time when rulers and people were alike eager for
+sensation, acted like a firebrand. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> newspapers, knowing that the
+author was a member of the commission appointed by the Czar to
+investigate the conduct of the Jews and that his work would receive the
+imperial sanction, published extracts from its pages and commented
+editorially upon its arguments. Mikail's conclusions were accepted, and
+the cry rang throughout Russia, "Down with the Jews!" In all the land
+there was not a man who dared raise his voice in defence of the
+unfortunate people.</p>
+
+<p>That Minsk, the would-be slayer of Melikoff, had once been a Jew, served
+to increase the outcry against the race. Of the scores of Nihilists who
+had already been executed not one was alluded to as a Catholic, although
+that church claimed them as her own; but the newspapers added the word
+"Jew" every time they had occasion to mention his name.</p>
+
+<p>There were as yet no open hostilities in Russia. The great majority of
+laborers and <i>moujiks</i> knew nothing of this agitation. They lived in
+peace with their Jewish neighbors, on whom many were dependent for work
+and wages. For the best of reasons, they did not read the newspapers and
+they cared little for the vague rumors of discontent that now and then
+assailed their ears. Occasionally there were quarrels, but these were
+unimportant and of rare occurrence.</p>
+
+<p>A dispute arose one day in the shop of a man named Itikoff. A thief
+entered his place and having requested the proprietor to get him a
+certain article he rifled the money-box the moment the Jew's back was
+turned. Itikoff saw the act in a mirror, and turning suddenly he seized
+the man by the neck and beat him severely. The man's cries brought a
+crowd to the door who, seeing a fellow-gentile maltreated by a Jew, at
+once set upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> unfortunate shopkeeper and brutally assaulted him.
+They then sacked his shop and threw his merchandise into the street,
+whence it was quickly removed by the assembled mob. A number of
+policemen arrived and arrested Itikoff for instigating a riot. Despite
+his pleading he was carried to jail, and only released upon the payment
+of a fine of two hundred roubles.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p>
+
+<p>Such occasional incidents, while they were characteristic of Russian
+justice, were not of a nature to foster good feeling between the Jews
+and the gentiles.</p>
+
+<p>Then came the event of March 3, 1881. Through the mighty Empire flashed
+the awful news, "The Czar has been assassinated!" For a time all other
+affairs were left in the background. Before that dire catastrophe the
+petty quarrels of the races faded into insignificance. Jew and gentile
+alike met to mourn over their ruler and looked forward with pleasant
+anticipation to the accession of the new Czar, Alexander III., to the
+throne. The Nihilists, satisfied with their work, rested upon their arms
+and waited to see if the new Emperor would yield to their demands. The
+agitators who had conceived the crusade against the Jews as a means of
+diverting public attention from St. Petersburg had been unsuccessful and
+for the time being found their occupation gone. The Jew-haters,
+Drentell, Mikail and others, were busy at the capital, currying favor
+with the new government, and the poor Jews breathed more freely and
+enjoyed a brief respite from danger.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> See report of "Russian Outrages," in <i>London Times</i>.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE RIOTS AT ELIZABETHGRAD.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Terrible is the havoc wrought by the elements, the devastating flash,
+the furious wind; appalling is the destruction of the roaring flames,
+the all-devouring flood; but what elements can measure their forces with
+the fury of man, once he has torn asunder the bonds of reason and rushes
+madly and irresistibly onwards toward the accomplishment of his
+passionate desires.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Gefaehrlich ist's den Leu zu wecken,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Verderblich ist des Tigers Zahn;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jedoch das schrecklichste der Schrecken,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Das ist der Mensch in seinem Wahn."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The animosity of the Russians towards the Jews had not ceased, it had
+only been held in check for a final onslaught. The unfortunate year 1881
+dawned upon the Hebrews. Its beginning found them hopeful, and confident
+that for the future trouble would be averted; its close left them the
+victims of a cruel and relentless persecution. We would gladly spare the
+reader the harrowing details of this most atrocious of outbreaks, but we
+must follow the fortunes of our friends to the end.</p>
+
+<p>The meagre statements which found their way into our newspapers merely
+announced that riots against the Jews had occurred here and there, but
+were of so general a nature that they failed to impress the imagination.
+They never evoked pictures of the terrible scenes which actually
+occurred: men murdered, women outraged,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> infants butchered&mdash;arson,
+pillage, slaughter and lust combined.</p>
+
+<p>The ceaseless workings and writings of Mikail and other members of his
+commission, had gradually aroused the fury of the masses. Their
+utterances were not only repeated in every <i>kretschma</i>, but were grossly
+exaggerated. Professional agitators, who had nothing to lose and
+everything to gain by promoting a race quarrel, were actively at work
+among the people, keeping alive the flame of hatred which they had taken
+such pains to kindle.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabethgrad, a large city to the south of Kief, containing ten
+thousand Jews, was their first point of attack. Weeks before the event,
+proclamations were posted throughout the district, calling upon the
+inhabitants to throw off the yoke of the Jews and fixing Wednesday,
+April 27th, as the day for the general uprising. Copies of a fictitious
+<i>ukase</i>, commanding that the property of the Jews be confiscated and
+handed over to the Christians, were freely circulated and universally
+accepted as emanating from the Czar. Every lying accusation which had
+ever been employed against the Jews since the rise of Christianity was
+unearthed and used with telling effect. The atrocious calumny that the
+Jews required the blood of Christian children for their Passover rites
+was poured into eager ears. For a similar accusation the early
+Christians were tortured by the Romans, and in their days of prosperity
+they in their turn employed it against the Jews.</p>
+
+<p>The Israelites were paralyzed with terror at the fate which hung over
+them. The most influential of their number waited upon the Governor, who
+after much deliberation received them. He listened with well-feigned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>
+attention, while the Jews proved that they were law-abiding and that the
+accusations against them were unjust. He smiled pityingly when they had
+finished, and, reminding them that they were in God's hands, dismissed
+them. No further notice was taken of their appeal.</p>
+
+<p>On the twenty-seventh day of April came the crisis.</p>
+
+<p>In a <i>cabaret</i>, kept by a Jew named Kirsanoff, a religious dispute
+arose. The matter was of small importance, but it led to a scuffle by
+which a large crowd of idlers was attracted. The mob grew in numbers and
+in lawlessness, and having ejected the proprietor of the shop, they
+proceeded to despoil the place of its liquors. Inflamed by their copious
+libations, the rioters were ripe for any excess. At this moment there
+arose a ringleader, a man whom no one knew, but who had been active for
+some weeks past in stirring up the neighborhood. He mounted a cask and
+addressed the maddened crowd:</p>
+
+<p>"My friends," he cried, "your time has come! On to the Jewish quarter!
+Kill, destroy, take what you can! The Czar gives you their property."</p>
+
+<p>With a rallying shout he left the inn, the crowd following close upon
+his heels.</p>
+
+<p>"Down with the Jews!" arose the cry, and, as the mob increased, it was
+repeated by a thousand intoxicated wretches.</p>
+
+<p>Then began a wild destruction of property. Shops and warehouses were
+attacked and their contents carried out into the street, to be destroyed
+or carried away. Costly linens and works of art, fine furniture and
+articles of apparel were served alike. What was too bulky to be stolen
+was carried into the street and burned. A dozen bonfires roared and
+blazed in the Jewish quarter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Jews could no longer look passively upon this wanton destruction.
+Hastily conferring, they placed themselves under the leadership of one
+of their merchants, one Zoletwenski, a powerful and courageous man.
+Armed with clubs and such rude weapons as were within their reach, they
+hurried to the scene and attempted to defend their own. Alas! the little
+group was soon routed by the infuriated mob. Their resistance served
+only to increase the anger of their assailants, who now left the shops
+and turned their attention to the dwellings of the Hebrews.</p>
+
+<p>Zolotwenski's house was the first to be attacked. Down crashed the door
+and a hundred excited brutes forced their way through the house. They
+seized his wife, whom they found in bed sick and helpless, and choked
+her into insensibility. They followed his two daughters to a room in the
+upper story in which they had locked themselves, and with threats of
+vengeance worse than death they broke open the door. The poor girls
+threw themselves from the window to the ground below.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, the Rabbi, accompanied by a number of his congregation,
+again hastened to the Governor's palace and besought him to protect the
+innocent women and children. This time the appeal bore fruit. The
+Governor promised to call out the military, and an hour afterwards a
+detachment of soldiers appeared upon the scene. At first they stood by,
+amused spectators, cheering the mob whenever it broke into a dwelling,
+taunting the poor women who ran hither and thither in frantic endeavors
+to escape the wretches who pursued them; but later in the day the
+temptation to join the plunderers proved irresistible, and the soldiers
+became active participants in the outrages which continually increased
+in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> brutality. Indeed, the leaders of the soldiers soon assumed command
+of the mob, and, with a refinement of cruelty, incited the people to
+lust rather than to pillage.</p>
+
+<p>A number of rioters and soldiers broke into the dwelling of an old man
+named Pelikoff. The poor fellow had carried his sixteen-year-old
+daughter to the attic and barricaded the door. In vain his resistance.
+The rusty lock yielded to the onslaught from without; twenty men
+precipitated themselves into the apartment, and twenty men threw
+themselves upon the trembling child.</p>
+
+<p>"Kill me," cried Pelikoff, "but spare my innocent daughter!"</p>
+
+<p>"To the devil with them both!" laughed the leader.</p>
+
+<p>Pelikoff fought with desperation. With his bare fists he felled two of
+the stalwart soldiers to the ground, but he was no match against the
+overpowering numbers. They seized him in their arms, carried him to the
+roof, and hurled him over into the street below, while a dozen of the
+ruffians attacked the unfortunate girl. When sympathizing friends
+visited the house next day, they found the child dead, and Pelikoff a
+hopeless maniac.</p>
+
+<p>Night brought a cessation of hostilities, but not a glimmer of hope.</p>
+
+<p>With early dawn, the outrages recommenced. The synagogue now became the
+point of attack. Thither many of the women and children had fled for
+refuge, and the mob, actuated rather by lust than by love of plunder,
+proceeded to demolish the building, which they set on fire. The poor
+women, as they fled from the burning pile, were set upon and cruelly
+assaulted by the rioters. All that day and the next, the Hebrew quar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>ter
+was at the mercy of the savages. What the ax did not crush, fire
+destroyed. Five hundred houses and over one hundred stores and shops
+were ransacked; whole streets were demolished; property to the value of
+two million roubles was destroyed, and upwards of twenty people lost
+their lives while defending their possessions or their honor.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended the first anti-semitic riot. The plans for General Drentell's
+vengeance, through Mikail the priest, were in a fair way of being
+realized.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>RABBI AND PRIEST MEET.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The enemies of the Jews persisted in their attacks. Ignorant greed,
+commercial rivalry, religious intolerance, all played their part in
+shaping coming events. The mobs soon had ringleaders; unscrupulous
+agitators who counted on the gain they could derive from a general
+pillage of the property of the wealthy Israelites.</p>
+
+<p>The greatest terror reigned in Kief. But for the example of a few
+energetic men, prominent among whom was Rabbi Winenki, the Hebrew
+population would have been in despair.</p>
+
+<p>Thousands of Jews, driven out of Elizabethgrad by the atrocities
+committed at that place, fled to Kief and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> implored shelter of their
+hospitable co-religionists. They were for the greater part destitute of
+the commonest necessities of life. Their appeal was not in vain. The
+charitable Jews opened their houses, and there was scarcely a home that
+did not entertain one or more refugees.</p>
+
+<p>Rabbi Winenki hastily called a conference of his friends to devise means
+of assisting these unfortunates to emigrate. The project met with
+immediate approval, and an association was formed to aid all those who
+desired to find a home in distant America.</p>
+
+<p>General Drentell heard of this benevolent undertaking, and while he was
+not unwilling to drive the Jews out of the Empire, he deemed it the duty
+of the Israelites to consult with him before engaging in any project
+which would deprive the Czar of his subjects. He therefore sent a
+communication to the Rabbi, stating that he had no objection to such a
+committee as had been formed, provided it was created under the auspices
+of the Government. It was customary, he said, for the ruling family to
+be identified with all movements of this sort, and as an evidence of
+good-will towards the Jews, his wife, Countess Louise, desired to be
+elected Honorary President of the newly-organized society.</p>
+
+<p>The Israelites received this communication with undisguised contempt.
+The Rabbi denounced the inconsistency of the Governor, who had hitherto
+never denied his animosity towards the Jews, but who now desired to pose
+as their benefactor. A resolution was adopted declining to honor the
+Countess Drentell with the office she coveted.</p>
+
+<p>The Governor seized upon this as a pretext for the wickedest measures
+against the unfortunate people. The following day, placards were issued
+from a secret print<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>ing-press in Kief, and distributed throughout the
+town and surrounding country, declaring that the Czar had confiscated
+the property of the Jews and had presented it to his loyal subjects.
+Wherever the commiserating face of a Madonna gazed down from her icon,
+there hung one of these placards, which was destined to let loose the
+worst passions of which man is capable. As if this were not potent
+enough, Mikail the priest travelled in person through the province,
+denouncing the Jews, and exhorting the orthodox Russians to wreak
+vengeance upon them for real or fictitious crimes.</p>
+
+<p>On came the flood which, once started, threatened to engulf the entire
+Jewish population of Russia.</p>
+
+<p>On May 6th, the mob attacked the Hebrew quarter at Smielo, and thirteen
+men were killed, twenty wounded and sixteen hundred left without homes.</p>
+
+<p>It was authoritatively announced that a riot would begin in Kief on
+Sunday, the eighth of May. On weekdays the <i>moujiks</i> were for the
+greater part in the fields hard at work, while on Sunday they were free
+to take part in the plunder and destruction.</p>
+
+<p>The seventh was a sad day for our friends. It was the Sabbath, the last
+that many of them would live to celebrate. The synagogues were filled to
+overflowing with weeping women and terror-stricken men. There was no
+hope, no consolation anywhere. Sadly and sorrowfully the services
+proceeded, each worshipper praying as though his end were close at hand.
+Not even the inspiring words of Rabbi Winenki could cheer them. In vain
+he recalled the many miraculous deliverances of their forefathers, and
+exhorted his hearers to place their faith in Jehovah. His sermon but
+increased the gloom which hung over the congregation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>During the afternoon a delegation, headed by Mendel, proceeded to the
+Governor's palace and begged for an interview. They were admitted into
+the cabinet, where Governor Drentell, his wife and the Catholic priest
+Mikail awaited them. Mikail was sitting at a table, writing.</p>
+
+<p>"You wish to see me," said the Governor, curtly. "What is it you want?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency," began Mendel, with some hesitation, "we need scarcely
+remind you of the fact that we have always been loyal subjects; that we
+have never knowingly committed a wrong against the State, and that we
+have through our thrift and industry sought to add to the wealth of the
+country. We are now threatened with a serious calamity, one which will
+rob us of our hard-earned possessions and may possibly deprive us of our
+lives. Your excellency will surely not permit this outrage to be visited
+upon us. It lies in your power to prevent it and we beseech you, in the
+name of twenty thousand of the Czar's faithful subjects, who are now
+crowded in Kief, to vouchsafe us your gracious protection."</p>
+
+<p>The Governor listened impatiently. When Mendel had finished speaking, he
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"I do not see how I can help you. The Czar himself has declared your
+property forfeited, and I am afraid the people will insist upon their
+rights."</p>
+
+<p>"But the pretended <i>ukase</i> confiscating our property is false!" cried
+Mendel, with great indignation. "Your excellency knows it is but an
+invention of a body of men who wish to enrich themselves at the cost of
+our people. Your excellency surely cannot allow such outrages to be
+perpetrated!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Moderate your language, man," cried the Governor, angrily, rising from
+his chair, "or you will find yourself outside the palace doors."</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your excellency's pardon," answered Mendel, meekly, "if grief has
+made me disrespectful. In the name of my co-religionists, I desire to
+offer a proposition. If our property falls to the Czar's subjects, it is
+certainly better to preserve it intact than to expose it to the savage
+attacks of the rioters. If your excellency permits, we will bring you
+the keys of our houses and submit to any measures you may see fit to
+take. If the <i>ukase</i> is true, the property will revert to the State
+uninjured; if it is not true, your excellency will have the humanity to
+restore us to our rights."</p>
+
+<p>The Governor, surprised at this unexpected and unique proposition, found
+himself without a reply. He glanced significantly at the priest.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you say, Mikail?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Mikail, who had been apparently absorbed in writing, but who had not
+lost a word of the discussion, now arose, and in his deep, sonorous
+voice, answered:</p>
+
+<p>"The <i>ukase</i> is true, your excellency, and we have no right to render it
+nugatory. For twenty years the Jews have enjoyed equal rights with the
+Christians, and every endeavor has been made to assimilate them with the
+other inhabitants. In vain. The Jews constantly abused their new
+liberties, and by their acts brought upon themselves the ill-will of the
+entire nation. They form a state within the State, governing themselves
+by their own code of laws, which are often antagonistic to those of the
+land. I need not recapitulate the acts of cruelty they have perpetrated
+upon defenceless Christians, the wiles they have employed to defraud
+their creditors, or the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> usury for which they are notorious. I need not
+allude to the fact that they have driven the Catholic Russians from
+profitable fields of labor, and have appropriated to themselves every
+branch of trade. These acts and many others have now called forth the
+protests of the people, and the result is violence and robbery. It would
+be useless to control the mob, your excellency, for the wrongs under
+which they smart have driven them to desperation."</p>
+
+<p>While Mikail was speaking, Mendel gazed at him as though fascinated. He
+could not take his eyes from the handsome features and commanding form
+of the monk. He must have seen him before, he thought&mdash;but where?
+Suddenly the priest's resemblance to his own father struck him as
+remarkable.</p>
+
+<p>Ordinarily, the priest's unjust accusations would have called forth a
+vigorous protest from the Rabbi, but now he suddenly found himself
+bereft of reasoning power; he could but look upon his adversary in awe
+and wonder. The priest turned, and by the movement exposed his mutilated
+ear. The lobe had been torn completely off. Where could he have seen
+that ear before? Mendel stared as though in a dream. He struggled with
+his memory, but it failed him; all appeared a perfect blank. Then the
+priest, in the course of his denunciations, became more vehement than
+before, and made a movement with his left hand. The arm was stiff at the
+elbow, and the gesture appeared unnatural and restrained. Still Mendel
+looked and tried to reflect. That arm awoke a strange train of thoughts.
+His mind appeared sluggish to-day; he could remember nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the Rabbi uttered a piercing cry. Yes, it all came back to him
+now.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Jacob!" he cried, advancing towards the priest. "My brother Jacob
+arrayed against his own people!"</p>
+
+<p>The monk recoiled a step and looked at the Jew in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Is the man mad?" he asked, addressing the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"No; I am not mad," cried Mendel, excitedly. "As true as there is a God
+above us, you are my brother Jacob!"</p>
+
+<p>The priest, fully believing that the Rabbi had suddenly become insane,
+recoiled a step and drew his garments about him. The Governor glanced
+significantly at his wife, who had become as pale as death.</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi was unable to control his excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"Jacob, my brother," he cried again; "do you not remember me, Mendel? Do
+you not remember our home in Togarog? Do you not recollect how we were
+both stolen away from home on the night of my <i>bar-mitzvah</i>; how we were
+taken to Kharkov by the soldiers, and how we escaped and fled into the
+country? Do you not remember how we travelled along, weary and
+foot-sore, until you could no longer walk, and I ran to a neighboring
+village for assistance? When I returned, you had disappeared. Jacob, do
+you remember nothing?"</p>
+
+<p>Mikail stood with his head buried in his hands, drinking in every word
+of the gesticulating Rabbi.</p>
+
+<p>Yes; he did remember something; indistinctly, of course, but as each
+event was recalled it evoked a corresponding picture in his brain. Many
+things suddenly became clear which had been hitherto shrouded in
+mystery. The secret of his birth, concerning which he had so often
+questioned Countess Drentell without receiving a satisfactory reply, the
+indistinct recollection of strange events, and, finally, the familiarity
+of the ritual in the synagogue. When Mendel had ceased speaking, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>
+turned abruptly to the Countess, who, pale and agitated, was standing by
+the side of her husband. Surprise, anger, passion were portrayed in the
+priest's flashing eye and contracted features, and Louise shrank from
+him as he approached her.</p>
+
+<p>"Madam," he said, hoarsely, "what can I say in reply to this charge? You
+have been my protectress from childhood. Tell this man that he lies,
+that I am not the brother of a Jew."</p>
+
+<p>The Countess' lips parted, but neither she nor the Count found a reply.</p>
+
+<p>"See, their silence speaks for me!" cried Mendel, almost joyfully.
+"Jacob, it is true! I could not be mistaken. Your image has never left
+me since we parted on the highway, and I recognized you at once by your
+resemblance to our father, and by your torn ear and crippled arm."</p>
+
+<p>"Marks which I received at the hands of the accursed Jews," cried the
+priest, fiercely.</p>
+
+<p>"Not so, Jacob! Whoever told you that did not tell the truth. It was not
+the Jews, but a Christian, who tortured you because you were a Jew."</p>
+
+<p>Again Mikail confronted the Countess.</p>
+
+<p>"Madam, I demand to know whether this man speaks the truth or not?" he
+exclaimed, wildly.</p>
+
+<p>"He does, Mikail," replied Louise, nervously. "For the sake of your own
+happiness, we endeavored to keep you in ignorance of the facts. You were
+a Jew when we found you insensible on the road near Poltava. I took you
+to my home, and to save you from the misery and degradation of being a
+Jew, and also to bring a new soul into our holy church, I had you
+brought up in a convent as a Catholic priest."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And these injuries," asked Mikail, pale and trembling, "the marks of
+which I shall carry to the grave, were they not the work of the Jews?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of that I know nothing," answered the Countess, carelessly. "This man,"
+pointing to Mendel; "can tell you more about that than I."</p>
+
+<p>The face of the priest became livid. "I am a Jew," he cried; "I, a Jew!
+Oh God," he moaned, convulsively, "why did you send me this agony? My
+life has been one living falsehood, my whole existence a lie. My tongue
+has been taught to execrate my religion, my mind to plan the destruction
+of my father's people. Ha! ha! ha! you are right; the Jews are an
+accursed race, and I am accursed with them!" The priest broke into a
+wild laugh which sent a chill through the blood of his hearers.</p>
+
+<p>Mendel endeavored to speak to him, to grasp his hand; but Mikail looked
+at him with a meaningless stare, and turning, without another word, he
+fled like a maniac from the apartment.</p>
+
+<p>General Drentell turned furiously upon the Israelites.</p>
+
+<p>"Go!" he cried; "leave the palace! You have done mischief enough!"</p>
+
+<p>Mendel's strong form shook with emotion; he was weeping. He collected
+himself for a final appeal.</p>
+
+<p>"If your excellency would send us a regiment of soldiers," he said,
+preparing to leave; "our lives and our property might still be saved."</p>
+
+<p>"What care I for your property or your wretched lives?" shouted the
+Governor, in a frenzy. "I shall not trouble my soldiers for a pack of
+miserable Jews."<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi and his fellows found themselves outside of the palace walls,
+sad and disheartened.</p>
+
+<p>"Friends," he said, in a broken voice, "you have been witnesses of this
+terrible scene. Oh, God! to think that my brother, whom we mourned as
+dead, should have become a Catholic priest and be plotting the
+destruction of his people." Here Mendel's grief overcame him and he
+remained silent for some moments. Recovering his composure with an
+effort, he continued, in a subdued voice: "I have a favor to ask of you,
+my friends. Speak to no one of this unfortunate meeting. If the news
+came to my father's ears it would kill him."</p>
+
+<p>The men promised and the little band walked silently back to their
+homes.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> In the description of the outrages and acts of lawlessness
+in this and succeeding chapters, the author has not drawn upon his
+imagination, but has followed as closely as possible the narration of
+the Russian refugees on their arrival in America, and the graphic
+account sent by a special correspondent to the <i>London Times</i>, and
+republished in pamphlet form in this country in 1883.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Historical.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2>
+
+<h3>MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN.</h3>
+
+
+<p>During that memorable Sabbath day, hundreds of refugees came in from the
+surrounding villages where the outrages had already begun. They fled to
+Kief as a place of refuge, vainly believing that a city with such
+important mercantile interests centred in the Jewish population would be
+exempt from serious danger. The poor Israelites feared to stir from
+their homes; they sat in prayer during the entire day and fasted as on
+the Day of Atonement.</p>
+
+<p>Towards night, the door of Rabbi Winenki's house was suddenly thrown
+open, and Joseph Kierson, haggard and travel-stained, entered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What are you doing here?" ejaculated both the Rabbi and Kathinka, in a
+breath.</p>
+
+<p>"Has there been a riot in Berditchef?" queried Mendel.</p>
+
+<p>"No," answered Joseph, sinking into a chair; "not yet; but I heard that
+there would be danger here, and I hurried back to share it with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Unhappy man," said Kathinka. "Think of the peril of remaining here. If
+you are recognized they will take you back to prison."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not care," answered the young man. "I could not remain in
+Berditchef, when I knew that you and my family were exposed to danger.
+My place is at your side; come what may, I will live or die with you."</p>
+
+<p>"You are a noble boy," exclaimed the Rabbi, grasping his hand,
+affectionately. "Kathinka, get Joseph some supper; he must be hungry."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, Rabbi," returned Joseph. "I am hungry and tired, and yet
+since I have seen Kathinka I am supremely happy."</p>
+
+<p>It was a sad and fearful night. Sleep was out of the question for the
+threatened Israelites. All night long the noise of hammering could be
+heard; the Christians were attaching little wooden crosses to their
+houses that they might be spared by the mob. The Jews gathered their
+portable treasures and trinkets and conveyed them to places of safety.</p>
+
+<p>The morning of the eighth of May dawned; a quiet serene Sunday morning,
+the day on which is proclaimed throughout Christendom the golden rule:
+"Love your enemies."</p>
+
+<p>At an early hour armed gangs appeared on the streets,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> wandering hither
+and thither, without any definite plan or object. Ringleaders, however,
+were not long in making their appearance.</p>
+
+<p>As in Elizabethgrad, the first act of the mob was to storm the
+dram-shops; it needed the inspiration of <i>vodki</i>. Having broken in the
+doors and windows, they rolled the barrels out into the street. <i>Vodki</i>
+flowed in streams; the rioters waded, they bathed, they wallowed in
+whiskey. The women carried it away by the pailful. From shop to shop
+they went, becoming more hilarious, more boisterous as they proceeded.
+Through the uproar could be heard their shouts: "The Jews have lorded it
+over us long enough; it is our turn now! Down with the Jews!"</p>
+
+<p>They came to the inn of a man named Rykelmann and here they met their
+first resistance. Rykelmann refused to admit them. He had barricaded
+himself and his family behind stout doors and stood guard over his
+premises with a pistol. The mob besieged the place from all sides and
+finally succeeded in forcing an entrance in the rear. The poor
+proprietor was forced to accompany the rioters to his wine cellar, where
+they amused themselves staving in the barrels and breaking the bottles,
+while some of the drunken ruffians in the rooms above cut the throats of
+his wife and six children. It was the first blood shed in Kief and it
+served to stimulate the appetites of the vampires.</p>
+
+<p>Onward sped the rioters. They divided into groups, each, under a
+self-appointed leader, attacking a different quarter. Here and there
+houses were burning fiercely, and to the crackling of the flames was
+added the piteous cries of women and children consigned to a fiery
+death.</p>
+
+<p>At this stage several companies of soldiers, headed by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> Loris Drentell,
+appeared upon the scene. The Governor fearing that Christians might
+suffer in the general massacre, had at length yielded to the
+importunities of his counsellors and sent his son with a detachment of
+men as a protection, not to the Jews, but to the Christians. Loris had
+returned to Kief shortly after the assassination of the Czar.</p>
+
+<p>For an hour the soldiers allowed the work of destruction to go on
+unhindered, and then, no longer able to control their appetites, they
+joined the mob.</p>
+
+<p>The rioters came to the house of Hirsch Bensef.</p>
+
+<p>"He is the richest of them all," shouted a Russian, who had once been
+employed by him. "His house is a regular mine of wealth. I've been in
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Down with the house!" shouted the mob. "His wealth belongs to us. Show
+him no mercy!"</p>
+
+<p>They battered down the door, and regardless of the piteous pleadings of
+the aged man and his wife they pillaged and plundered from cellar to
+attic. Nothing was left intact. What could not be carried away was
+destroyed. Loris himself, stimulated by reports of the fabulous wealth
+which Bensef was said to possess, led the charge and took an active part
+in the attack. When he left the house it was because he could conceal no
+more of the booty about his person. Valuable property was scattered upon
+the ground by the rioters and lay in mud-bespattered heaps, to be picked
+up by the crowds of women and children that followed in their wake.
+Bensef and his wife escaped assault at the hands of the ruffians by
+fleeing precipitately through a rear door and taking refuge in the house
+of a Christian friend.</p>
+
+<p>Haim Goldheim's dwelling, not far from that of Bensef, was next
+attacked. Father, mother and children<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> had fled at the approach of the
+rioters, but the rich furniture and works of art which the well-to-do
+banker had accumulated fell into the destroying hands of the mob. An
+hour afterwards, hungry flames devoured all that remained of the once
+luxurious home.</p>
+
+<p>At the further end of the street was the house of one David Wienarski.</p>
+
+<p>"He, too, is rich!" shouted a Russian, and the rabble attacked the place
+without delay. A search failed to discover the wealth they expected to
+find, for the poor man had buried his meagre possessions in the garden,
+the night before. Disappointed in their search for plunder, they caught
+up his three-year-old child and threw it out of the window. It fell dead
+upon the pavement at the feet of Loris and his soldiers, and the poor
+corpse was mercilessly thrust into the gutter, to be out of the way.</p>
+
+<p>Still on they went! When their ardor slackened, the ringleaders
+harangued them and stimulated their flagging energies.</p>
+
+<p>"Leave nothing untouched!" they shouted. "The Czar has given it all to
+you! Take what belongs to you! Let not a Jew escape!"</p>
+
+<p>There were many among the ferocious gathering who really liked the Jews,
+who had for years lived side by side with them in peace and amity. They
+arose against their former friends, because the Czar, in a <i>ukase</i>,
+desired it; and his imperial will must be fulfilled. In the heat of the
+turmoil, the example set them by their leaders spurred them on; and on
+they went, thoroughly regardless of consequences.</p>
+
+<p>It would be impossible to describe all the outrages of that bloody day;
+the pen refuses to depict the appalling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> scenes, the dire calamities,
+the nameless atrocities that were visited upon the helpless Israelites.</p>
+
+<p>The Jews performed prodigies of valor. Though unarmed, many made a
+heroic resistance to the onslaught of the rioters.</p>
+
+<p>Down near the Dnieper stood the house of David Kierson. It was one of
+the earliest attacked during the day, and the rioters were crazed with
+drink and passion. David and his son Joseph, without any other weapons
+than their hands, kept the horde from entering their home. Joseph
+engaged three of the rabble at one time, while his father disabled man
+after man, until the drunken wretches desisted and turned their
+attention to houses where they would find less resistance.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a shout of terror, and the attention of the attacking
+party was directed towards the river.</p>
+
+<p>"A man overboard!" was the cry.</p>
+
+<p>"Let him drown," answered the mob, derisively; "it is only a Jew!"</p>
+
+<p>Joseph, who was still guarding the door of his father's house, saw the
+struggling creature in the waves of the muddy river. In an instant he
+had divested himself of his coat and shoes, and, edging his way through
+the crowd that lined the banks, he sprang into the water. A few powerful
+strokes brought him to the drowning man, whom he seized by the collar of
+his coat and held above the surface of the water. Then he swam slowly
+and laboriously to the shore, and, amid the silence of the spectators,
+he landed the man upon the banks. It was a Russian he had saved; one of
+the ringleaders of the men who had so recently besieged his home.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment the crowd was hushed in admiration of the heroic deed, but
+it was only for a moment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Forwards, we are losing time!" shouted one of the principals, and the
+rioters rushed down the streets to continue their work of destruction.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a priest, laboring under powerful excitement, appeared before
+them. His features were deadly pale and a strange fire gleamed in his
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop!" he cried; "in the name of the Madonna, I command you to stop!"</p>
+
+<p>The mob, overawed by his aspect as well as by his words, paused in their
+mad career. The ringleaders fell back for a moment in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Hush!" said one; "it is Mikail the priest who appointed us to our posts
+and gave us our instructions. Let us hear what he has to say."</p>
+
+<p>"You have been deceived," cried the priest, wildly. "Stop your mad
+slaughter. The Jews are innocent of the wrongs that have been imputed to
+them. Do you hear me? The Jews must not be persecuted! The <i>ukase</i>
+giving you their property does not exist; it was but an invention!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense," answered one of the leaders; "I saw it with my own eyes. On,
+friends! We want the wealth of the Jews; we want their blood! Down with
+them!"</p>
+
+<p>Mikail endeavored to bar the way.</p>
+
+<p>"You shall not do further harm, I tell you! Hear me! In the name of the
+Czar, I command you to halt!"</p>
+
+<p>The monk's incoherent sentences fell upon deaf ears. Like an avalanche,
+the mighty mob swept down upon him, carrying him along upon the
+resistless tide.</p>
+
+<p>When Joseph found his street deserted, he uttered a fervent prayer of
+gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>"We are safe for the moment, father," he said; "it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> will be some time
+before the rabble returns this way. I shall change my wet clothing, and
+while you guard the house, I will go to Rabbi Winenki's. Perhaps he
+needs my assistance."</p>
+
+<p>"Go, my boy," answered the old man; "and God be with you."</p>
+
+<p>A frightful scene had in the meantime been enacted at the Rabbi's
+dwelling, whither many an unprotected woman and child had hastened in
+the belief that it would be safe from the mob. The detachment of rioters
+under the leadership of Loris had already attacked it and the crying and
+pleading of the inmates could be heard above the confusion of the mob.
+But they pleaded in vain. Had anyone but Loris been in command, the
+house of the beloved and honored Rabbi might have been spared, for his
+many acts of kindness had endeared him to the <i>moujiks</i> as well as to
+his own people. When Loris arrived before the humble dwelling, however,
+there was but one sentiment in his heart&mdash;revenge. Too well he
+remembered the ignominious defeat he had experienced within those walls,
+and at the recollection of Kathinka, the base passion which absence had
+not subdued broke forth again and transformed the man into a savage.
+There was no pity, no mercy to be expected from him.</p>
+
+<p>At the windows of Winenki's house stood the women, their faces blanched
+with fear as they looked upon the blood-thirsty army without.</p>
+
+<p>"Down with the door!" shouted Loris, and a dozen ready hands shook the
+door upon its fastenings.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the men stopped in their mad work. Mikail the monk had rushed
+into their midst. His priestly robes were torn and covered with mud, his
+eyes were bloodshot, his face the picture of wild despair; his bosom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>
+heaved and his clenched hands gyrated madly in an effort to command
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Men of Kief!" he cried, hoarsely, "this bloody work must cease. In the
+name of the Czar I command you to go to your homes and molest the Jews
+no further! They are innocent of the charges brought against them."</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Loris. "Since when has Mikail turned protector of
+the Jews?"</p>
+
+<p>"They are innocent, I tell you!" cried the priest. "Leave them in
+peace!"</p>
+
+<p>"Down with the Jews!" cried one of the band. "The Czar has given us
+their property and we will have it!"</p>
+
+<p>"It is false!" shouted Mikail. "The <i>ukase</i> is a forgery. I myself wrote
+it and had it circulated. It never had the Czar's sanction."</p>
+
+<p>"The priest is mad!" cried Loris. "For three years he has incited us to
+enmity against the Jews and now he pleads their cause. On with the work!
+We have much to do before night."</p>
+
+<p>"In the name of his majesty, I command you to cease!" yelled the priest,
+in a hoarse voice.</p>
+
+<p>"In the name of the Governor of Kief, I command you to go on!" shouted
+Loris. "Down with Rabbi Winenki and his family! Down with the miserable
+race that killed our Saviour!"</p>
+
+<p>The battering at the door was resumed with renewed vigor. A cry of
+triumph announced to the crowd that the barrier was down, and a portion
+of the infuriated mob rushed into the house.</p>
+
+<p>In vain did Mikail circulate among the men, by turns commanding and
+pleading, to induce them to desist from their work of destruction.</p>
+
+<p>They looked at him askance and then at each other,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> significantly. But
+yesterday this same priest spurred them on to vengeance, filling them
+with passion against the people whose cause he now espoused.</p>
+
+<p>"He is mad," they whispered, and turning their backs upon him, they
+continued their excesses.</p>
+
+<p>Loris had in the meantime entered the room in which he had kneeled to
+the beautiful Kathinka.</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi with his aged father and a number of beardless youths, pupils
+of his school, guarded the door leading to the inner room, in which the
+women and girls had taken refuge. They had armed themselves with chairs
+and whatever happened to be within reach, and with these primitive
+weapons they expected to hold the enemy in check. As well endeavor to
+stay the flood of the mighty Dnieper with a net drawn across its stream!
+The mob charged upon them with an impetus that could not be resisted.
+The Rabbi, single-handed, felled two powerful <i>moujiks</i>; then he himself
+fell bleeding to the floor. His gray-bearded father was dealt a blow on
+the head from a stout cudgel, and he lay upon the ground in the agonies
+of death. The young men seeing that resistance but increased their
+peril, threw down their weapons and fled, leaving the inner room with
+its helpless inmates in the hands of the rioters.</p>
+
+<p>Loris was the first to enter, and his companions were not slow in
+following his example. A number of maidens, crazed with horror, sprang
+from the windows, only to fall into the arms of the rabble without.
+Three of the women were killed in the heroic struggle for their honor
+and not less than twenty suffered indignities worse than death.</p>
+
+<p>The Rabbi's wife, Recha, succeeding in escaping the vigilance of the
+invading party and hurried into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> outer room. Suddenly her eyes
+encountered the form of her husband lying upon the floor, bathed in
+blood and apparently dead. With a shriek she threw herself upon his
+prostrate body. When her friends attempted to move her after the danger
+had passed, they found that terror and grief had done their work. Recha
+had lost her reason.</p>
+
+<p>On his entrance into the room, Loris gazed about him, and soon singled
+out Kathinka, standing among her friends, silently praying. With a cry
+of mingled joy and rage, he threw himself upon her and put his arms
+firmly around her.</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! beautiful Kathinka!" he said, ironically; "so we meet again. How
+happy you must be to see me! Yes, I love you still, and you shall be
+mine, all mine! Don't struggle, sweet one; I shall remove you to my
+dwelling, far from all this noise and tumult. Ho, there! make room there
+for me and my prize!"</p>
+
+<p>Lifting the struggling maiden in his arms, he pressed through the crowd,
+out into the street. There he set down his precious burden and paused to
+regain his breath.</p>
+
+<p>Kathinka looked hastily about her. There were many in the crowd who had
+known her since her childhood, many whom her father had befriended, but
+they stood passively by and abstained from offering her either
+assistance or sympathy. Then, as Loris again wound his arms about her;
+she cried loudly for help:</p>
+
+<p>"Come to my aid," she cried, imploringly. "Do none of you know me; will
+none lend me a helping hand? I am Kathinka, the daughter of Rabbi
+Winenki! Will no one raise his arm in my defence?"</p>
+
+<p>There was no reply to her appeal; the rioters had no mercy for the
+despised Jewess.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Of a sudden the crowd parted. Thank God, there was a champion for
+Kathinka. Mikail the priest elbowed his way through the dense mass of
+maddened humanity and with eyes wilder and face more haggard than
+before, he approached the shrieking girl. With a cry of fury, he fell
+upon Loris and endeavored to tear him from his victim. Loris was for a
+moment too astonished to offer any resistance.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want with me, priest?" he cried, angrily, when he
+recognized his assailant.</p>
+
+<p>"I am here to remind you of your honor, of your manhood; to plead with
+you in behalf of that poor maiden. You shall not harm a hair of her head
+while I have strength to defend her."</p>
+
+<p>"This is, indeed, wonderful!" laughed Loris, mockingly. "The arch
+Jew-hater has become the champion of innocence! Go to your monastery,
+priest, and leave the battle-field to soldiers!" and pushing Mikail
+contemptuously aside, he renewed his hold upon the girl, who,
+overpowered by her terror and despair, had become insensible.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment another form pushed its way through the crowd. It was
+Joseph, who after great difficulties, had at length succeeded in
+reaching the spot. He, too, had heard Kathinka's despairing cry, and had
+hastened to protect her. A rapid glance made the situation clear to him
+and he at once prepared to attack the Governor's son. But the priest had
+forestalled him. With a yell of rage, Mikail threw himself upon the
+young ruffian and the two were instantly engaged in a desperate combat.
+Loris was inspired by passion and revenge; the priest was moved by a
+feeling which he could not himself analyze. The hatred which he bore
+Loris<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> broke out in unreasoning fury; he had heard Kathinka's cry of
+distress, had heard her assert that she was the daughter of his own
+brother, and in the strange revulsion of feeling which had overcome him
+since yesterday, he determined to effect her release at all hazards.</p>
+
+<p>The men twined and twisted about each other, swayed to and fro in their
+endeavor to gain the mastery, while the crowd, forgetting its own
+passions, formed a circle about them, applauding now the one, now the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Joseph had raised the helpless form of his betrothed from the
+ground and endeavored to carry her through the mob. A score of brawny
+arms barred the way.</p>
+
+<p>Fear for his beloved gave the young man almost superhuman strength.
+Seizing in his right hand a cudgel which was lying on the ground, while
+his left arm still supported Kathinka, he hewed a passage through the
+ranks. Eight men lay sprawling upon the ground and their companions
+retreated before the telling blows of Joseph's club. When he found
+himself unembarrassed by the rioters, he lifted Kathinka in both his
+arms and ran as fast as his feet would bear him to his father's house,
+which, having already been attacked, he hoped would escape a second
+visit.</p>
+
+<p>The combat between Loris and Mikail was short. The priest labored under
+a manifest disadvantage in being crippled in one arm, while Loris,
+driven to desperation by seeing Kathinka carried off, gathered all his
+strength and with a mighty blow hurled the monk to the ground. There was
+a dull crash. The priest's head had struck the pavement with such force
+that his skull was crushed and a crimson stream of blood gushed from his
+lips and nostrils, his body quivered, his maimed arm fell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> heavily at
+his side. Mikail, the Jew-hater, had ceased to exist.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Loris was dazed and conscience-stricken. To kill a priest
+was a serious crime. Moreover, that priest had been his father's friend
+and favorite adviser, and Loris had much to fear from parental wrath.
+The mischief was done, however, and bestowing upon the dead body a
+parting glance of ineffable hatred, he set to work to reunite his
+scattered band.</p>
+
+<p>The outrages in the Jewish quarter had been duly reported to the
+Governor, who shrugged his shoulders, rubbed his palms and smiled with
+secret satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"Revenge is sweet," he muttered, and he placed himself at the window,
+where he could witness the burning of the houses.</p>
+
+<p>About noon the body of Mikail was carried past the palace to the
+Petcherskoi convent, and at the same time exaggerated accounts reached
+Drentell's ears of the dangers to which his beloved son had been
+exposed.</p>
+
+<p>"It is time to put an end to the attack," thought the Governor, and
+another detachment of soldiers was sent out to assist the first in
+quelling the riot and to arrest all disorderly persons found upon the
+streets. This order was vigorously enforced. About two thousand people
+were made prisoners, nearly half of them Jews, arrested for protecting
+their lives and property.</p>
+
+<p>The scenes in the Jewish quarter at the close of the riot, beggar
+description. Dust and feathers filled the air, for one of the mob's
+chief amusements consisted in tearing open feather-beds and pillows and
+scattering their contents. Broken furniture, dishes and stoves strewed
+the pavements. Not a pane of glass or door was left entire. It was as
+though an army had invaded the place. Nearly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> three thousand Israelites
+were without shelter, their houses having been burned or otherwise
+demolished. Many hundreds more were reduced to poverty, having been
+despoiled of everything. The destruction of human life was appalling,
+many corpses being recovered from the river, days after the occurrence;
+and the number of people who were driven to insanity by the atrocities
+committed will probably never be known.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p>
+
+<p>Rabbi Winenki, who had received a dangerous wound, recovered slowly. His
+grief at the apparently hopeless insanity of his wife and the death of
+his father were indescribable; they were in a slight measure mitigated
+by the knowledge that his daughter had been spared the barbarous fate
+that had befallen so many of Israel's women.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>WHAT THE PRIEST HAD ACCOMPLISHED.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The horrible crimes which have been described in preceding chapters were
+insignificant compared with those to be committed. Mikail the priest,
+the Jew-hater, was dead, but the evil of which he had been the author,
+lived after him. His ghost stalked through the Empire, converting it
+into one vast charnel-house.</p>
+
+<p>Simultaneously with the riots in Kief, there were outbreaks in every
+town and village throughout the province. At Browary, the synagogue in
+which the terrified<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> people had congregated was attacked and destroyed.
+The mob attacked the Jewesses, and assaulted many of them. Three of the
+poor victims died and a number of others found their only escape in the
+river.</p>
+
+<p>Scenes like these occurred daily throughout Southern Russia. Whole towns
+and districts were ablaze with riot and violence. The story that the
+Czar had handed Jewish property over to his Catholic subjects spread
+upon the breath of the wind, and the populace was not slow to
+appropriate its new possessions. The Governors of the various provinces
+looked on with folded arms at the barbarities enacted under their eyes.
+Occasionally the pleadings of the poor Jews appeared to prevail and the
+military was called out; but it was not to protect the Hebrews, but to
+prevent them from defending themselves.</p>
+
+<p>The riots were invariably announced for days, often weeks, beforehand,
+the police frequently stimulating the people to hatred and violence.</p>
+
+<p>The municipalities, with the consent of the provincial government, had
+taken every means to add to the misery of the situation. Mikail's book,
+"The Annihilation of the Jews," became the bible of the fanatical
+masses. Its sentences were distorted and exaggerated and then read to
+the intoxicated wretches at the village <i>kretschmas</i>. Petitions were
+circulated in the provinces to devise means to drive the Jews out of the
+towns in which they had no legal right to live. In other places where no
+such restrictions existed, petitions were sent to the authorities
+requesting the adoption of measures to prevent the increase of Jewish
+residents.</p>
+
+<p>At Kief, the day after the riot, Governor Drentell called an assembly of
+his counsellors to form a plan for expelling the Jews. Old documents
+were unearthed and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> a rigid scrutiny instituted to discover what were
+the restrictions upon the Jewish population of the city. The laws
+enacted under the tyrannical reign of Nicholas were examined and the
+discovery was made that nine thousand of the Jews in Kief had no legal
+right to live there. For twenty years these laws had slumbered
+unenforced. With a cruelty without parallel in the history of the world,
+Drentell determined to enforce these ancient edicts and to expel all
+Jews in excess of the legal number.</p>
+
+<p>The Jews were accordingly notified that before August the number in
+excess of the lawful population would be expected to seek another
+domicile.</p>
+
+<p>Wailing and lamentations broke out afresh in Israel. Many families did
+not possess the means of departing, having lost everything in the recent
+attacks. Others did not know in what direction to turn their weary
+steps, for persecutions were reported all through Russia and in Germany
+as well. Others again mourned at the thought of leaving behind them aged
+relatives, beloved friends, the graves of their cherished dead and the
+thousand memories that hallowed their old homes.</p>
+
+<p>In their extremity, the Jews again petitioned the Governor to temper his
+authority with mercy, and one of Drentell's counsellors, moved by the
+piteous appeal, recommended leniency in dealing with the stricken race.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," replied Drentell, rising in anger; "either I or the Jews
+must go! Russia is not large enough for both. I insist upon a strict
+enforcement of these regulations."</p>
+
+<p>The Governor's word prevailed. By the beginning of July, over eight
+thousand Jews had been expelled from Kief alone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was a sultry day towards the end of June. The air was unusually
+oppressive, the reapers in the fields moved listlessly under the
+scorching sun, the leaves on the trees were motionless and the birds had
+ceased their warbling.</p>
+
+<p>The Jewish quarter was quiet, almost deserted. A pall hung over the
+dismal homes; there were no children in the streets to stir the air with
+their merry voices. As men passed each other their greetings were short
+and formal; they scarcely stopped to bid each other good-day. The entire
+Jewish population was in mourning. Hearts were bleeding for some
+departed soul cut off in the midst of life by the lawless mob, or
+throbbing with suppressed sorrow at the enforced departure of relatives
+or friends for the distant shores of America.</p>
+
+<p>One by one a number of our old acquaintances and some of their friends
+entered the dwelling of Rabbi Winenki, glancing furtively behind them as
+though in fear of being watched. In the Rabbi's house there was some
+show of festivity, although the attempt was half-hearted and conveyed an
+impression far from joyous.</p>
+
+<p>It was the long anticipated wedding day of Kathinka and Joseph. All
+their bright prospects and pleasant anticipations of a professional life
+at home were at an end. Their one desire was to be married before
+seeking a new existence in America. The guests spoke in subdued voices,
+as though fearful of exciting the animosity of their gentile neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>Rabbi Mendel, who had but recently risen from a bed of pain, was wan and
+pale; his tall and stately form had shrunk, his massive head was bowed,
+his raven locks had become gray.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Quietly and without ostentation, the good man performed the ceremony
+according to the Jewish rites. The ring was given, the glass broken, the
+blessings pronounced, and the couple stood hand in hand to receive the
+congratulations of their assembled friends. Smiles and merry laughter
+gave way to tears and sobs. It was a touching spectacle! The young
+couple were to remain in Kief until the following Sunday, and then, with
+two thousand other unfortunates, to leave the place in which they had
+lived and loved, prospered and suffered.</p>
+
+<p>On the Sabbath, the synagogue was crowded; for many of the worshippers
+it would be the last service they would attend in their native land.
+Tearful and heartfelt were the prayers that ascended to Jehovah's
+throne. The service for the dead was as impressive as scalding tears and
+broken hearts could make it. Mendel ascended the pulpit, that place from
+which he had so often instructed his people in wisdom and godliness, and
+with streaming eyes bid the wanderers farewell.</p>
+
+<p>He spoke briefly but impressively, concluding by giving them much good
+advice as to their conduct in their new homes in America.</p>
+
+<p>"Lead irreproachable lives," he said. "And remember one thing more:
+stoop not to deceit or to crime. In America, as in Russia, every evil
+act of the individual Jew will rebound upon the entire race. If the
+gentile sins, he alone bears the brunt of the punishment. If a Jew
+transgresses the law of the land, his religion is heralded to the world
+and the wrong he has committed brings odium upon the entire household of
+Israel. It has been so in the past, it will continue so for generations
+to come. Does not this admonish you to avoid evil, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> make your conduct
+exemplary, and to be models of virtue and righteousness?"</p>
+
+<p>While the Rabbi was speaking, it seemed as though an angel of comfort
+and hope had entered the holy place. Tears were dried and the
+unfortunates whose destiny was hurrying them far from all that earth
+held dear, no longer dreaded the approaching journey.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of that memorable Sabbath was spent in bidding farewell to
+friends and relatives. There was grief in every household.</p>
+
+<p>We have seen how Mordecai Winenki perished, a victim of the infuriated
+mob. His wife, Leah, died a short time afterward, broken-hearted at the
+separation from her life-long companion. Hirsch Bensef and his wife
+declared they were too old to brave the rigors of a journey to America,
+and, though broken in spirit as well as in fortune, they preferred to
+remain in Kief. The Rabbi would have gladly accompanied his daughter to
+the New World, but devotion to duty bound him to his old home. The
+Kiersons accompanied their son and his bride upon their long voyage. The
+refugees who left Kief consisted chiefly of the poorer classes, who,
+being without means, were assisted by their more fortunate
+co-religionists to emigrate. There were many sturdy young people among
+the group, who, like Joseph Kierson and his wife, hoped for better
+opportunities than were possible in their own intolerant land. The
+wealthier classes, those who still had important mercantile interests in
+Russia, as a rule, remained at home, in expectation of a speedy end of
+the persecutions.</p>
+
+<p>On the next day a sad and sorrowful procession moved slowly out of Kief.
+They were accompanied part of the way by grieving friends, and trudged
+bravely along on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> foot to Brody, on the Austrian frontier, where they
+arrived after many days, foot-sore and weary. A pitiful state of affairs
+confronted them here. Nearly six thousand refugees from Russian villages
+had assembled in Brody and were in a completely helpless state. Huddled
+in cellars, stowed away in sheds, in boxes, under lumber, lay the
+unfortunate people, many of whom but a few weeks before had been rich
+and prosperous. The travellers from Kief did what they could to mitigate
+the horrible condition of these wretches, but the trouble was of such
+magnitude that they could do little to relieve it.</p>
+
+<p>On to Hamburg went our friends, on foot, in wagons, or by rail, as their
+means warranted; on to Hamburg, there to take ship for the haven of
+their hopes, the free and hospitable shores of America.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> For the corroboration of these facts, see the account of
+the <i>London Times</i> special correspondent; also, Mr. Evarts' speech
+delivered in Chickering Hall, New York, in March, 1882.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE LAND OF THE FREE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>A letter from Kathinka Kierson to her father:</p>
+
+<p class='author'><span class="smcap">July</span> 1, 1887.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dear Father</span>:&mdash;We grieved and rejoiced on the receipt of your
+last letter: grieved that the Jews of Russia are still smarting under
+the lash of persecution, that outbreaks of intolerance still continue;
+and we rejoice to learn that dear mother has almost entirely recovered
+her reason. We trust that her cure will be permanent, and that the
+evening of your life will be as happy as you so richly deserve. It is
+truly as you so often said: "Sorrow is essential in bringing out the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>
+best there is in man." As a severe storm in nature purifies the elements
+and the earth, reviving the plants, clarifying the air, causing the sun
+to shine more gloriously, so, too, do the storms which beset the soul
+and wring from it its groans and sighs, purify the spiritual man and
+place him nearer to the throne of his Maker. I cannot but thank the
+Lord, when I contrast our present position with what would have been our
+lot had we remained in Kief. I know we have been favored by a kind
+Providence above many of our fellow-refugees, and we do not forget to
+thank God for his blessings.</p>
+
+<p>After the trials we experienced on coming to America, the desperate
+struggle with poverty, the difficulties Joseph experienced in securing
+work, the drifting from city to city in hopes of bettering our
+condition, and the reverses which almost drove us to despair, the sun of
+prosperity is at length beginning to shine for us. Our experience is but
+another illustration of the adage, that "opportunities come to him who
+seeks them."</p>
+
+<p>It is now nearly a year since a combination of circumstances brought us
+to Chicago. I have already written how Joseph obtained employment in a
+large furniture factory, and by indomitable energy and close attention
+to business, worked his way up from a simple laborer to be the overseer
+of the entire works. I now have more good news for you, news which your
+kind heart will be glad to hear.</p>
+
+<p>About six months ago we met an old gentleman, named Pesach Harretzki,
+or, as he calls himself, Philip Harris. He is a large manufacturer of
+cloth, and had business transactions with the factory in which Joseph
+was employed. When he heard that my husband was from Kief, he evinced
+the liveliest interest and eagerly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> inquired after the welfare of a man
+whom he remembered as a boy of fourteen, one Mendel Winenki. When Joseph
+told him that he had married the daughter of Rabbi Winenki, Mr. Harris
+could scarcely restrain his impatience until he saw me. He called at our
+home that same evening and whiled away the time with anecdotes of you,
+dear father. He told us how ambitious you were to study, and that he
+gave you the first German books you ever possessed. He said that his
+conscience frequently smote him when he thought of the terrible risk to
+which he had exposed you in giving you those books. Altogether, he is a
+most agreeable man, and, having known you as a boy, he naturally took a
+paternal interest in me. One day he made Joseph a tempting offer to take
+a position in his factory. He was getting old, he said, and needed a
+young assistant upon whom he could rely. Joseph at once accepted and
+entered Mr. Harris' employ. My husband has a wonderful mind. I would not
+tell him so to his face, for fear of making him vain, but he is
+undoubtedly a genius. He had been in his new position scarcely a month
+before he had so revolutionized and improved upon the hitherto neglected
+establishment that the business of the house increased materially.
+Yesterday, Mr. Harris offered to take him into partnership with him,
+and, as he is getting old and is very wealthy, the probabilities are
+that he will eventually retire and leave the business entirely in
+Joseph's hands. We are, therefore, on the high road to prosperity.</p>
+
+<p>And now, dear father, we have but one desire, namely, to have you with
+us. Leave your onerous duties in Kief, take passage in a good vessel for
+mother and yourself, and spend the remainder of your life with us in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>
+contentment and peace. You need not pass your time in idleness. There
+are many of our countrymen here and your talents will be appreciated in
+America as well as in Kief. Joseph unites with me in hoping that you
+will not decline our invitation.</p>
+
+<p>It will interest you to learn that David Kierson and his wife are
+prominent members of the Hebrew colony at Vineland, New Jersey, founded
+by a number of benevolent Jews of Philadelphia. They are prospering and
+happy. Both the children are well and send their kisses to you and
+mother. Little Mordecai (we call him Morris, as it sounds more American)
+is a very bright little fellow, with more questions in an hour than I
+can answer in a day. Will he ever resemble his grandfather?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Letter from Rabbi Mendel Winenki to his daughter:</p>
+
+<p class='author'><span class="smcap">Kief, August</span> 16, 1887.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot attempt, my dear children, to describe the feelings of joy and
+gratitude with which I read your letter. God be praised for his love and
+goodness. I will write to Pesach Harretzki at once. Whatever I am or
+have been I owe to the inspiration of those two books he gave me.</p>
+
+<p>I am sorry to disappoint you, my dear ones, by not accepting your
+invitation to come to America.</p>
+
+<p>I have a great and holy duty to perform in my native land. The misery
+here is acute, active persecution still continues, the poverty of our
+people increases every day,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> and with such misfortunes they would fast
+fall into mental and moral stupor were there not some one constantly
+with them to cheer and instruct them. My mission, while difficult, is a
+glorious one. I have not an idle moment. I must visit the sick, console
+the bereaved, assist the poor, instruct the ignorant and sympathize with
+the unfortunate. By my own example I must seek to inculcate such moral
+lessons as will tend to elevate them above the condition into which
+their misfortunes might degrade them. To desert my post at such a time
+would be cowardly.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, your mother, while sufficiently well to resume her household
+duties, is still suffering, is often melancholy and requires constant
+attention. In the company of her old friends and associates she may
+entirely recover, but removed to a strange land, among a strange people,
+she might suffer a relapse. No, believe me, my children, I am happier
+here than I could be in America.</p>
+
+<p>Over a thousand of our towns-people will emigrate this week. Under the
+new laws, which deprive us of every right and liberty, these
+unfortunates find it impossible to live at home and are bound for the
+promising land of America. Should any of them find their way to your
+city, receive them cordially, for "all Israel is one family." In your
+prosperity forget not those who are less fortunate than you, and give
+praise to the Lord for the blessings he has bestowed upon you.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RABBI AND PRIEST***</p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Rabbi and Priest, by Milton Goldsmith
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Rabbi and Priest
+       A Story
+
+
+Author: Milton Goldsmith
+
+
+
+Release Date: March 6, 2007  [eBook #20756]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RABBI AND PRIEST***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Janet Blenkinship and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from digital material
+generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries
+(http://www.archive.org/details/americana)
+
+
+
+Note: Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
+      http://www.archive.org/details/rabbiandpriest00goldrich
+
+
+
+
+
+RABBI AND PRIEST.
+
+A Story
+
+by
+
+MILTON GOLDSMITH.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Philadelphia:
+Jewish Publication Society of America.
+1891.
+Copyright, 1891,
+by the Jewish Publication Society of America.
+
+Press of
+Edward Stern & Co.
+Philadelphia.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Towards the end of 1882, there arrived at the old Pennsylvania Railroad
+Depot in Philadelphia, several hundred Russian refugees, driven from
+their native land by the inhuman treatment of the Muscovite Government.
+Among them were many intelligent people, who had been prosperous in
+their native land, but who were now reduced to dire want. One couple, in
+particular, attracted the attention of the visitors, by their
+intellectual appearance and air of gentility, in marked contrast to the
+abject condition of many of their associates. Joseph Kierson was the
+name of the man, and the story of his sufferings aroused the sympathy of
+his hearers. The man and his wife were assisted by the Relief Committee,
+and in a short time were in a condition to provide for themselves.
+
+The writer had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Kierson a few years later,
+and elicited from him a complete recital of his trials and an account of
+the causes of the terrible persecution which compelled such large
+numbers of his countrymen to flee from their once happy homes.
+
+His story forms the nucleus of the novel I now present to my readers.
+While adhering as closely as possible to actual names, dates and events,
+it does not pretend to be historically accurate. In following the
+fortunes of Mendel Winenki, from boyhood to old age, it endeavors to
+present a series of pictures portraying the character, life, and
+sufferings of the misunderstood and much-maligned Russian Jew.
+
+In the description of Russia's customs and characteristics, the
+barbarous cruelty of her criminal code and the nihilistic tendency of
+the times, the author has followed such eminent writers as Wallace,
+Foulke, Stepniak, Tolstoi and Herzberg-Fraenkel. The accounts of the
+riots of 1882 will be found to agree in historic details with the
+reports which were published at the time.
+
+With this introduction, I respectfully submit the work to the
+consideration of an indulgent public.
+
+                                                 MILTON GOLDSMITH.
+  PHILADELPHIA, April, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+RECRUITS FOR SIBERIA.
+
+
+We are in Russia.
+
+On the high road from Tscherkask to Togarog, and not far from the latter
+village, there stood, in the year 1850, a large and inhospitable-looking
+inn. Its shingled walls, whose rough surface no paint-brush had touched
+for long generations, seemed decaying from sheer old age. Its tiled roof
+was in a most dilapidated state, displaying large gaps imperfectly
+stuffed with straw, and serving rather to collect the rain and snow for
+the more thorough inundation of the rooms below than to protect them
+from the elements. The grounds about the house were in keeping with it
+in point of picturesque neglect, and were as innocent of cultivation as
+the building was of paint. A roughly paved path led from the highway to
+the tavern door. Two old and sickly poplar trees cast a poor and
+half-hearted shade upon the parched ground, and mournfully shook their
+leaves over the scene of desolation. The herbage grew in isolated
+patches on a black and uncultivated soil. Nature might have originally
+been friendly to the place, but generations of poverty and neglect had
+reduced it to a condition of wretched misery.
+
+As was this particular spot, so was the entire village. Slavery had
+wound its chains about the inhabitants, stifling whatever energy they
+possessed, entailing upon them constant toil to satisfy the exorbitant
+demands of their task-masters. Hence, even with a genial sun and a
+southern climate, the fields were barren, the crops poor and the people
+sunk in abject poverty.
+
+The dilapidated inn, or _kretschma_, was known in the vicinity by the
+ideal and appropriate name of "Paradise"--appropriate, because in it
+many a sinner had been tempted and had fallen from grace. It was the
+popular rendezvous of the village peasants. Thither the serfs living in
+the village of Togarog and for miles around, would repair after their
+labors in the fields, and forget their fatigue in a dram of rank Russian
+_vodka_. Upon the barren plot of ground before the tavern, the _mir_, or
+communal assembly, was wont to meet, and in open session elect its
+Elder, decide its quarrels, allot its ground to the heads of families,
+and frame its rude and primitive laws.
+
+In its bare and smoke-begrimed public room, the people of Togarog
+assembled night after night, and discussed, as far as the autocratic
+government of the Czar Nicholas would allow, the political news of the
+day. Poor souls! They enjoyed little latitude in this direction. Items
+of information concerning the acts of the central government in St.
+Petersburg were few and vague. The newspapers, owing to an extremely
+severe censorship, gave but meagre accounts of the political situation
+in the capital, and these were of necessity favorable to the government.
+Now and then, however, came rambling accounts of insurrections, of acts
+of cruelty, of large bodies of political offenders banished to a
+life-long slavery in Siberia. At times came the news that the Czar had
+been inspired by Providence to inaugurate some new and important reform,
+only to be followed by the announcement that Satan had held a conference
+with his Imperial Majesty, and that the reform had fallen through. All
+such information was carried into Togarog by word of mouth, for few of
+the good _moujiks_ could read the papers. Woe to anyone, however, who
+allowed his tongue too great a license! Woe to him who dared utter a
+suggestion that the existing laws bore heavily upon him. It was a
+dangerous experiment to criticise in a hostile spirit any of the abuses
+heaped upon the degraded people. The condition of Russia was
+deplorable.[1] Insurrection and rebellion nourished in all parts of the
+Empire. Degraded to the lowest depths, the crushed worm turned
+occasionally, but free itself it could not. Brave spirits arose for whom
+exile had no terrors. With their rude eloquence they incited their
+fellow-sufferers to throw off the yoke of tyranny and assert their
+freedom; and the morrow found them wandering toward the snow-bound
+confines of Siberia. Patriotism was not very much encouraged in Russia.
+
+The proprietor of the tavern, a burly, red-faced Cossack, Peter
+Basilivitch by name, was in the employ and under the protection of the
+Governor of Alexandrovsk, in which department the village of Togarog
+lay. The rent paid by Basilivitch was nominal, it is true, but he sold
+enormous quantities of liquor, all of which he was obliged to buy from
+the Governor's stills; furthermore, he furnished his master with such
+information concerning the actions, words, and even thoughts of his
+patrons, as came under his observation; and as the serfs that frequented
+"Paradise" had no suspicion of the true relation betwixt master and
+man, the Governor was enabled to keep himself accurately informed as to
+the sayings and doings of his subjects.
+
+Let us enter the public room, this bright Sunday afternoon in the month
+of April, in the year 1850. A dense crowd has assembled to-day to do
+honor to Basilivitch's wretched liquor. The face of the host fairly
+gloats in anticipation of the lucrative harvest that he will glean. He
+rubs his hands gleefully, as he orders his servants about.
+
+"Here, Ivan, a pint of _vodka_, and be quick about it! Alexander, you
+lazy dog, here comes the village elder, Selaski Starosta--see that he is
+served!"
+
+And the crowd continues to grow, until his room will scarcely seat all
+the guests.
+
+There are sturdy farmers, wearing their heavy coats and fur caps, in
+spite of the sultry weather and still warmer alcoholic beverages, and
+swearing and vociferating in sonorous Russian. There are gossiping
+women, decked in their caps and many-colored finery. There are
+smartly-arrayed young girls, chatting merrily with the swains at their
+side. Unruly children scamper, barefooted and bareheaded, around and
+under the tables. Puling infants and barking dogs add their discord to
+the din and confusion. It is a scene one is not apt to forget.
+
+We repeat it, this is Sunday; the one day when the arm of the laborer
+obtains a respite from the tasks imposed upon it during the week; and
+the serf of Russia knows no diversion, can find no relaxation, but in
+the genial climate of a tavern. But this is no ordinary occasion. Not
+every Sunday ushers in so bountiful a supply of customers to Peter
+Basilivitch's inn as this. There must be something of unusual
+importance, perhaps some interesting bit of rumor from the capital, that
+unites the inhabitants of Togarog. After the alcoholic beverages that
+are so freely imbibed fulfil their mission and loosen the wits and the
+tongues of these good _moujiks_, we may arrive at the cause. Nor have we
+long to wait. Already in the far corner of the dingy and smoke-obscured
+room, we hear voices in altercation; a hot, angry dispute forces itself
+upon our ears, and the people cease their revels to listen.
+
+"Say what you will," shouted one fur-bedecked individual; "it is an
+outrage! We are already burdened with enough taxes. Three days of the
+week we must work for the master of our lands, and but three days are
+left us for our own support; and now they want to tax us again for a war
+in which we have no interest."
+
+"But the Czar must have the money," retorted another. "The people of
+Poland are in a state of rebellion, and the army has already been
+ordered out to subdue that province."
+
+"Let them tax the nobles, then," angrily cried a third. "Why do they
+constantly bleed the poor peasant? Do they want to suck the last drop of
+our life's blood? I tell you, we ought not submit."
+
+"How will you help yourselves?" sneeringly asked the host, who, with
+napkin tucked under his chin, stood near the speakers, and lost not a
+word of the conversation.
+
+How, indeed? Silence fell over the disputants. The question had been
+asked, alas! how often, but the answer had not yet been forthcoming.
+
+"Let us arise and organize," at length cried the first speaker, one
+Podoloff by name, who was known as a man of great daring and more than
+average intelligence, and who had upon more than one occasion been
+unconsciously very near having himself transported to Siberia. "Let us
+organize!" he repeated. "Think ye we alone are tired of this wretched
+existence? Think ye that the peasants of Radtsk and Mohilev and Kief are
+less human than ourselves, and that they are less weary of the slavery
+under which they drag out a miserable existence? Let us assert our
+rights! With the proper organization, and a few good leaders, we could
+humble this proud nobility and bring it to our feet. There was a time
+when the Russian peasant was a free man, with the privilege to go
+whither he pleased, but a word from an arrogant ruler changed it all,
+and we are now bound and fettered like veritable slaves."
+
+A murmur of surprise swept through the room. Such an incendiary harangue
+was new to the serfs of that region. Never before had such revolutionary
+doctrines been openly advanced. Subdued complaints, undefined
+expressions of discontent, were frequent, and were as frequently
+repressed, but such an outspoken insult to the reigning nobility, such a
+fearless invitation to rebellion against the authorities, were unheard
+of.
+
+The village elder, a venerable and worthy man, arose and sought to check
+the fiery eloquence of the orator.
+
+"Be silent, Podoloff," he commanded. "It is not for you to speak against
+the existing order of things. Your father and your father's father were
+content to live as you do, and were none the worse for it. By what right
+do you complain?"
+
+"By the right that every human being ought to enjoy!" retorted Podoloff.
+"Our condition is growing worse every year. Last year the Czar imposed
+a tax on account of the disturbances in Poland. Three months later, the
+Governor created another tax to pay for his new palace. Now there is to
+be still another tax, bigger than the last. No; we ought not to stand
+it. It has reached the limit of endurance."
+
+Murmurs of approval arose from various quarters, only to be quickly
+suppressed by the cooler heads in the assembly.
+
+"Still we have much to be thankful for," said an old cobbler, Sobelefsky
+by name. "The nobles are very kind to us. They supply us with implements
+and find a market for our grain."
+
+"And for that they rob us of our money and our liberty," retorted
+Podoloff, hotly. "Ask Simon Schefsky there, how much he owes to our
+gracious Governor, who last year took from him his pretty daughter, that
+her charms might while away his weary hours in Alexandrovsk."
+
+"He is a tyrant!" shouted several women, their rough cheeks tingling at
+the recollection of recent indignities. The cry was taken up by many of
+the poor wretches present.
+
+What material there was in "Paradise" for the infernal regions of
+Siberia!
+
+In vain did Selaski Starosta endeavor to make himself heard. In vain did
+the older and more conservative among the company advise caution. The
+passion of an angry and enslaved people had for the moment broken its
+bonds, and the tumult could not be quelled by mere words.
+
+"See!" cried Podoloff, emboldened by his success. He sprang upon a table
+and tore a paper from his pocket. "Yesterday I went to Kharkov to sell
+some cattle. I found that the people there had already organized. They
+have sent a petition to the Czar, asking for greater liberties. Here is
+a copy. Let me read it to you," and, amid a silence as profound as the
+occasional bark of a dog or the wail of a child would permit, Podoloff
+read the following:
+
+"Russia, O Czar, confided to thee supreme power, and thou wert to her as
+a God upon earth. What hast thou done? Blinded by passion and ignorance,
+thou hast sought nothing but power! Thou hast forgotten Russia! Thou
+hast consumed thy time in reviewing troops, in altering uniforms, in
+signing the legislative papers of ignorant charlatans. Thou hast created
+a despicable race of censors of the press, that thou mightst sleep in
+peace, and never know the wants, never hear the murmurs of thy people,
+never listen to the voice of truth. Truth! Thou hast buried her. For her
+there is no resurrection. Thou hast refused liberty. At the same time
+thou wast enslaved by thy passions. By thy pride and thy obstinacy thou
+hast exhausted Russia. Thou hast armed the world against her. Humiliate
+thyself before thy brothers! Bow thy haughty forehead in the dust!
+Implore pardon! Ask counsel! Throw thyself in the arms of thy people.
+There is no other way of salvation for thee!"[2]
+
+Podoloff replaced the paper in his pocket, and looked triumphantly about
+him. A twofold sentiment greeted the reading of this wonderful
+manifesto. The younger generation were disposed to applaud it, but the
+older men, those who preferred to bear the evils they had rather than
+fly to those they knew not of, shook their fur-capped heads in doubt.
+
+"Did the writers sign their names to that article?" asked the
+circumspect old cobbler.
+
+"Not they," answered Podoloff. "They valued their lives too highly. But
+nearly every village in the north has sent the Czar a similar petition.
+Nicholas must in the end perceive our misery, and lighten our burdens."
+
+"Or make our existence doubly bitter," answered old Schefsky. "It is a
+dangerous experiment."
+
+"The Government will take no notice of it, unless it be to double your
+taxes," said the Elder.
+
+At the word "taxes," a new storm of wailing and imprecations broke out.
+
+"I could not pay another kopeck," cried one cadaverous looking wretch.
+"I work myself to death, and as it is can hardly keep starvation from
+the door."
+
+"Why don't they tax the nobles?" asked another. "They can stand it."
+
+"Or the Jews," cried a third, whose liberal potations of alcohol had
+brought him to the verge of intoxication. "Let them take all they
+possess. A Jew don't work in the fields. He has no right to wealth!"
+
+Here was a topic upon which all these people were cordially agreed.
+
+"Oppress the Jews."
+
+There was not a dissenting voice in the room.
+
+"The Czar has need of soldiers. Why don't he take the sons of Jews for
+his wars?"
+
+"We must sit and toil till our nails fall off, while the Jews do nothing
+but grow rich."
+
+"We'll have no more of it! Let the Jews pay the taxes."
+
+And so the cry went on. Glass after glass of _vodka_ moistened the
+capacious throats that had shrieked themselves hoarse, and in the cry of
+"Down with the Jews!" the other more dangerous cry of "Down with the
+Nobles!" was for the moment forgotten.
+
+It was with difficulty that the Elder of the commune could make himself
+heard above the din.
+
+"My friends," he finally said, "I am afraid we have made bad work of it
+to-day. Should this get to the Governor's ears, I fear some of us will
+suffer. I hope, however, that what we have to-day heard and discussed
+will remain our secret. I trust all of you. I am sure there is no
+traitor among us who would betray our deliberations to the Governor. As
+regards our condition, let us be patient. We have nothing serious to
+complain of. If the Czar needs money, ours should be at his disposal. If
+he needs men for the army, we are his subjects and his property.
+Whatever he does, is for the best. Let us submit. As to the manifesto we
+have just heard, we will have none of it. Other _mirs_ may do as they
+please, but we will remain loyal to our Czar and our Governor, and live
+our quiet, uneventful lives."
+
+These words, delivered in a simple but forcible manner by the
+acknowledged head of the village, did not fail of their desired effect.
+The rabble, realizing the danger into which its enthusiasm had hurried
+it, became but too anxious to appear on the side of the Government.
+Those who had been loudest in their outcry, now meekly protested against
+disloyalty, and Podoloff suddenly found himself bereft of all friends,
+with the exception of three or four fearless supporters, as stanch as
+their leader. In vain he sought by his eloquence to regain his lost
+ground, but he was in a hopeless minority, and, gulping down the
+remaining spirits which stood before him, he prepared to leave the
+tavern.
+
+"Continue to suffer," were his parting words. "No people is worse off
+than it deserves to be. But the day is not far distant when the serf
+shall be able to hold up his head, a free man, and that will be
+accomplished as soon as you all feel the humiliation of being slaves!"
+
+The meeting broke up in great disorder. Sentiment appeared to be
+divided, but the radicals were very circumspect in their remarks, for
+earlier experience had taught them that, under an autocratic government
+like that of Czar Nicholas, silence was golden. The blandly smiling
+host, Basilivitch, went from group to group, threw in a word here and a
+suggestion there, smiled at this man's eloquence and ridiculed that
+man's caution, all the while making a mental inventory of the facts he
+would lay before the Governor on the next morning.
+
+The peasants, when they retired for the night, felt none of that
+pleasurable exaltation which should accompany a step towards liberty,
+but were oppressed by the weight of an undefined terror, as though they
+were on the verge of some catastrophe.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: "Looking about, one saw venality in full feather, serfdom
+crushing people like a rock, informers lurking everywhere. No one could
+safely express himself in the presence of his dearest friend. There was
+no common bond, no general interest. Fear and flattery were
+universal."--_Tourgenieff._]
+
+[Footnote 2: Leroy-Boileau.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+MASTER AND MAN.
+
+
+A clear April morning was dawning when Basilivitch saddled his horse and
+rode off in the direction of Alexandrovsk, at which place he arrived at
+noon and at once repaired to the Governor's residence. A crowd of idle
+and flashily-dressed servants, all of whom were serfs, lounged about the
+new and stately palace, and found exhilarating amusement in setting
+their ferocious dogs upon the unoffending farmers who happened to pass
+that way. The greater the fear evinced by the victims, the greater was
+the delight of the humorously inclined menials, and if perchance a dog
+succeeded in fixing his fangs in the garments or calf of a pedestrian
+their mirth found vent in ecstatic shouts of laughter. Basilivitch had
+on more than one occasion been upon such errands as that which brought
+him to-day, and seemed on terms of familiarity with the liveried
+guardians of the palace. They obligingly called off their dogs, and at
+once announced the innkeeper to his excellency, General Drudkoff. The
+Governor had dined sumptuously and received his henchman graciously.
+
+Stretching himself upon a sofa and lazily rolling a cigarette, he said:
+
+"Well, Basilivitch, what news do you bring? How fare my good subjects at
+Togarog?"
+
+"I have bad news, your excellency," answered Basilivitch. "My heart is
+sad at the information I have to impart. Insurrection is rife in our
+village, and not only your excellency, but also his majesty the Czar is
+in imminent danger."
+
+The Governor sprang up from his couch, and his face became ashen white
+with fear. There was perhaps no man in all Russia more cruel, and at the
+same time more cowardly, than this General Drudkoff.
+
+"Explain yourself," he cried, at length recovering from his terror.
+"What do you mean?"
+
+Thereupon the loyal Basilivitch began a recital of the events of the
+previous evening. Nor did he spare exaggeration where it suited him to
+strive for effect. According to his version, Podoloff had incited his
+fellow-peasants to march at once to Alexandrovsk and attack his
+excellency in the palace. The line of march had already been formed with
+the arch agitator, Podoloff, at the head.
+
+"I saw," said Basilivitch, waxing warm as his recital progressed, "I saw
+that it would fare ill with your excellency if the progress of the mob
+was not arrested. With a handful of friends, therefore, I threw myself
+in front of the insurgents and commanded them to disband."
+
+"Well done," cried the Governor, upon whom every word made a profound
+impression. "What did Podoloff do?"
+
+"He would have come on alone, but I overpowered him and secured him in
+my barn, where he spent the night in imprecations against your
+excellency."
+
+"You did well, Basilivitch, and I shall not forget you. But who were
+Podoloff's accomplices? You say a number of men supported him in his
+treasonable utterances."
+
+"Yes; there were fully a dozen of them," said Basilivitch, counting upon
+his fingers, and enumerating a number of poor innocents, whose only
+offence lay in the fact that Basilivitch owed them some private grudge.
+"There were quite a number of Jews in the assembly," continued the
+innkeeper; "and their presence seemed to cause a great deal of
+ill-feeling."
+
+Now it happened that there was not a single Jew in the tavern on that
+memorable Sunday. The twelve Israelitish families of Togarog found
+sufficient relaxation and entertainment in their own circle, and did not
+in the least yearn after the boisterous and uncivil companionship of
+Russian _moujiks_. Alas! they knew but too well that taunts and insults
+would be their portion, if they but dared to show themselves at one of
+these public gatherings. Moreover, the Jews were in the midst of their
+Passover, a time during which the partaking of any refreshments not
+prepared according to their strict ritual is sternly interdicted.
+
+Be that as it may, Basilivitch did not allow such simple facts to stand
+in his way. He had come with a very pretty and effective tale, and drew
+largely upon his imagination to make it dramatic.
+
+"Ah, the Jews again!" hissed the Governor. "Did they take an active part
+in the insurrection?"
+
+Basilivitch was forced to admit that they did not.
+
+The Governor appeared disappointed.
+
+"Well, what matters it?" he said. "They have been a menace to us long
+enough. I doubt whether they have a legal right to live in this part of
+Russia. We must investigate the matter. In the meantime, we will make an
+example of them. Give me the names of those Hebrews that were present."
+
+Basilivitch's powers of improvisation failed him. In vain he endeavored
+to remember the names of the Jews who would most likely have been
+implicated in such an affair, but the names had slipped his memory.
+
+"Your excellency," he stammered, "I never could tax my memory with their
+outlandish names."
+
+"It is of no consequence," said the Governor. "A Jew is a Jew. We will
+make an example of the entire tribe. And now, good Basilivitch, of what
+do the people complain?"
+
+"It is a mere bagatelle, your excellency. They would like to imitate
+their betters and live a life of ease and luxury; as though a serf were
+created for anything but labor. They complain that they cannot lie upon
+a bed of roses. They want their taxes remitted and would like their
+children to be sent to school, to be brought up to detest honest work."
+
+"Preposterous!" exclaimed the Governor. "What else have they to complain
+of?"
+
+"They say that, while they must toil from morning till night, the Jews
+do nothing but amass wealth; that they must provide men for the army,
+while the Jews remain at home."
+
+"Stop!" cried the Governor in a fury. "Is what they say concerning the
+Jews true?"
+
+"It is, your excellency. They do not work in the fields, they have no
+trades, they simply buy and sell and make money."
+
+The Governor paced the room in silence, an occasional vehement gesture
+alone giving evidence of the agitation or fear that was raging within
+him. Finally, he stopped and stood before the obsequious Basilivitch.
+
+"We will find a plan to humble the haughty race," he said. "Return to
+Togarog and keep your eyes open. Make out a list of the Jews in the
+village, and find out exactly how many boys there are in each family,
+and what are their ages. We will remove the brats from their parents'
+influence and send them to the army, where they will soon become loyal
+soldiers and faithful Catholics. Bring me the names of the _moujiks_ who
+supported Podoloff in his rebellion. I shall send them to Siberia to
+reflect on the uncertainty of human aspirations. Now, go! Here is a
+rouble for you. Should any new symptoms of revolt show themselves, send
+me word at once."
+
+Scarcely had the door closed upon Basilivitch, before the Governor rang
+for his Secretary.
+
+"Send two officers to Togarog at once," he commanded. "It appears my
+good serfs are becoming unruly, and would like a taste of freedom. Let
+the officers disguise themselves as peasants, and carefully observe
+every action of Podoloff and his friends. Let our faithful Basilivitch
+also be watched. I have my suspicions concerning that fellow. He is too
+ready with his information."
+
+The Secretary left the room to fulfil the Governor's instructions, while
+Basilivitch remounted his horse and returned to his _kretschma_, to
+serve, with smiling countenance and friendly mien, the men whom he had
+devoted to irretrievable ruin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A FAMILY IN ISRAEL.
+
+
+In a remote portion of Togarog, and separated from the main village by a
+number of wretched lanes, lay the Jewish quarter. A decided improvement
+in the general condition of the houses which formed this suburb was
+plainly visible to the casual observer. The houses were, if possible,
+more unpretentious than those of the serfs, yet there was an air of
+home-like comfort about them, an impression of neatness and cleanliness
+prevailed, which one would seek for in vain among the semi-barbarous
+peasants of Southern Russia. To the inhabitants of these poor huts, home
+was everything. The ordinary occupations, the primitive diversions of
+the serfs, were forbidden them. Shunned and decried by their gentile
+neighbors, the Jews meekly withdrew into the seclusion of their
+dwellings, and allowed the wicked world to wag. Their "home" was
+synonymous with their happiness, with their existence.
+
+The shadows of evening were falling upon the quiet village. Above, the
+stars were beginning to twinkle in the calmness of an April sky, and
+brighter and brighter shone the candles in the houses of the Jews,
+inviting the wayfarer to the cheer of a hospitable board.
+
+It is the Jewish Sabbath eve, the divine day of rest. The hardships and
+worry of daily toil are succeeded by a peaceful and joyous repose. The
+trials and humiliations of a week of care are followed by a day of peace
+and security.
+
+The poor, despised Hebrew, who, during the past week, has been hunted
+and persecuted, bound by the chain of intolerance and scourged by the
+whip of fanaticism; who, in fair weather and foul, has wandered from
+place to place with his pack, stinting, starving himself, that he may
+provide bread for his wife and little ones, has returned for the Sabbath
+eve, to find, in the presence and in the smiles of his dear ones, an
+ample compensation for the care and anxiety he has been compelled to
+endure.
+
+At the end of the street, and not far from the last house in the
+settlement, stands the House of Prayer. Thither the population of the
+Jewish quarter wends its way. Men arrayed in their best attire, and
+followed by troops of children, who from earliest infancy have been
+taught to acknowledge the efficacy of prayer, enter the synagogue.
+
+It is a poor, modest-looking enclosure.
+
+A number of tallow candles illumine its recesses. The _oron-hakodesh_,
+or ark containing the holy Pentateuch, a shabbily-covered pulpit, or
+_almemor_, and a few rough praying-desks for the men, are all that
+relieve the emptiness of the room. Around one side there runs a gallery,
+in which the women sit during divine service. In spite of its humble
+plainness, the place beams with cheerfulness; it bears the impress of
+holiness. Gradually the benches fill. All of the men, and many of the
+boys who form the population of the quarter, are present.
+
+Reb Mordecai Winenki, the reader, begins the service. Prayers of sincere
+gratitude are sent on high. The worshippers greet the Sabbath as a lover
+greets his long-awaited bride--with joy, with smiles, with loving
+fervor. The service is at an end and the happy participants return to
+their homes.
+
+Beautiful is the legend of the Sabbath eve.
+
+When a man leaves the synagogue for his home, an Angel of Good and an
+Angel of Evil accompany him. If he finds the table spread in his house,
+the Sabbath lamps lighted, and his wife and children in festive attire,
+ready to bless the holy day of rest, then the good Angel says:
+
+"May the next Sabbath and all thy Sabbaths be like this. Peace unto this
+dwelling!"
+
+And the Angel of Evil is forced to say, "Amen."
+
+No one, indeed, would, before entering one of these poor, unpainted huts
+expect to find the cheerful and brilliant interior that greets his eyes.
+Let us enter one of the houses, that of Reb Mordecai Winenki.
+
+The table is covered with a snow-white cloth. The utensils are clean and
+bright. The board is spread with tempting viands. An antique brass lamp,
+polished like a mirror, hangs from the ceiling, and the flame from its
+six arms sheds a soft light upon the table beneath. A number of silver
+candlesticks among the dishes add to the illumination.
+
+On this evening, Mordecai returned from the synagogue with his son
+Mendel, a lad of thirteen, and his brother-in-law, Hirsch Bensef, a
+resident of Kief. Mordecai was a thin, pale-faced, brown-bearded man of
+forty or thereabouts, with shoulders stooping as though under a weight
+of care; perhaps, though, it was from the sedentary life he led,
+teaching unruly children the elements of Hebrew and religion. He had
+resided in Togarog for fourteen years, ever since he had married Leah,
+the daughter of Reb Bensef of Kief. His wife's brother was a man of
+different stamp. He was a few years younger than Mordecai. His step was
+firm, his head erect, his beard jet black, and his intellect, though not
+above the superstitious fancies of his time and race, was, for all
+ordinary transactions, especially those of trade, eminently clear and
+powerful. He was, as we shall see, one of the wealthiest Jewish
+merchants in Kief, and therefore quite a power in the community of that
+place.
+
+Leah met the men at the door.
+
+"Good _Shabbes_, my dear husband; good _Shabbes_, brother," said the
+woman, cheerfully, her matronly face all aglow with pride and pleasure.
+"You must be famished from your long trip, brother."
+
+"Yes, I am very hungry. I have tasted nothing since I left Kharkov, at
+five o'clock this morning."
+
+"How kind of you to come all that distance to our boy's _bar-mitzvah!_
+He can never be sufficiently grateful."
+
+"He is my god-child," said the man, affectionately stroking his nephew's
+head. "I take great pride in him. It has pleased the Lord to deny me
+children, and the deprivation is hard to bear. Sister, let me take
+Mendel with me. I am rich and can give him all he can desire. He shall
+study Talmud and become a great and famous rabbi, of whom all the world
+will one day speak in praise. You have still another boy, while my home
+is dreary for want of a child's presence. What say you?"
+
+But the mother had, long before the conclusion of this appeal, clasped
+the boy to her bosom, while the tears of love forced themselves through
+her lashes at the bare suggestion of parting from her first-born.
+
+"God forbid," she cried, "that he should ever leave me; my precious
+boy." And she embraced him again and again.
+
+Meanwhile, the husband had crossed the room to where a little fellow,
+scarcely six years of age, lay upon a sofa.
+
+"Well, Jacob, my boy; how do you feel?" he asked, gently.
+
+"A little better, father," murmured the child. "My arm and ear still
+pain me, but not so much as yesterday."
+
+The boy sat up and attempted to smile, but sank back with a groan.
+
+"Poor child, poor child," said the father, soothingly, "Have patience.
+In a few days you will be about again."
+
+"Is uncle here? I want to see uncle," cried the boy.
+
+Hirsch Bensef obeyed the call, and, going to the sufferer, kissed his
+burning brow.
+
+"Why, Jacob; how is this?" he said. "I did not know that you were sick.
+What is the trouble, my lad?" The child turned his face to the wall and
+shuddered.
+
+Reb Mordecai shook his head mournfully, while a tear he sought to
+repress ran down his furrowed cheek.
+
+"It is the old story," he said. "Prejudice and fanaticism, hatred and
+ignorance."
+
+And while the Sabbath meal waited, the father told his tale in a simple,
+unaffected manner, and the uncle listened with clenched hands and
+threatening glances.
+
+The day following the events in the _kretschma_, little Jacob had
+wandered, in company with some Christian playmates, through the village,
+and seeing the door of a barn wide open, his childish curiosity got the
+better of his discretion, and he peeped in. A brindled cow, with a
+pretty calf scarcely three days old, attracted his attention, and for
+some minutes he gazed upon the pair in silent ecstasy. Then, knowing
+that he was on forbidden ground, he retraced his steps and endeavored to
+reach the lane where he had left his companions. The master of the farm,
+however, having witnessed the intrusion from a neighboring window, did
+not lose the opportunity to vent his anger against the whole tribe of
+inquisitive Jews. On the following day the cow ran dry. In vain did the
+calf seek nourishment at the maternal breast; there was nothing to
+satisfy its cravings.
+
+The farmer, slow as he was in matters of general importance, was far
+from slow in tracing the melancholy occurrence to its supposed source.
+
+"That accursed Jew has bewitched my cow," was his first thought, and his
+second was to find the author of the deed and mete out punishment to
+him.
+
+Throughout the whole of Russia, and even in parts of civilized Germany,
+Jews are accused of all manner of sorcery. The _Cabala_ is the principal
+religious authority of the lower classes among the Russian Jews, and
+this may perhaps inspire such a preposterous notion. The Jews,
+themselves, frequently believe that some one of their own number is in
+possession of supernatural secrets which give him wonderful and awful
+powers. Many were the tortures which these poor people were doomed to
+endure for their supposed influence over nature's laws.
+
+It was an easy matter to find little Jacob. His hours at the _cheder_
+(school) were over. He was sure to be playing upon the streets, and his
+capture was quickly effected. Seizing the innocent little fellow by the
+arm, the irate peasant lifted him off his feet, and dragged him by sheer
+force into the barn, where he confronted the malefactor with his victim.
+
+"So, you thought you could bewitch my cow," he hissed. "But I saw you,
+Jew, and, by our holy Czar, I swear that, unless you repair the damage,
+I shall feed your carcass to the dogs."
+
+Poor Jacob was too terrified to understand of what crime he had been
+accused. He looked piteously at his tormentor, and burst into tears.
+
+"Well?" cried the peasant, impatiently; "will you take off the spell, or
+shall I call my dog?"
+
+The child, knowing that such threats were not made in vain, endeavored
+to plead his innocence, but the bellowing of the hungry calf outweighed
+the sobbing of the boy, and with an angry oath Jacob was struck to the
+ground, and a ferocious bull-dog, but little more brutal than his
+master, was set upon the helpless little fellow.
+
+"Please, Mr. Farmer, don't kill me," he pleaded, groaning in pain.
+
+"Will you cure my cow?" demanded the peasant.
+
+"I'll try to; I'll do my best," sobbed the boy, whose pain made him
+diplomatic at last.
+
+The dog was called off, and the child, after promising to restore the
+cow to her former condition, was turned out into the lane, where his
+mother found him an hour later, unconscious, his body lacerated, one arm
+broken, and a portion of his right ear torn off.
+
+When Reb Mordecai concluded his sad narration, all about him were in
+tears.
+
+"Just God!" exclaimed the uncle; "hast Thou indeed deserted Thy people,
+that Thou canst allow such indignities? How long, O Lord! must we endure
+these torments?"
+
+"Nay, brother," sobbed the poor mother, while she caressed her ailing
+boy; "what God does is for the best. It is not for us to peer into his
+inscrutable actions. But come, Mordecai, banish your sorrows. This is
+_Shabbes_, a day of joy and peace. Come, the table is spread."
+
+Father and mother placed their hands upon the heads of their children,
+and pronounced the solemn blessing:--"May God let you become like
+Ephraim and Manasseh!" and the family took their places at the table.
+
+Then Mordecai made _kiddush_, which consisted in blessing the wine,
+without which no Jewish Sabbath is complete, and having pronounced
+_motzi_, a similar prayer over the bread, he dipped the latter in salt,
+and passed a small piece to each of the participants. It is a ceremony
+which no pious Jew ever neglects.
+
+In spite of the recent affliction, the meal was a merry one. The poorest
+Israelite will deny himself even the necessaries of life during the six
+working-days, that he may live well on the Sabbath. Reb Mordecai was a
+poor man. He had a small income, derived from teaching the Talmud to the
+children in the vicinity, from transcribing the holy scrolls, and from
+sundry bits of work for which he was fitted by his intellectual
+attainments. He was the most influential Jew in the settlement and not
+even the fanatical serfs of the village could find a complaint to make
+against his character or person.
+
+The theme of conversation was naturally the family festival, which would
+take place upon the morrow. Mendel having attained his thirteenth year
+and acquired due proficiency in the difficult studies of the Jewish law,
+would become _bar-mitzvah_; in other words, he would take upon himself
+the responsibility of a man before God and the world, and acknowledge
+his readiness to act and suffer for the maintenance of the belief in
+_Adonai Echod_--the only God. Mendel, under his father's tuition, had
+made rapid strides. He was the wonder of every male inhabitant of the
+community. His knowledge of the Scriptures was simply phenomenal, and
+his philosophical reasoning puzzled and astonished his friends.
+
+"He will be a great rabbi some day," they prophesied.
+
+Hirsch Bensef had journeyed all the way from Kief to take part in the
+family festival. There were some privileges which not even the wealthy
+Jews of Russia could purchase, and among them was the right to travel in
+a public conveyance. Hirsch was obliged to journey as best he could. A
+kindly disposed wagoner had permitted him to ride part of the way, but
+the greater portion of the distance he was compelled to walk. Still, at
+any cost, he had determined not to miss so important an event as his
+nephew's _bar-mitzvah_.
+
+The bread having been broken, the supper was proceeded with. The fish
+was succulent and the cake delicious. A lofty and religious Sabbath
+sentiment enhanced the charm of the whole meal. Then a prayer of thanks
+was offered, the dishes were cleared away and the family settled
+themselves at ease, to discuss the topics most dear to them.
+
+"You make a great mistake, sister," said Bensef, "if you allow Mendel to
+waste his time in this village. The boy is much too bright for his
+surroundings."
+
+"Don't begin that subject again," said the mother, determinedly; "for I
+positively will not hear of his leaving. The parting would kill me."
+
+"But," continued her brother, "have you ever asked yourself what his
+future will be in this wretched neighborhood? Shall he waste his
+precious years helping his father teach _cheder_? Shall he earn a few
+paltry kopecks in making _tzitzith_ (fringes for the praying scarfs) for
+the _Jehudim_ in the village? Or, shall he cobble shoes or peddle from
+place to place with a bundle upon his back, which are the only two
+occupations open to the despised race?"
+
+"Alas!" sighed the mother, "what you say may be true. But what would you
+propose for the boy?"
+
+"Let him go with me to Kief. There are nearly fifteen thousand of our
+co-religionists in that city; and, while their lot is not an enviable
+one, it is decidedly better than vegetating in a village. Our celebrated
+Rabbi Jeiteles is getting old and we will soon need a successor. It is
+an honorable position and one which our little Mendel will some day be
+able to fill. Would you not like living in a big city, my boy?"
+
+Mendel hovered between filial affection and a desire to see the big
+world. It was difficult to decide.
+
+"I should like to remain with father and mother--and Jacob," he
+stammered, "and yet----"
+
+"And yet," continued his uncle, "you would love to come to Kief, where
+everything is grand and brilliant, where the stores and booths are
+fairly alive with light and beauty, where the soldiers parade every day
+in gorgeous uniforms. Ah, my boy, there is life for you!"
+
+"But how much of that life may the Jews enjoy?" asked Mordecai. "Are
+they not restricted in their privileges and deprived of every
+possibility of rising in station? Is their lot any happier than ours in
+this village, where, at all events, we are not troubled with the envy
+which the sight of so much luxury must bring with it?"
+
+"It will not always be so," said Bensef, confidently. "With each year we
+may expect reforms, and where will they strike first if not in the
+cities? Nicholas already has plans under consideration, whereby the
+condition of the serfs may be bettered."
+
+"How will that benefit our race?"
+
+"How? I will tell you. The serf persecutes the Jew because he is himself
+persecuted by the nobility. There is no real animosity between the
+peasant and his Jewish neighbors. Our wretched state is the outgrowth of
+a petty tyranny, in which the serf desires to imitate his superiors. Let
+the people once enjoy freedom and they will cease to persecute the
+Hebrews, without whom they cannot exist."
+
+"Absurd ideas," interrupted the teacher. "Our degradation proceeds not
+from the people, but from those in authority. Our lot will not improve
+until the Messiah comes with sword in hand, to deliver us from our
+enemies. Remember the proverb: 'The heavens are far, but further the
+Czar.'"
+
+"But about Mendel?" asked Bensef, suddenly reverting to his original
+topic, for in spite of his hopeful theories, he did not feel sanguine
+that he would live to see their realization.
+
+"The matter is not pressing," said the father. "We can think it over,
+and decide before you return to Kief."
+
+"No, no!" cried Leah; "Mendel must not leave us. Promise to remain, my
+child!"
+
+But the boy was now delighted with the idea of accompanying his uncle.
+He asked a thousand questions concerning the wonderful town of Kief,
+which suddenly became the goal of all his hopes and ambitions.
+
+Bensef took the boy upon his lap and told him all about the great city,
+which had once been the capital of Russia. Mendel listened and sighed.
+His eyes beamed with pleasurable anticipation. Before going to bed, he
+threw his arms about his mother's neck.
+
+"Mother," he whispered; "let me go to Kief. I want to become great."
+
+Leah held him in a convulsive embrace, but said nothing.
+
+The morrow was Saturday--Sabbath morning. The little synagogue was
+crowded with an expectant throng. It was long since there had been a
+_bar-mitzvah_ in Togarog, and Israelites came from all the villages in
+the vicinity to witness the happy event. Happy seemed the men, arrayed
+in their white _tallesim_ (praying scarfs)--happy at the thought of
+another member being added to their ranks. Happy appeared the mothers in
+the reflection that their sons, too, would some day be admitted to the
+holy rite. When Mendel finally mounted the _almemor_ (pulpit), and began
+his _Bar'chu eth Adonai_, the audience scarcely breathed.
+
+Like a finished scholar did Mendel recite his _sidrah_, that portion of
+the _Torah_ or Law which was appropriate to the day. This was followed
+by the _drosha_, a well-committed speech, expressive of gratitude to his
+parents and teachers, and full of beautiful promises of a future that
+should be pleasant in the eyes of the Lord. The words fell from his lips
+as though inspired. It was a proud moment for the boy's parents. Their
+tears mingled with their smiles. Forgotten were hardships and
+persecutions. God still held happiness in reserve for his chosen people.
+When the boy concluded his exercises, kisses and congratulations were
+showered upon him by his admiring friends.
+
+"Hirsch Bensef is right," said Mordecai to his wife. "Mendel ought to go
+to some large city. He has wonderful talents. He may become a great
+rabbi. Who can tell?"
+
+"We shall see; we shall see!" replied his wife, with a look of mingled
+pleasure and pain. But she did not say her husband was in the wrong.
+
+In the afternoon the entire congregation visited Reb Mordecai, so that
+the little house scarcely held all the people. The men came with their
+long _caftans_, the women with their black silk robes, their prettiest
+wigs, and strings of pearls; and one and all brought presents, tokens of
+their esteem. Naturally, Mendel was the centre of attraction. His
+present, past and future were discussed. A brilliant career was
+predicted for him, and he was held up as a model to his juniors.
+
+Little Jacob was also the recipient of attentions from young and old.
+His mishap, though painful, was not an exceptional case. Similar ones
+occurred almost weekly in the surrounding country. What mattered it?
+His arm would be stiff and his ear mutilated to the end of his days; but
+he was only a Jew--doomed to live and suffer for his belief in the one
+God. It was a sad consolation they gave him, but it was the best they
+had to offer.
+
+The poor children, Christian as well as Jew, came from miles around to
+receive alms, which were generously given. Then refreshments were
+served, followed by speeches and jests; and so the afternoon and evening
+wore merrily away, and night--a dark and dismal night--followed the
+happy day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A NIGHT OF TERROR.
+
+
+The guests had retired to their homes. The children had been blessed and
+sent to bed. The parents throughout the quarter, having discussed the
+one topic of the day, Mendel's _bar-mitzvah_, had extinguished their
+candles and sought their pillows, preparatory to again venturing forth
+into a cold and inhospitable world in search of their meagre
+subsistence.
+
+In the village, too, the serfs had retired, the brawling in "Paradise"
+had gradually ceased, and silent night had cast her mantle of sleep over
+Togarog.
+
+A dim rumbling of wagons, a clattering of horses' hoofs, a murmur of
+men's voices fell upon the air. Nearer and nearer came the sounds and
+the soldiers that produced them, until the village was reached. With as
+little noise as possible, the company crept through the narrow streets
+until they came to the inn of our friend Basilivitch, who evidently
+expected them, for he hastily opened the door and bade the martial band
+enter. There was a whispered consultation between the host and the
+leader of the soldiers. Basilivitch put on his cap and guided the
+captain through the village. Carefully the two scanned the houses, and
+now and then Basilivitch drew a cross upon one of the doors with a piece
+of red chalk. They then directed their footsteps to the Jewish quarter,
+where they repeated their tactics, and finally rejoined their companions
+in "Paradise." Here the soldiers were given their instructions, and
+silently and stealthily, lest they might arouse the village and invite
+resistance, they crept forth in twos, to the huts marked with the mystic
+sign of the cross. The house of Podoloff was the first they reached.
+Cautiously one of the soldiers knocked at the door.
+
+"Who's there?" cried a voice, inside.
+
+"Friends! Open at once!" was the enticing answer.
+
+Podoloff hastily attired himself, and, cautiously opening the door, he
+peeped through the crevice. At the sight of the soldiers, he
+instinctively divined danger, and tried to bar the entrance. Too late!
+One of the soldiers had already thrust the muzzle of his gun into the
+opening, while the other forced his way into the room.
+
+"Utter a single cry," he said, "and you are a corpse."
+
+Resistance was useless. Podoloff, in spite of his pleading, was seized
+and his hands bound behind him. Then, while one man held guard over the
+captive's wife and children, the other ransacked the house, rummaging
+through filthy and worm-eaten closets, and exploring dirty coffers, into
+which had been thrust a wretched assortment of rags--the garb of
+slavery. Every scrap of paper was captured and jealously guarded.
+During this time, the greatest silence was preserved. Other arrests were
+to be made, and it was imperative upon the men to take every precaution
+not to arouse the intended victims prematurely.
+
+"Forward, march!" commanded one of the soldiers; and poor Podoloff,
+without even daring to bid his wife farewell, was forced into the street
+and carried, rather than led, to Basilivitch's hostlery.
+
+Nine others were captured in a similar manner; nine poor wretches,
+doomed to life-long misery in the copper mines of Siberia, many of them
+having not the slightest idea of the nature of their offence.
+Basilivitch had placed the Governor of Alexandrovsk under eternal
+obligations by his patriotic devotion. Of the number captured, there
+were three who had seconded Podoloff during the discussion at the inn,
+the previous Sunday afternoon. The remainder were to be exiled, because
+the Governor, on Basilivitch's recommendation, deemed them dangerous. A
+good day's work, Basilivitch! You have done the nation a signal service,
+and have rid yourself of six persons from whom you had at various times
+borrowed money, and who had of late become troublesome in their dunning.
+They will not trouble you from the Siberian mines.
+
+The prisoners were thrown into two carts, which had been brought for
+that purpose, and a detachment of soldiers accompanied them without
+delay to Alexandrovsk. There they were put into prison for a month,
+until it pleased the Governor to take notice of them. Then followed the
+mere mockery of a trial, during which the prisoners were not permitted
+to utter a word in self-defence, and as a fitting end to this travesty
+of justice, the ten unfortunates were launched upon their weary
+foot-journey to the frozen North, destined to live and die beyond the
+reach, beyond the sympathy of mankind.
+
+Let us retrace our steps and accompany the Governor's soldiers through
+the Jewish quarter. The refinement of cruelty demanded from the Jews a
+greater sacrifice than from the Catholics. The malefactors must be
+punished through their little ones. In pursuance of a decree of the
+mighty Czar, passed some years before, the Governors of the various
+provinces were authorized to visit the Jewish homes, and to remove from
+them all male children that had reached the age of five years.[3]
+
+There was a twofold object in this course. Firstly, the humane Czar
+desired to accustom these babes to the rigorous soldier life of Russia,
+to transform the weakly scions of an oriental race into strong and hardy
+Russians; and, secondly, it was deemed a blessing to humanity to tear
+the Jewish children from their homes, parents and religion, and to bring
+them up in the only saving Catholic faith. Far, far from all that was
+dear to them, in a strange locality, among hostile people, exposed to
+unutterable hardships and rigorous discipline, these unfortunate beings
+dragged out their wretched existence. Fully half of their number died of
+exposure, wearing away their poor lives in a vain longing for home and
+friends, while the remainder survived, only to forget their kind and
+kin, and to furnish the raw material for future Nihilists. Many Jewish
+communities had already suffered from this heartless decree, and those
+who had been spared its terrors, anticipated them as they would some
+dreaded scourge, some deadly pestilence. That the Jews of Togarog and
+the surrounding villages had escaped its influences, was due less to the
+humane sentiments of the Governor than to his natural indolence. But now
+his ire was aroused. The Jews should feel his power.
+
+The detachment of soldiers having seen their Russian prisoners safely on
+the road to oblivion, now directed their attention to the Jewish
+quarter.
+
+Mordecai Winenki's house stood not far from the head of the street. No
+need to knock for admittance. A Jew was not allowed to lock his door,
+the better to give his sociable neighbors an opportunity of molesting
+him. Two of the soldiers entered, and groped their way through the
+darkness. The master of the house heard their footsteps, and timidly
+called out:
+
+"Who's there?"
+
+"Quick, Jew, give us a light!" was the sole reply.
+
+Shaking like a leaf, poor Mordecai struck a light, and the candle cast
+its rays upon the fierce-looking Cossacks in the apartment. A cry
+escaped the man's lips, but it was quickly stifled by the rough hand of
+one of the soldiers.
+
+"If you make the least noise I will strangle you. Now show me where your
+boys sleep!"
+
+"Oh, God! they will take my Mendel for a recruit," cried the poor
+father.
+
+"Silence, you viper! Well, why don't you move? We want to know where
+your boys are sleeping!"
+
+Mordecai, convinced of the futility of resistance, shuffled across the
+floor in his bare feet, and opened the door of an adjoining room. There,
+in the innocence of youth, lay Mendel, dreaming, perhaps, of his recent
+triumphs. An unpitying hand landed the boy upon the floor. Paralyzed
+with fear, he could not speak, but gazed pleadingly from his father to
+the soldiers. His uncle Bensef, who had shared his bed, now endeavored
+to interfere, but a blow from the stalwart Cossack sent him to the
+opposite corner of the room. Quickly they inspected the boy, taking a
+mental note of his height and appearance, and, barely giving him time to
+put on his clothing, hurried him into the arms of the soldiers waiting
+without.
+
+"You have another son! Where is he?" demanded one of the soldiers of the
+half-paralyzed Mordecai.
+
+"No! no!" he sobbed; "I have no more!"
+
+"You lie, Jew! Show us the other boy!" And without further ceremony,
+they broke into the third room, where Jacob lay in the arms of his
+terrified mother.
+
+In vain the boy shrieked at the sight of the fierce-looking visitors. In
+vain the mother pleaded: "He is sick and helpless. Spare him. He is but
+a baby. Leave him with me!"
+
+There was no pity in the breasts of the hardened soldiers. Neither tears
+nor entreaties won them over. The more the sorrowing parents implored,
+the louder were the oaths, the fiercer the blows of the barbarous
+Cossacks.
+
+Jacob, followed by his weeping parents, was carried half-dressed into
+the street.
+
+Similar scenes were enacted in every house in which there were male
+children. Of the twelve Jewish homes in Togarog, but two were spared.
+The children, in most cases scantily dressed, were hurried to
+Basilivitch's hostlery, where wagons were in waiting to take them to
+Alexandrovsk for the Governor's inspection.
+
+Mournful was the train that followed the little band through the
+village. Shrieks and lamentations, prayers and imprecations resounded,
+until the brutal guards, wearied by the incessant clamor, finally drove
+the frenzied people back and set out upon their homeward journey.
+
+The little ones sat cowering in the wagons, afraid to weep, scarcely
+daring to breathe. Taken from home when they most needed their parents'
+care and love, what would become of these poor waifs? What would the
+future have in store for them?
+
+General Drudkoff could now sleep in peace; the insurrection in Togarog
+was quelled. Its ringleaders were on the way to Siberia, and its
+abettors, the Jews (according to Basilivitch), had been rendered
+harmless.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 3: This decree was repealed by Alexander II.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE JOURNEY TO KHARKOV.
+
+
+The wagons, with their helpless freight, reached Alexandrovsk shortly
+after daybreak. Their first stupor having passed, the children conversed
+with each other in whispers and tried in their own poor way to console
+one another. Jacob, whose mutilated ear and broken arm had not been
+improved by the rough treatment he had experienced, wept bitterly at
+first, until the savage voice of a soldier bade him be quiet. Then the
+child made a Spartan-like endeavor to forget his pain and fell asleep
+upon his brother's breast. It was nine o'clock on Sunday morning when
+they arrived at the Governor's palace. The devout and religious General
+Drudkoff usually declined to transact any business on that day; but this
+was an important matter of State, a question threatening perhaps the
+very existence of the Empire, and a departure from ordinary rules was
+allowable. The waifs were brought into the ante-chamber, and obliged to
+pass muster before his excellency, who read them a lesson upon their
+future career and duties. After those whose hasty abduction had made it
+impossible to dress, had been provided with odds and ends of clothing,
+the rags cast off by the children of the Governor's serfs, and which his
+excellency declared were much too good for Jews, the lads were again
+placed upon rickety carts, and, while the Governor proceeded to his
+religious services at the _kiosk_, they were escorted under a strong
+guard to the military headquarters at Kharkov.
+
+Long and tedious was the journey. At noon a village was reached, and the
+travellers were furnished with a meal consisting of pork and bread.
+Half-famished by his long fast, one of the boys had already bitten into
+his portion, but stern religion interfered.
+
+"Do not eat it," whispered Mendel; "it is _trefa!_" (unclean).
+
+The lads gazed wistfully at the tempting morsels, but touch them they
+dared not.
+
+"Why don't you eat?" roughly asked one of the soldiers, whose duty it
+was to walk by the side of the wagon and guard against a possible
+escape.
+
+"It is forbidden," answered Mendel, who, being the oldest of the little
+group, took upon himself the duties of spokesman. "It is unclean."
+
+"If it is good enough for us, it is good enough for a Jew. Here, eat
+this quickly!" and he endeavored to force a large piece of the dreaded
+meat between the teeth of one of the lads.
+
+"If they wont eat, let them starve," said another of the guards, who was
+attracted by the noise. "Why do you trouble yourself about them?"
+
+"You are right," answered the first; "let them starve."
+
+And their fast continued.
+
+The smiling fields through which they rode, the sunny sky above them,
+the merry birds warbling in the bushes, had no attraction for the
+ill-fated boys. The world was but a vast desert, an unfriendly
+wilderness to them. But Mendel's mind, sharpened by misfortune, was not
+dormant. A thought of escape had already presented itself to his active
+brain.
+
+"If Jacob and I could only manage to run away and reach our uncle in
+Kief," he mused.
+
+Presently he plucked up courage and asked the guard: "Will you please
+tell me what you are going to do with us?"
+
+"You will find out when you get to Kharkov," was the ungracious
+rejoinder.
+
+To Kharkov! The information was welcome indeed. Not that Mendel had ever
+been in that place, but he recollected hearing his uncle say that he had
+come through Kharkov on his way from Kief. It must be on the direct
+route to the latter city. O God! if he could but escape!
+
+A dark, stormy night found the travellers in the miserable little
+village of Poltarack. The weary horses were unharnessed and the soldiers
+looked about for comfortable quarters for the night. They found refuge
+in a dilapidated structure, the only inn of which the place could boast.
+The children were led to a barn, where a bountiful supply of straw
+served them as a bed. A piece of bread and a glass of rank brandy formed
+their evening meal, and hunger left them no desire to investigate
+whether the humble repast was _kosher_ (clean) or not.
+
+The footsteps of the guards had scarcely died away in the distance,
+before Mendel sprang to the door and endeavored to open it. It was
+securely locked and the boy turned disconsolate to his companions. It
+was the hour when, at home, their fathers would send them lovingly to
+bed, when their mothers would tuck them comfortably under the covers and
+kiss them good-night; and here they lay, clad in tatters, numb with
+cold, pinched with hunger; pictures of misery and woe. Heart-rending
+were the sighs, bitter the complaints, in which the poor lads gave
+utterance to their feelings.
+
+"Come, boys!" at length cried Mendel, "it wont do to grieve. Let us bear
+up as bravely as possible. They will take us to Kharkov and leave us at
+military headquarters. Perhaps we can escape. If we are kept together it
+will be difficult, but if they separate us, it will perhaps be easy to
+give the soldiers in charge the slip. If you get away, do not at once go
+back home or you will be recaptured. Go on until you come to a Jewish
+settlement, where you will be cared for. Jacob, you must try to stay
+with me, whatever may happen."
+
+Long and earnest was the conversation between the boys, all of whom, in
+spite of their tender years, realized their perilous position.
+
+Then Mendel arose and recited the old and familiar Hebrew evening
+prayers and the little gathering made the responses; then, weary and
+homesick, the boys cried themselves to sleep.
+
+At break of day, the Cossacks pounded at the barn-door, and the boys,
+after breakfasting on dry bread, again set out upon their tedious
+journey. The soldiers who had accompanied the wagons, were replaced by
+others; the new men were in a better humor and more graciously inclined
+than those of the preceding day. They even condescended to jest with the
+young recruits and to civilly answer their many questions. From their
+replies, Mendel gleaned that the commander at Kharkov would distribute
+them among the various military camps throughout the province, where
+constant hard labor, a stern discipline and a not too humane treatment
+would eventually toughen their physical fibre and wean them from the
+cherished religion of their youth.
+
+The weather was unfriendly, the sky was overcast, and the boys,
+shivering with cold and apprehension, at length made their entry into
+Kharkov. The commander of the garrison, a grim-visaged, bearded warrior,
+received them, heard the story of their capture from one of the guards,
+amused himself by pulling the boys' ears and administering sundry blows.
+He then divided them into twos, to be escorted to the various barracks
+about the district. Mendel and Jacob were permitted to go together, not
+because the commander yielded to a feeling of humanity, but because they
+happened to be standing together, and it really did not matter to the
+Russian authorities how the new recruits were distributed. A soldier was
+placed in charge of each couple, and, like cattle to the slaughter, the
+boys were led through the town.
+
+Weary and silent, yet filled with wonder and surprise, Mendel and Jacob
+preceded their guard through the gay and animated streets of Kharkov. It
+was a new life that opened to their vision. With childish curiosity they
+gazed at every booth, looked fondly into every gaily decorated shop and
+glanced timidly at the many uniformed officers who hurried to and fro.
+
+For a moment, their desolate homes, their sorrowing parents, their
+unpromising future were forgotten in the excitement of the scenes about
+them, and it required at times the rough command and brutal push of the
+soldier behind them to recall them to the misery of the moment. This
+soldier, a fine-looking, sturdy fellow, appeared as much interested in
+the animated scene as were his captives. Years had passed since he had
+last visited Kharkov, his native town. Much had changed during that
+period. A conflagration had destroyed the central portion of the city
+and imposing stone edifices had in many streets replaced the former
+crazy structures. Now and then an old building or hoary landmark would
+recall pleasant memories of early youth. The fountain in the centre of
+the square was eloquent with reminders of by-gone joys, of hasty
+interviews, of stolen kisses; and our brave warrior strode along with a
+bland smile of contentment upon his bronzed countenance. Suddenly, a man
+brushed past him. The two looked at each other for a moment, as if in
+doubt, and then with a simultaneous shout of recognition, they shook
+each other heartily by the hand.
+
+"Cantorwitch!" cried the soldier. "By all the saints, this is rare good
+luck! How have you been?"
+
+"Very well, friend Polatschek. But you are the last man I should have
+looked for in Kharkov. How well your service agrees with you."
+
+The two friends stood and talked of all that had befallen them since
+their separation. Not until the calendar of gossip had been exhausted
+did Cantorwitch finally ask: "But what brings you to Kharkov, my boy? I
+thought you were on the southern frontier."
+
+"So I was; so I was," rejoined the other. "I have been sent up with two
+Jewish recruits. Holy Madonna! what has become of them?"
+
+Mendel and Jacob had disappeared, without even saying, "By your leave!"
+In vain the friends peered into the various shops along the street, into
+every open door-way, behind every box and barrel. In vain they inquired
+of every soldier who passed. No one had seen the runaways.
+
+Poor Polatschek, after listening to the consolations of his friend and
+fortifying himself with a quart of spirits, returned to headquarters, to
+spend the following ninety days under arrest for gross negligence while
+on duty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+TWO UNFORTUNATES.
+
+
+To Mendel, Cantorwitch seemed a special messenger sent by a benign
+Providence. He waited for a moment until he perceived the two friends in
+earnest conversation, and seizing his brother by the arm, he took
+advantage of an approaching crowd of sight-seers to get away from the
+gossiping soldier. The boys ran down the nearest street as fast as their
+feeble limbs would carry them. Not until they had reached the limits of
+the town did they pause for breath, and Jacob, thoroughly exhausted,
+sank to the ground.
+
+"Thank God, we are free!" said Mendel, jubilantly.
+
+But Jacob began to weep, crying, "Oh, I'm so tired and hungry!"
+
+"Do not cry; it is of no use. We will find our way to Kief, and there
+uncle will take care of us."
+
+"I do not think I can go much farther, Mendel."
+
+"But you must. If we remain here we shall be captured and put into
+prison. Let us go as far as we possibly can. Perhaps we can find a
+village on the road where the _Jehudim_ (Jews) will shelter us until you
+become stronger. Come, Jacob."
+
+The child struggled to his feet and the brothers set out upon their
+journey through an unknown country.
+
+The sun, the cheerful king of day, had peeped through the April rifts
+and sent his bright rays upon the smiling landscape. Gradually the
+clouds dissolved under the genial influence and a friendly sky cheered
+the fugitives on their way.
+
+The merry chirping of the birds, the buzzing of the insects, the
+blossoming fruit trees along the route, betokened the advent of spring.
+Mendel gulped down a great lump in his throat and stifled a sob, as he
+thought of his distant home. How happy, how joyful, had this season
+been, when, after the termination of the Bible studies at the _cheder_,
+their father had taken them for a long walk through the fields and in
+his own crude way had spoken of the beauties of Nature and of the wisdom
+and beneficence of the Creator. Then, all was peace and contentment; and
+now, what a dreary contrast! Mendel dashed the gathering tears from his
+eyes--it would not do to let Jacob see him cry--and resolutely taking
+his little brother by the hand, walked on more rapidly.
+
+There was a tedious journey in prospect; God only knew when and where it
+would end. On they walked through bramble and marsh, over stones and
+fallen boughs, preferring the newly-ploughed fields to the public road,
+for fear of detection; trembling with fear at the sight of a human
+being, lest it might be a soldier charged with their recapture. On they
+struggled until night hid the road from their view and darkness arrested
+further progress. A ruined and deserted shed afforded them shelter, a
+stone did service as a pillow, and, embracing each other, the lads lay
+down to sleep.
+
+The dawn found the wanderers astir, and after a hasty ablution at a
+neighboring brook and a recital of their morning prayers, they bravely
+started out upon their cheerless journey.
+
+The day had dawned brightly, but before long threatening clouds obscured
+the sun. The wind veered to the North and howled dismally.
+
+Sadly and silently the boys trudged onward, buffeting the wind and
+stifling their growing hunger.
+
+"Mendel," finally sobbed Jacob, "I am so hungry. If I only had a piece
+of bread I would feel much stronger."
+
+"Let us walk faster," replied the other. "Perhaps we will reach some
+village."
+
+Manfully they pushed onward for another hour, Mendel endeavoring to
+entertain his brother by relating stories he had heard when a child.
+
+Jacob stopped again, exhausted.
+
+"It is no use, Mendel," he cried. "I am too hungry to walk any further."
+
+"Courage, brother," answered Mendel, cheerfully. "See, there are houses
+ahead of us. We can surely find something to eat."
+
+The waifs dragged their way to a weather-beaten hut and knocked at the
+door. A mild-visaged woman responded and surveyed the travel-stained
+children with something like compassion.
+
+"We are hungry," pleaded Mendel. "Please give us a bite of food."
+
+"Who are you and where do you come from?" queried the woman.
+
+"We are trying to reach Kief, where we have friends," answered Mendel.
+"Please do not let us starve on the road."
+
+"Jews, eh?" asked the woman, suspiciously. "Well, no matter; you don't
+look any too happy. Come in and warm yourselves."
+
+The boys were soon sitting before a roaring kitchen-fire, while the
+woman busied herself with providing them with a meal. Tempting, indeed,
+did it appear to the famished lads; but could they eat it? Was it
+prepared according to the Jewish ritual? It was a momentous question to
+Mendel, and only his little brother's pinched and miserable countenance
+could have induced him to violate the law which to his conception was as
+sacred as life itself. While Mendel debated, Jacob solved the knotty
+problem by attacking the savory dishes before him, and his brother
+reluctantly followed his example.
+
+"It may be a sin, but God will forgive us," was his mental reflection as
+he greedily swallowed the food.
+
+The woman looked on in admiration at the huge appetites of the lads. She
+plied them with questions, to which she received vague replies, and
+finally contented herself with the thought that these were perhaps
+wayward children who had run away from home and were now penitently
+trying to find their way back.
+
+After the boys were rested, they thanked their kind hostess and set out
+again upon their wanderings with no other compass than blind chance, but
+avoiding the highways for fear of being captured by the soldiers. On
+they went for hours, Mendel supporting his complaining brother and
+whispering words of hope and courage.
+
+By noon the sky had become darker, the storm more threatening. The wind
+blew in furious gusts over the dismal country, and an occasional
+rumbling of distant thunder filled the weary lads with dread. The road
+they had chosen was absolutely deserted. It lay through a bleak,
+scarcely habitable prairie, a landscape common enough in that part of
+Russia; and stones and brambles did much to retard their progress. There
+was not a place of shelter in sight. The outlook was sufficiently
+unpromising to dismay the most resolute.
+
+Jacob sat down upon a stone and began to weep.
+
+"I can go no further," he sobbed. "I am tired and sick."
+
+"But you must come," pleaded his brother. "See what a storm is
+gathering. If we remain here we shall be drenched. We must find
+shelter."
+
+"Go alone, brother," said the little one. "I'll stay here."
+
+There was a sudden flash of lightning, which illumined Jacob's bandaged
+face, pale with fear and fatigue. The trembling boys looked at each
+other and Jacob began to cry.
+
+"Come, Jacob," murmured Mendel, helping his brother to rise. "We shall
+die if we stay here. May God protect us."
+
+Again the waifs plodded on, Mendel supporting his brother and
+endeavoring to protect him from the cruel wind. Darker grew the sky.
+Large drops of rain began to fall and with a startling peal of thunder
+the tempest broke in its fury. The pitiless wind sweeping through the
+land from the bleak northern steppes brought cold and desolation in its
+train. The poor children were drenched to the skin. They clung to each
+other and painfully made their way across the miry fields to the
+highway, the ancient road of the Tartar Khans.
+
+At last Jacob succumbed to the awful strain and sank to the ground.
+
+"Let me die," moaned the child.
+
+"Oh, dear brother; you must live! We will find our way back to Togarog
+to papa and mamma. How they would grieve if I came back alone."
+
+The child shook his head mutely to this appeal, but rise he could not.
+Mendel was in despair.
+
+A bright flash lit up the landscape and showed the dim outlines of huts
+not many rods away.
+
+"God be thanked!" cried Mendel, fervently. "See, Jacob, there are
+houses. The village is near. There we can get food and shelter. Come,
+lean on me and we will be there in a few minutes."
+
+"No, go alone; I am too weak."
+
+"I will carry you," cried Mendel. "Oh, I can do it; I am strong enough."
+
+He attempted to lift the child from the ground, but he had overrated his
+strength and gave up his task in despair. What was he to do? He could
+not leave him in the road to perish. If he could but reach the village
+and summon help. They would not refuse assistance to a dying child, even
+if he were a Jew.
+
+"Jacob," he said, encouragingly, "I am going for help. Don't be afraid;
+keep up your courage and strength until I come back. The rain will soon
+stop. Good-by. I shall not be long."
+
+Kissing his scarcely conscious brother, the heroic boy bounded in the
+direction of the village.
+
+Though the thunder still rolled and the lightning still flashed, the
+rain soon ceased and the clouds began to show cheerful patches of blue.
+Mendel was gone some five minutes when a covered _droshka_ drove up the
+road as rapidly as the muddy ground would allow. The driver, amply
+protected by furs, seemed proof against both wind and water, yet he
+cursed in good round Russian at the inclemency of the weather. Suddenly,
+a brilliant flash lighted up the road, and he saw a lad near the wheels.
+With an oath, the driver reined in the frightened horses and jumped to
+the ground.
+
+"What is it, Ivan? Has anything happened?" asked a lady, from the
+carriage window.
+
+"Please your excellency, a little boy lying in the road, half-dead."
+
+"Bring him here," commanded the lady, and the child was lifted into the
+carriage and placed on the seat before them.
+
+"What a pretty lad," said the lady, who was no less important a person
+than the Countess Drentell, of Lubny, to her companion. "The poor child
+must be badly hurt."
+
+"Perhaps a little brandy would strengthen him," suggested the practical
+coachman, who knew the value of the remedy.
+
+The cordial revived him, and, opening his eyes, he murmured: "Wait for
+me, Mendel; I will go along."
+
+"Drive on, Ivan, as quickly as possible; we must get the little fellow
+some dry clothes," said the Countess.
+
+Yielding to the luxury of shelter and to the effect of the brandy, Jacob
+sank into a sweet sleep.
+
+Mendel had in the meantime reached the village and knocked at the first
+house. A _moujik_ emerged and eyed him suspiciously. "What do you
+want?" he asked, gruffly.
+
+"We have been caught in the storm and my brother is out on the road,
+dying. Please help me bring him here."
+
+"You are a Jew, are you not?" asked the man, savagely, as he recognized
+by the boy's jargon that he was a member of the proscribed race.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered Mendel, timidly.
+
+"Then go about your business; I wont put myself out for a Jew!" saying
+which, he shut the door in the boy's face.
+
+Sadly Mendel wandered on until he met a kindly disposed woman, who
+directed him to the Jewish quarter.
+
+"At the house of prayer there is always someone to be found," thought
+Mendel, and thither he bent his steps. Half-a-dozen men at once
+surrounded him and listened to his harrowing story; half-a-dozen hearts
+beat in sympathy with his distress. One of the number soon spread the
+dismal tidings; the entire congregation, headed by Mendel, hastened to
+where the child had been left. As they came to the highway, a _droshka_
+passed them at full speed; they fell back to the right and left to make
+room for the galloping horses and in a moment the carriage had
+disappeared.
+
+When they reached the spot pointed out by Mendel they saw the impress of
+a child's form in the yielding ground, and a tattered little cap which
+was Jacob's; but the child was gone.
+
+"The soldiers have recaptured him!" gasped Mendel, with a groan of
+anguish. "Oh, my poor brother; God help you!" and sank unconscious into
+the friendly arms of his new acquaintances.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A RUSSIAN NOBLEMAN.
+
+
+After an hour's sojourn in "The Imperial Crown," the best inn of
+Poltava, Countess Drentell continued her journey towards her
+country-seat at Lubny, where the carriage arrived just before nightfall.
+With the creaking of the wheels upon the gravel path leading to the
+house, Jacob awoke and gazed sleepily about him.
+
+"See, Tekla; he is awake!" cried the Countess. "Poor child!"
+
+The carriage stopped; Ivan opened the door and assisted the ladies to
+alight.
+
+"Carry the little one into the house and take him to the kitchen to
+dry," commanded the Countess. "What a surprise he will be to Loris and
+how he will enjoy having a playmate!"
+
+Another servant appeared at the door to assist the Countess.
+
+"Your excellency," he whispered, "the Count arrived the day before
+yesterday. He was furious at finding you absent."
+
+Louise bit her lip and her face became pale. Then she shrugged her
+pretty shoulders and broke into a careless laugh.
+
+"Oh, well, Dimitri will forgive me when I tell him how sorry I am," she
+thought to herself, as she tripped up the stone steps into the house.
+
+In the brilliantly lighted hall she was met by her husband, Count
+Dimitri Drentell, and she clasped her arms around his neck in a
+transport of conjugal affection.
+
+"So you have come back, my dear, from those horrid barracks!" she
+cried. "I am so glad! But why didn't you send word you were coming, that
+I might have been at home to meet you? But it is just like you to keep
+the matter a perfect secret and give me no chance to prepare for your
+reception."
+
+The Count's brow contracted. Before he had an opportunity to reply, his
+wife continued:
+
+"Indeed, I'm glad you've come. If I had known that I was marrying a son
+of Mars who would be away in the army for eight months of the year, I
+doubt whether I should have left my happy Tiflis."
+
+The Countess paused for want of breath.
+
+"The Czar places duty to country higher than domestic comfort," answered
+her husband, curtly. "But how could you leave your home and your child
+for so long a time? It is now three days since I arrived here, expecting
+to be lovingly received by you and little Loris; but you had gone away,
+no one knew whither, leaving Loris in charge of an ignorant woman, who
+has been sadly neglecting the child."
+
+"Poor fellow," laughed the Countess, in mock grief. "I suppose he will
+be happy to see his mamma again. But, my dear, you must not scold me for
+having gone away. It was so dull at home without you, so lonesome, that
+I could bear it no longer, and I took a trip to Valki, to visit the
+Abbess of the convent there."
+
+The cloud upon the Count's face darkened.
+
+"I have repeatedly told you that I do not approve of your excursions
+into the country," he answered, gloomily; "and I am especially opposed
+to your locking yourself up in a convent. You pay no heed to my
+requests, nor do you seem to realize the dangers you incur in travelling
+about in that manner."
+
+"Then let us live in our town house. I am too dull here, all alone,"
+answered the Countess, nestling closer to her husband and kissing him.
+
+"It was at your desire that I bought this place, immediately after our
+marriage. You were enchanted with it and said it reminded you of your
+Caucasian country. Now you are already tired of it."
+
+"I would not be if you were here to share its delights with me," she
+answered, coquettishly. "But, alone!--b-r-r! It is too vast, too
+immense! I shall never feel at home in it."
+
+Louise gave her graceful head a mournful shake and looked dismally at
+her husband.
+
+Suddenly she cried: "Where is Loris? What have they done with my boy?"
+
+"It is time you inquired," said her husband, reproachfully. "I doubt if
+he remembers you."
+
+Louise broke into a merry laugh. "Not know his mamma? Indeed! We shall
+see!"
+
+Going to a table, she rang a bell, which was immediately answered by a
+liveried servant.
+
+"Bring me my Loris," she cried.
+
+"He has already been put to bed," answered the man.
+
+"Bring him, anyhow. I have not seen him for almost nine days."
+
+The man disappeared, and shortly after a nurse entered, bearing in her
+arms a bright little fellow scarcely four years of age. Loris, the
+tyrant of the house, who was fast being spoiled by the alternate
+indulgence and neglect of his capricious mother, struggled violently
+with his nurse, who had just aroused him from his first sleep.
+
+Louise threw herself upon the child in an excess of maternal devotion.
+She fairly covered him with kisses.
+
+"How has my Loris been? My poor boy! Will he forgive his mamma for
+having deserted him?"
+
+The boy resented this outburst of love by sundry kicks and screams.
+
+"The child is cross and sleepy," said the Count; "let Minka put him to
+bed."
+
+"Wait a moment," exclaimed the Countess, in childish glee. "I have
+brought him a present. Loris, my pet, how would you like a little boy to
+play with? A real live boy?"
+
+Loris ceased his struggles and became interested.
+
+"I want a pony to play with! I don't want a boy," he cried, peevishly.
+
+"What folly have you been guilty of now?" asked Dimitri, with some
+misgivings, for he had had frequent proofs of his wife's impulsive
+extravagance.
+
+"You shall see, my dear."
+
+Louise rang for Ivan. When he appeared, she asked:
+
+"What have you done with the boy we found?"
+
+"He is in the kitchen and has just eaten his supper," answered the
+servant.
+
+"Bring him up at once."
+
+While Ivan went to fetch Jacob, the Countess related, with many
+embellishments and exaggerations, and with frequent appeals to her maid
+Tekla for corroboration, how she had found the boy on the road, how she
+had saved his life, and, finally, how she had decided to bring him home
+as a little playmate for her darling Loris. Before she had finished her
+story Jacob himself appeared upon the scene, the personification of
+abject misery. His features were still besmeared with the dirt of the
+highway, his clothes were in a wretched condition, and his bandaged arm
+and lacerated face did not improve his general appearance. Louise
+laughed heartily when this apparition entered the door.
+
+"Is he not a beauty?" she exclaimed.
+
+The Count was too much surprised to speak. After a pause, during which
+poor Jacob looked pleadingly from one to the other, Dimitri asked:
+
+"In all seriousness, Louise, why did you introduce that being into our
+house?"
+
+"He is not as bad as he looks," answered the Countess. "Wait till he is
+washed and dressed, and you will agree that he is a handsome fellow."
+
+The Count crossed the room and looked at the boy.
+
+"What is your name?" he asked, gruffly.
+
+"Jacob Winenki," answered the child, timidly.
+
+"A Jew!" ejaculated the Count. "By our Holy Madonna, that is just what I
+needed to make me completely happy--the companionship of an accursed
+Jew!"
+
+Jacob instinctively divined that he was not welcome, and began to cry.
+
+"Please, I want my mamma!"
+
+"Stop your whimpering, you cur!" shouted the enraged Count.
+
+But Jacob's tears would not be checked so abruptly.
+
+"Please don't send me back to the soldiers," he pleaded, in his
+miserable jargon. "I don't want to go with the soldiers."
+
+At this juncture Loris joined in the cry. "I don't want him. I want a
+pony to play with."
+
+"Here, Ivan," commanded the excited Count, "take this brat out into the
+barn, and keep him secure until I ask for him. We will investigate his
+case after supper. Minka, take Loris to bed at once." Then turning to
+his wife, who actually trembled before his infuriated glance, he said:
+
+"Louise, you have done some very silly things since I married you, but
+this is the most absurd. You know my aversion to Jews, and here you
+bring a dirty Jew out of the streets to become a playmate of our Loris!"
+
+"I could not leave the poor child to die in the road," pouted Louise,
+who, in addition to being extremely frivolous, was very tender-hearted.
+"If I had found a sick dog, I should have aided him."
+
+"I would rather it had been a dog than a Jew."
+
+"How could I know it was a Jew?"
+
+"By his looks; by his language," answered the exasperated man.
+
+"He was insensible, and could not speak," retorted Louise; "and his
+appearance no worse than that of other dirty children. Tell me,
+Dimitri," she added, throwing her arms about her husband's waist, in a
+childish endeavor to appease his wrath; "tell me why you have such an
+animosity towards the Jews?"
+
+The count impressively rolled up his sleeve and displayed a scar about
+two inches in length upon his forearm.
+
+"See, Louise," he said, gloomily; "that is some of their accursed work.
+Have I not cause to detest them? They are spiteful, vengeful,
+implacable."
+
+Louise lovingly kissed the scarred arm.
+
+"Poor Dimitri," she murmured; "how it must have pained. Tell me how it
+happened."
+
+"There is no need to go into details," answered the Count, abruptly.
+"But if ever I acquire the power, I shall make a Jew smart for every
+drop of blood that flowed from the wound. Come, supper must be ready.
+We will not spoil our appetites by speaking of the despicable race."
+
+Count Drentell wisely refrained from telling his wife the cause of his
+scar. It was not for a wife's ear to hear the tale. Eight years before,
+he, with a number of young officers of the army stationed at Pinsk,
+while in search of a little pleasurable excitement, had raided the
+Jewish quarter and terrorized the helpless inhabitants. After having
+broken every window, the party, inflamed by wine and enthusiasm, entered
+the house of Haim Kusel, demolished the furniture, helped themselves to
+articles of value that chanced to be exposed, and having caught a
+glimpse of Haim's pretty daughter, Drentell, the leader of the band,
+attempted to embrace her. The Jew, who had offered no resistance while
+his hard-earned possessions were being destroyed, was driven to frenzy
+by the insult to his daughter. Seizing a knife he drove the party from
+the house, but not until he had wounded several of the wretches, among
+whom was Drentell. Kusel had saved his daughter's honor, but he well
+knew that he had forfeited his life if he remained in the village.
+Packing up the few household articles that yet remained, he and his
+daughter fled from Pinsk to find protection with friends in a distant
+town.
+
+At midnight, the officers, now reinforced by a number of sympathizing
+comrades, returned, and furious at the escape of their victim, burned
+his dwelling to the ground. Drentell never forgot his ignominious
+repulse nor the wound he received at the hands of Haim Kusel. His own
+offence counted as naught, so blunted was his moral sense. To inflict
+misery upon a Jew was at all times considered meritorious, but for a
+Jew to so far forget himself as to assault an officer of the Czar, was a
+crime for which the whole race would one day be held accountable.
+
+While the Count and Countess are at supper, we may find time to examine
+into their past and become better acquainted with the worthy couple,
+into whose company the events of this story will occasionally lead us.
+
+Dimitri was the only son of Paul Drentell, the renowned banker of St.
+Petersburg, who had been raised to the nobility as a reward for having
+negotiated a loan for the Government. Paul had been sordid and
+avaricious; his vast wealth was wrung from the necessities of the
+unfortunates Otho were obliged to borrow from him or succumb to
+financial disaster. Had he been a Jew, his greed, his miserly ways, his
+usuries, would have been stigmatized as Jewish traits, but being a
+devout Catholic he was spoken of as "Drentell, the financier."
+
+The nobility of Russia counts many such upstarts among its
+representatives. It boasts of a peculiar historical development. The
+hereditary element plays an unimportant part in matters of state.
+Exposed to the tyranny of the Muscovite autocrats, they hailed with joy
+the elevation of the Romanoff family to the throne. The condition of the
+nobles was thenceforth bettered, their political influence increased.
+Under Peter the Great, however, there came a change. To noble birth,
+this Czar showed a most humiliating indifference, and the nobles saw
+with horror the accession to their ranks of the lowest order of men. The
+condition of the aristocracy, old and new, was not, however, one of
+unmixed happiness. The nobles were transformed into mere servants of the
+Czar, and heavily did their bondage weigh upon them. After the death of
+the great Prince, they experienced varied changes. Catherine converted
+the surroundings of her court into a ludicrous imitation of the elegant
+and refined French _regime_. Parisian fashions and the French language
+were adopted by the nobility. It was a pleasure-seeking, pomp-loving
+aristocracy that surrounded the powerful Empress. But her capricious and
+violent son overturned this order of things and again reduced the
+nobility to a condition of dependence and even degradation, from which
+it had not yet recovered in the days of Nicholas I. For these reasons
+the nobility of Russia is not characterized by the proud bearing and
+firm demeanor which are the attributes of the aristocracy of Western
+Europe. A _parvenu_, who has, by an act of slavish submission, won the
+Emperor's favor, may be ennobled, and he thenceforth holds his head as
+high as the greatest. No one of these is regarded as more important than
+his neighbor. Dumouriez, having casually spoken to Nicholas of one of
+the considerable personages at court, received the reply:
+
+"You must learn, sir, that the only considerable person here is the one
+to whom I am speaking, and that only as long as I am speaking to
+him."[4]
+
+Hence, we rarely find a Russian noble who is proud of his ancestry or of
+his ancient name. It is wealth and power, momentary distinction and
+royal favor that make him of worth. When, therefore, Paul Drentell,
+because of his valuable services in raising a loan which enabled Russia
+to engage in war with one of her less powerful neighbors, was elevated
+to the nobility, it caused no surprise, and the banker at once began a
+life of pomp and extravagance which he thought suited to his new
+station. His wealth was fabulous, and was for the greater part invested
+in large estates, comprising confiscated lands, formerly the property of
+less fortunate nobles, who, deprived of their rank, were now atoning for
+their sins in the frozen North. His possessions included about twenty
+thousand male serfs; consequently, more than forty thousand souls.
+
+Dimitri, upon his father's elevation, was sent to the army, where he
+distinguished himself in nocturnal debauches and adventures such as we
+have related, and where, thanks to his father's influence, he shortly
+rose to the rank of lieutenant.
+
+About five years before the beginning of this story, Paul Drentell died
+and his vast estates, as well as his title of Count, descended to
+Dimitri, who now found himself one of the richest men in the Empire. He
+was, moreover, a personal friend of the young Czarewitch, Alexander, in
+whose regiment he served. To such a man, a notable future was open:
+great honors as Governor of a province or exile to Siberia as a
+dangerous power. One of the features of public life in Russia is the
+comparative ease with which either of these distinctions may be
+obtained.
+
+Count Drentell was haughty and arrogant, caring for naught but his own
+personal advantage, consulting only his own tastes and pleasures. He was
+a stern officer to his soldiers, a cruel taskmaster to the serfs he had
+inherited, and a bitter foe of the Jews whom he had offended.
+
+Very different was his wife, Louise. A Georgian by birth, her beauty and
+ingenuousness had won her great popularity at the court of St.
+Petersburg, to which she had been introduced by the Governor of Tiflis.
+She was neither tall nor short, possessed a wealth of raven black hair,
+perfect teeth, lustrous black eyes, a smile that would inspire poets and
+a voice that was all music and melody. When Count Drentell carried her
+off in the face of a hundred admirers, he was considered lucky indeed.
+Dimitri never confessed, even to himself, that he regretted his hasty
+choice. Louise was as capricious as she was beautiful, as unlettered as
+she was charming, as superstitious as she was fascinating. All that she
+did was done on impulse. She loved her husband on impulse, she deserted
+her child for weeks at a time on impulse, she succored the poor or
+neglected them on impulse. Her army of servants set her commands at
+defiance, for they knew them to be the outgrowth of momentary caprice.
+
+Fortunately for the domestic happiness of the couple, the Count was with
+his command at St. Petersburg during two-thirds of the year, while his
+wife enjoyed herself as best she might on his magnificent estate at
+Lubny.
+
+Brought up among the highlands of Tiflis, Louise possessed all of the
+unreasoning bigotry characteristic of the people inhabiting that region.
+She was religious to the very depths of superstition, and she chose
+Lubny for a dwelling-place, less for its resemblance to the sunny hills
+of her native province than for its proximity to several large Catholic
+cloisters for both monks and nuns, whence she hoped to receive that
+religious nourishment which her southern and impetuous nature craved. It
+was while returning from an expedition to the furthest of these
+nunneries, in which she frequently immured herself for weeks at a time,
+that she found Jacob upon the road.
+
+The Count, who, with the companions of his youth, had lost what little
+religious sentiment he may have once possessed, regarded this trait in
+his wife with great disfavor; but neither threats nor prayers effected a
+change, and he finally allowed her to follow her own inclinations.
+
+While the union was not one of the happiest, there were fewer
+altercations than might have been reasonably expected from the
+thoroughly opposite natures of man and wife. Louise, with all her
+faults, was a loving wife, and when her husband's temper was ruffled,
+her smiles and caresses, her appealing looks and tender glances, won him
+back to serenity.
+
+The supper, therefore, was not as gloomy as the stormy introduction
+indicated. Both had much to tell each other, for a great deal had
+occurred during their eight months' separation, and it was late when
+they left the table.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 4: Wallace's "Russia."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+AN UNWILLING CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY.
+
+
+On the following morning the Count bethought himself of the Jewish lad,
+and the reflection that he had harbored one of the despised people on
+his estates for an entire night, rekindled his anger against the whole
+race. He rang for Ivan and strode impatiently up and down his
+well-furnished library until the coachman appeared.
+
+"Tell the Countess that I await her here, and then bring me the boy you
+found on the road!"
+
+Both Louise and Jacob made their appearance shortly after. Jacob had
+been washed and his hair combed, and not even the Count could deny that
+he was a lad of uncommon beauty.
+
+"What is your name?" interrogated the Count, with the air of a grand
+inquisitor.
+
+"Jacob Winenki."
+
+"Where do you live?"
+
+"In the Jew lane," answered the child, slowly.
+
+"But where? In what town?"
+
+Jacob hung his head. He did not know.
+
+"How did you come here?" was the next query.
+
+Then Jacob related, with childish hesitancy, how the soldiers stole him
+and his brother from home and took them to a big city, and how he and
+Mendel ran away and were caught in a storm. Further information he could
+not give, having no recollection of anything that happened from the time
+of his lying upon the highway until he found himself in the _droshka_
+with the ladies.
+
+"You say that the soldiers came to your house and took you and your
+brother away?" asked the Count.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"What did they want with you?"
+
+"One of them said he would make _goyim_ (gentiles) of us," answered the
+boy, in his native jargon.
+
+"I see," said Count Drentell, as the truth dawned upon him; "you were
+taken to become recruits. So you escaped!"
+
+"Please, sir, Mendel and I ran away. We wanted to go home to father and
+mother."
+
+"Were there more boys with you?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Did they run away, too?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"There is not much information to be obtained from the child," said
+Drentell, angrily. Then pointing to the boy's face and arm, he asked:
+
+"Did that happen to you on the road?"
+
+"Oh, no; that happened at home," answered Jacob, tearfully; and he
+related the story of the cow and the farmer, the details of which were
+too deeply impressed upon his memory to be soon forgotten.
+
+Louise understood the jargon of the boy but imperfectly, still her
+sympathetic nature comprehended that the boy had been seriously hurt,
+and she asked her husband to repeat the story of his injuries.
+
+"Poor fellow," she exclaimed, wiping away a tear. "How cruelly he has
+been treated!"
+
+"I suppose it served him right," answered the Count, rudely. "Who knows
+what he had been guilty of. One never knows whether a Jew is lying or
+telling the truth."
+
+In spite of his doubts upon the subject, Drentell examined the boy's
+arm. It was evident that the bone had been broken, and that the fracture
+had been imperfectly set. After a short inspection, he hazarded an
+opinion that the boy would have a stiff arm all his life.
+
+"It was almost well," sobbed Jacob, "but the soldiers pulled me about so
+that it is now much worse."
+
+"Poor boy," sighed the Countess, "how dreadful it must be! Can we do
+nothing for him?"
+
+"In the name of St. Nicholas, Louise, cease this sentimental
+whimpering," retorted her husband, losing patience.
+
+"But think of a stiff arm through life, and his ear almost torn off! It
+is terrible to carry such mutilations to the grave."
+
+"It does not matter much," answered the Count, "he is a Jew."
+
+"True, I had forgotten that. It does make a great difference, does it
+not?" And the impulsive little woman dried her eyes and smilingly forgot
+her compassion.
+
+"What will you do with him?" she asked, after a pause.
+
+"I don't know. The wisest plan would be to deliver him up to military
+headquarters. He was taken from home to be a recruit, and having escaped
+from the Czar's soldiers, I would be derelict in my duty if I did not at
+once send him back."
+
+At the word "soldiers," Jacob, who had caught but a few stray words of
+the conversation, began to howl and shriek.
+
+"No, don't send me back to the soldiers," he pleaded. "They will kill
+me! Please don't send me back!"
+
+"Stop your crying," thundered the Count, stopping his ears with his
+hands to keep out the disagreeable sounds, "or I will call the soldiers
+at once."
+
+This terrible threat had the desired effect, and Jacob, gulping down his
+grief, remained quiet save for an occasional sob that would not be
+repressed.
+
+"Listen, Dimitri," said the Countess. "I found the boy insensible in the
+storm. He is sick and weak. Of what service can a child like that be
+among the soldiers? Under rough treatment he would die in a week. Even
+though he be a Jew, there is no use in sacrificing his life uselessly."
+
+"But we can't keep him here," urged the Count.
+
+"There is no need of his remaining at Lubny. The principal motive in
+taking Jewish children from their homes is to make Christians of them.
+That can certainly be better accomplished at a cloister than in camp.
+Send the boy to the convent at Poltava; they will baptize him and make a
+good Catholic of him, and we will gain our reward in heaven for having
+led one erring soul to the Saviour." And the religious woman crossed
+herself devoutly.
+
+While his wife argued, Drentell appeared lost in thought. Suddenly his
+face became illumined by a fiendish light, and he rubbed his hands in
+evident satisfaction.
+
+"Louise," he said, at length, "those are the first sensible words I have
+heard you utter since we were married. Your idea is a capital one!"
+
+"I am glad you think so," she replied, wisely refraining from commenting
+upon her husband's doubtful compliment. "The Abbess at Valki told me
+only the day before yesterday, that for every soul brought into the holy
+church, a Christian's happiness would be increased tenfold in Paradise."
+
+"Fanatical absurdities," cried the Count, who was as free from religious
+sentiment as his wife was devout. "If I consent to have the child
+brought up in a convent, I am not actuated by any considerations of
+future reward or punishment. I don't believe in such antiquated dogmas.
+But to the convent he shall go, and when they have taught him to forget
+his origin and his religion, when they have educated him into a
+fanatical, Jew-hating priest, then will I use him to wreak upon his own
+race that vengeance which I have sworn never to forego."
+
+Louise shuddered at her husband's vehement gestures and passionate
+words. His eyes rolled wildly, his whole body seemed swayed by
+uncontrollable rage. Little Jacob, although he understood nothing of the
+Count's words, recoiled instinctively and hid his face in his hands.
+
+Drentell gradually regained his composure, and after walking up and down
+the room for a few moments, in apparent meditation, he rang the bell.
+
+A servant entered.
+
+"Take the boy back to the barn, and keep him there until I ask for him
+again," he commanded. "Then harness up at once and send for _Batushka_
+Alexei, the Abbot of the convent at Poltava. Tell his reverence that I
+desire to see him as soon as possible on matters pertaining to the holy
+church."
+
+The servant disappeared, taking Jacob with him, and the Count and
+Countess were left alone to discuss their plans.
+
+It was almost night when the vehicle containing the Abbot rolled up to
+the villa, and the _batushka_ (priest) was announced. He was a
+powerfully built man, displaying a physique of which a Roman gladiator
+might have been proud. His grizzled beard reached down to his waist, and
+his flowing black robes gave him the appearance of a dervish. Alexei
+enjoyed the reputation of being very devout, and the cloister of which
+he was the head was known as the most thoroughly religious in the
+Empire. To this man the future of the Jewish lad was to be entrusted.
+
+When the holy man entered the library, both the Count and his wife
+crossed themselves reverently.
+
+"Your excellency has sent for me," said Alexei, slowly.
+
+"Yes, _batushka_," answered the Count. "We wish to place in your pious
+care a young Jewish boy who, having escaped from his parents' roof, and
+having much to fear from the anger of his people, desires to seek
+present safety and ultimate salvation of his soul in the bosom of our
+holy church. I at once thought of you, as I believe that under your
+tuition the lad will be instructed in all that is essential to the
+perfect Christian."
+
+"Your excellency does me too much honor," said the priest, meekly. "With
+the grace of our Lord Christ, I shall do my utmost to bring this lamb
+into the fold."
+
+"The boy is feverish and his mind wanders," continued the Count. "If you
+interrogate him, he will tell you that he received certain injuries--a
+broken arm and a mutilated ear--from the Christians. I happen to be
+conversant with the facts of the case and know that he was injured by
+members of his own family, in their impotent frenzy to keep him from
+seeking the solace of the only saving church. I desire you to remember
+three things, _batushka_: Firstly, that this boy must be taught to
+forget absolutely that he belongs to that accursed people; secondly, the
+idea must be firmly implanted in his mind that he has been mutilated by
+the Jews; and thirdly, he must be taught to despise and detest the
+Hebrew race with all the hatred of which his soul is capable. Do you
+understand me?"
+
+"I do, your excellency. You desire the boy to so far forget his former
+associations, that he will belong heart and soul to the church of
+Christ; and as a further precaution that he may never harbor a desire to
+return to the religion of his fathers, you desire us to impress him with
+an implacable hatred, a thirst for revenge against his race, for wrongs
+they have inflicted upon him."
+
+The Count looked at the priest significantly; they had understood one
+another.
+
+"You will find the boy docile," continued Drentell, "and unless he
+belies the characteristics of his people, you will find him quick and
+intelligent. Employ that intelligence for the good of our holy faith and
+to the prejudice of the Jewish race. Give him every advantage, every
+inducement to advance, and shape his career so that in him the church
+will find a faithful supporter and an earnest champion."
+
+"And the Jews an enemy before whom the stoutest of their number shall
+quail," continued the priest. "So shall it be, your excellency."
+
+"I shall expect to receive occasional reports of his progress. Let him
+be taught to respect me as his benefactor, and once a year I desire him
+to spend a week or two with me, in order that by wise counsels and
+salutary advice, I may assist the holy church in her noble work.
+Remember, too," and here the Count's features assumed a threatening
+look, "that this act of to-day is done by the authority of his majesty
+the Czar, who will hold you accountable for the strict observance of all
+you have promised."
+
+The priest bowed his head humbly.
+
+"I reverence the church, your excellency," he answered, "but above all I
+owe allegiance to its spiritual head, the Czar."
+
+All preliminaries having been arranged, Jacob was sent for. The priest,
+who not unnaturally expected to see a young man, was greatly surprised
+at the appearance of this puny child. He concealed his astonishment as
+well as possible, merely observing:
+
+"I presume, your excellency, this is my future pupil."
+
+"It is, and may he prove worthy of his eminent teacher."
+
+"Come, my boy," said the priest, taking the mystified Jacob by the
+hand; "say good-by to your benefactors."
+
+But Jacob, upon whom the sombre-robed, grim-visaged stranger did not
+make a favorable impression, broke from his hold and took refuge in the
+skirts of the Countess, as the most compassionate of the company.
+
+"Don't let them take me away," he sobbed. "Let me remain with you."
+
+"Be a good boy and he will take you home to your papa and mamma," said
+the Countess, with the best intentions in the world.
+
+"Will he take me to Mendel?" asked the boy.
+
+"Yes, he is going there now and will take you to all your friends."
+
+The child wiped away his tears and a smile rippled over his face. He put
+his hand confidingly into that of the priest, and said:
+
+"Come, I will go with you."
+
+The priest, in spite of his fanaticism, took the poor Jew in his arms
+and kissed him tenderly. Then setting him again upon his feet, he
+whispered:
+
+"I shall take him to a kind and loving mother, one from whose embrace he
+will not care to flee--the Holy Mother of God."
+
+Jacob entered the wagon with his new acquaintance, and in the belief
+that he was going direct to the home of his parents, he fell asleep.
+When he awoke, he found himself borne by strong arms into the convent,
+whose doors closed upon him, separating him forever from his home and
+his religion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+A MIRACULOUS CURE.
+
+
+Let us return to Mendel.
+
+The unconscious boy was carried to the village by the sympathizing
+Israelites of Poltava. When he recovered his senses he found himself
+safely sheltered in the house of Reb Sholem, the _parnas_ (president of
+the congregation). It was a pleasure to find kind sympathy, a warm room
+and a substantial meal, after the hardships of the last few days; but
+the constant recollection of Jacob's disappearance, the reproaches which
+Mendel heaped upon himself for having deserted his brother, left him no
+peace of mind.
+
+The Jews of Poltava displayed their practical sympathy by dividing into
+groups and scouring the village and the surrounding country, in hopes of
+finding some clue to the whereabouts of the boy. He might even now be
+wandering through the fields. Night, however, found them all gathered at
+Reb Sholem's house, sorrowful and disheartened, as not a trace of the
+missing lad had been discovered. Mendel retired in a state of fever and
+tossed restlessly about on his bed during the entire night. He was moved
+by but one desire--to get to his uncle at Kief as quickly as possible.
+In the morning he informed his host of his plans. A carrier of the
+village, who drove his team to within a few versts of Kief, was induced,
+upon the payment of an exorbitant sum, to take the boy as a passenger,
+and at dawn next morning they started upon their slow and tedious
+journey, followed by the good wishes of the Jewish community. It was an
+all-day trip to Kief. Over stone and stubble, through ditch and mire
+moved the lumbering, springless vehicle, and Mendel, who quitted Poltava
+with an incipient fever, arrived at his destination in a state of utter
+exhaustion. The carrier set him down at the outskirts of the town. It
+was as much as his position was worth to have harbored a Jew--a fugitive
+from the military at that--and slowly and painfully Mendel found his way
+through the strange city, to the Jewish quarter. Every soldier that
+crossed his path inspired him with terror; it might be some one charged
+with his recapture. Not until he reached his destination did he deem
+himself safe.
+
+To the south-east of the city, stretched along the Dnieper, lay the
+Jewish settlement of almost fifteen thousand souls. The most dismal,
+unhealthy portion of the town had in days gone by been selected as its
+location. The decree of the _mir_ had fixed its limits in the days of
+Peter the Great, and its boundaries could not be extended, no matter how
+rapidly the population might increase, no matter how great a lack of
+room, of air, of light there might be for future generations. The houses
+were, therefore, built as closely together as possible, without regard
+to comfort or sanitary needs. To each was added new rooms, as the
+necessities of the inhabiting family demanded, and these additions hung
+like excrescences from all sides of the ugly huts, like toadstools to
+decaying logs. Every inch of ground was precious to the ever-increasing
+settlement. It was a labyrinth of narrow, dirty streets, of unpainted,
+unattractive, dilapidated houses, a lasting monument of hatred and
+persecution, of bigotry and prejudice. Mendel gasped for a breath of
+fresh air, and, feeling himself grow faint, he hurried onward and
+inquired the way to Hirsch Bensef's house. A plain, unpretentious
+structure was pointed out and Mendel knocked at the door.
+
+Hirsch himself opened the door. For a moment he stood undecided,
+scarcely recognizing in the form before him, his chubby nephew of a week
+ago. Then he opened his arms and drew the little fellow to his breast.
+
+"Is it indeed you, Mendel?" he cried. "_Sholem alechem!_ (Peace be with
+you!) God be praised that He has brought you to us!" and he led the boy
+into the room and closed the door.
+
+"Miriam," he called to his wife, who was engaged in her household duties
+in an adjoining room; "quick, here is our boy, our Mendel. I knew he
+would come."
+
+Mendel was lovingly embraced by his cheerful-looking aunt, whom he had
+never seen, but whom he loved from that moment.
+
+"What ails you, my boy? You look ill; your head is burning," said
+Miriam, anxiously.
+
+"Yes, aunt; I fear I shall be sick," answered Mendel, faintly.
+
+"Nonsense; we will take care of that," replied Hirsch. "But where is
+Jacob?"
+
+Mendel burst into tears, the first he had shed since his enforced
+departure from home. In as few words as possible he told his story,
+accompanied by the sobs and exclamations of his hearers. In conclusion,
+he added:
+
+"Either Jacob wandered away in his delirium and is perhaps dead in some
+deserted place, or else the soldiers have recaptured him and have taken
+him back to Kharkov."
+
+"Rather he be dead than among the inhuman Cossacks at the barracks,"
+returned his uncle. "God in His mercy does all things for the best!"
+
+"The poor boy must be starving," said Miriam, and she set the table with
+the best the house afforded, but Mendel could touch nothing.
+
+"It looks tempting, but I cannot eat," he said. "I have no appetite."
+
+The poor fellow stretched himself on a large sofa, where he lay so
+quiet, so utterly exhausted, that Hirsch and his wife looked at each
+other anxiously and gravely shook their heads.
+
+A casual stranger would not have judged from the unpretentious exterior
+of Bensef's house, that its proprietor was in possession of considerable
+means, that every room was furnished in taste and even luxury, that
+works of oriental art were hidden in its recesses. Persecuted during
+generations by the jealous and covetous nations surrounding them, the
+Jews learned to conceal their wealth beneath the mask of poverty.
+Robbers, in the guise of uniformed soldiery and decorated officers of
+the Czar, stalked in broad daylight to relieve the despised Hebrew of
+his superfluous wealth, and thus it happened that the poorest hut was
+often the depository of gold and silver, of artistic utensils, which
+were worthy of the table of the Czar himself. Nor was this fact entirely
+unknown to the surrounding Christians. Not unfrequently were
+persecutions the outcome of the absurd idea that every Jewish hovel was
+the abode of riches, and that every hut where misery held court, where
+starving children cried for bread, was a mine of untold wealth. The
+condition of the race has changed in some of the more civilized
+countries, but in Russia these barbarous notions still prevail.
+
+Hirsch Bensef, by untiring energy and perseverance as a dealer in curios
+and works of art, had become one of the wealthiest and most influential
+men in the community. He was _parnas_ of the great congregation of Kief,
+and was respected, not only by his co-religionists, but also by the
+nobles with whom he transacted the greater portion of his business.
+
+His wife, who had in her youth been styled the "Beautiful Miriam," even
+now, after twelve years of married life, was still a handsome woman. Her
+dark eyes shone with the same bewitching fire; her beautiful hair had,
+in accordance with the orthodox Jewish custom, fallen under the shears
+on the day of her marriage, but the silken band and string of pearls
+that henceforth decked her brow did not detract from her oriental
+beauty. Hirsch was proud of her and he would have been completely happy
+if God had vouchsafed her a son. Like Hannah, she prayed night and
+morning to the Heavenly throne. Such was the family in whose bosom
+Mendel had found a refuge.
+
+After a while, the boy asked for a glass of water, which he swallowed
+eagerly. Then he asked:
+
+"When did you leave Togarog, uncle; and how are father and mother?"
+
+Bensef sighed at the recollection of the sad parting and tearfully
+related the events of that memorable night.
+
+"After the soldiers had carried you off," he said, "the little band that
+followed you to the confines of the village, returned sorrowful to their
+homes. I need not tell you of our misery. It appeared as though God had
+turned his face from his chosen people. We spent the night in prayer and
+lamentations. In every house the inhabitants put on mourning, for
+whatever might befall the children, to their parents they were
+irretrievably lost."
+
+"Poor papa! poor mamma!" murmured Mendel, wiping away a tear.
+
+"On the following morning," continued Bensef; "all the male _Jehudim_
+went to Alexandrovsk and implored an audience of the Governor. He sent
+us word that he would hold no conference with Jews and threatened us all
+with Siberia if we did not at once return home. What could we do? I bade
+your parents farewell, and after promising to do all in my power to find
+and succor you and Jacob, I left them and returned home, where I arrived
+yesterday. Thank God that you, at least, are safe from harm."
+
+Mendel nestled closer to his uncle, who affectionately stroked his
+fevered brow.
+
+"Oh! why does God send us such sufferings?" moaned the boy.
+
+"Be patient, my child. It is through suffering that we will in the end
+attain happiness. When afflictions bear most heavily upon us, then will
+the Messiah come!"
+
+This hope was ever the anchor which preserved the chosen people when the
+storms of misfortune threatened to destroy them. The belief in the
+eventual coming of a redeemer who would lead them to independence, and
+for whose approach trials, misery and persecution were but a necessary
+preparation, has been the great secret of Israel's strength and
+endurance.
+
+During the evening, a number of Bensef's intimate friends visited the
+house and were told Mendel's history. The news of his arrival soon
+spread through the community, awakening everywhere the liveliest
+sympathy. Many parents had been bereft of their children in the
+self-same way and still mourned the absence of their first-born, whom
+the cruel decree of Nicholas had condemned to the rigors of some
+military outpost. Mendel became the hero of Kief, while he lay tossing
+in bed, a prey to high fever.
+
+In spite of the care that was lavished upon him, he steadily grew worse.
+Fear, hunger, exposure and self-reproach had been too much for his
+youthful frame. For several days Miriam administered her humble
+house-remedies, but they were powerless to relieve his sufferings. The
+hot tea which he was made to drink, only served to augment the fever.
+
+On the fifth day, Mendel was decidedly in a dangerous condition. He was
+delirious. The doctors in the Jewish community were consulted, but were
+powerless to effect a cure. Bensef and his wife were in despair.
+
+"What shall we do?" said Miriam, sadly. "We cannot let the boy die."
+
+"Die?" cried Hirsch, becoming pale at the thought. "Oh, God, do not take
+the boy! He has wound himself about my heart. Oh, God, let him live!"
+
+"Come, husband, praying is of little avail," answered his practical
+wife; "we must have a _feldsher_" (doctor).
+
+"A _feldsher_ in the Jewish community? Why, Miriam, are you out of your
+mind? Have you forgotten how, when Rabbi Jeiteles was lying at the point
+of death, no amount of persuasion could induce a doctor to come into the
+quarter. 'Let the Jews die,' they answered to our entreaties; 'there
+will still be too many of them!'"
+
+Miriam sighed. She remembered it well.
+
+"What persuasion would not do, money may accomplish," she said, after a
+pause. "Hirsch, that boy must not die. He must live to be a credit to us
+and a comfort to our old age. You have money--what gentile ever
+resisted it?"
+
+"I will do what I can," said the man, gloomily. "But even though I could
+bring one to the house, what good can he do. It is merely an experiment
+with the best of them. They will take our money, make a few magical
+incantations, prescribe a useless drug, and leave their patient to the
+mercy of Fate."
+
+Hirsch Bensef was right. At the time of which we speak, medicine could
+scarcely be classed among the sciences in Russia, and if we accept the
+statement of modern travellers, the situation is not much improved at
+the present day. The scientific doctor of Russia was the _feldsher_ or
+army surgeon, whose sole schooling was obtained among the soldiery and
+whose knowledge did not extend beyond dressing wounds and giving an
+occasional dose of physic. Upon being called to the bedside of a
+patient, he adopted an air of profound learning, asked a number of
+unimportant questions, prescribed an herb or drug of doubtful efficacy,
+and charged an exorbitant fee. The patient usually refused to take the
+medicine and recovered. It sometimes happened that he took the
+prescribed dose and perhaps recovered, too. On a level with the
+_feldsher_ and much preferred by the peasantry, stood the _snakharka_, a
+woman, half witch, half quack, who was regarded by the _moujiks_ with
+the greatest veneration. By means of herbs and charms, she could
+accomplish any cure short of restoring life to a corpse. "The
+_snakharka_ and the _feldsher_ represent two very different periods in
+the history of medical science--the magical and the scientific. The
+Russian peasantry have still many conceptions which belong to the
+former. The majority of them are now quite willing, under ordinary
+circumstances, to use the scientific means of healing, but as soon as a
+violent epidemic breaks out and scientific means prove unequal to the
+occasion, the old faith revives and recourse is had to magical rites and
+incantations."[5]
+
+Neither of these systems was regarded favorably by the Hebrews. The
+_feldshers_ were, by right of their superior knowledge, an arrogant
+class; and it was suspected that on more than one occasion they had
+hastened the death of a Jew under treatment, instead of relieving him.
+The Israelites were equally suspicious of the _snakharkas_; not because
+they were intellectually above the superstitions of their times, but
+because the incantations and spells were invariably pronounced in the
+name of the Virgin Mary, and no Jew could be reasonably expected to
+recover under such treatment.
+
+What was to be done for poor Mendel? Hirsch, assisted by suggestions
+from his wife, cogitated long and earnestly. Suddenly Miriam found a
+solution of the difficulty.
+
+"Why not send to Rabbi Eleazer at Tchernigof?"
+
+Hirsch gazed at his wife in silent admiration.
+
+"To the _bal-shem_?" he asked.
+
+"Why not? When Chune Benefski's little boy was so sick that they thought
+he was already dead, a parchment blessed by the _bal-shem_ brought him
+back to life. Is Mendel less to you than your own son would be?"
+
+"God forbid," said Hirsch; then added, reflectively: "but to-day is
+Thursday. It will take a day and a half to reach Tchernigof, and the
+messenger will arrive there just before _Shabbes_. He cannot start on
+his return until Saturday evening, and by the time he got back Mendel
+would be cold in death. No; it is too far!"
+
+"_Shaute!_" (Nonsense!) ejaculated his wife, who was now warmed up to
+the subject. "Do you imagine the _bal-shem_ cannot cure at a distance as
+well as though he were at the patient's bedside? Lose no time. God did
+not deliver Mendel out of the hands of the soldiers to let him die in
+our house."
+
+One of the most fantastic notions of Cabalistic teaching was that
+certain persons, possessing a clue to the mysterious powers of nature,
+were enabled to control its laws, to heal the sick, to compel even the
+Almighty to do their behests. Such a man, such a miracle worker, was
+called a _bal-shem_.
+
+That a _bal-shem_ should thrive and grow fat is a matter of course, for
+consultations were often paid for in gold. To the wonder-working Rabbi
+travelled all those who had a petition to bring to the Throne of
+God--the old and decrepit who desired to defraud the grave of a few
+miserable years; the unfortunate who wished to improve his condition;
+the oppressed who yearned for relief from a tyrannical taskmaster; the
+father who prayed for a husband for his fast aging daughter; the sick,
+the halt, the maim, the malcontent, the egotist--all sought the aid, the
+mediation of the holy man. He refused no one his assistance, declined no
+one's proffered gifts.
+
+It was finally decided to send to the _bal-shem_ to effect Mendel's
+cure. But time was pressing, Mendel was growing visibly worse and
+Tchernigof was a long way off!
+
+Hirsch rose to go in search of a messenger.
+
+"Whom will you send?" asked his wife, accompanying him to the door.
+
+"The beadle, Itzig Maier, of course," rang back Hirsch's answer, as he
+strode rapidly down the street.
+
+Let us accompany him to Itzig Maier's house, situated in the poorest
+quarter of Kief. In a narrow lane stood a low, dingy, wooden hut, whose
+boards were rotting with age. The little windows were covered for the
+most part with greased paper in lieu of the panes that had years ago
+been destroyed, and scarcely admitted a stray beam of sunlight into the
+room. The door, which was partially sunken into the earth, suggesting
+the entrance to a cave, opened into the one room of the house, which
+served at once as kitchen and dormitory. It was damp, foul and
+unhealthy, scarcely a fit dwelling-place for the emaciated cat, which
+sat lazily at the entrance. The floor was innocent of boards or tiles,
+and was wet after a shower and dry during a drought. The walls were bare
+of plaster. It was a stronghold of poverty. Misery had left her impress
+upon everything within that wretched enclosure. Yet here it was that
+Itzig Maier, his wife, and five children lived and after a fashion
+thrived. In one respect he was more fortunate than most of his
+neighbors; his hut possessed the advantage of housing but one family,
+whereas many places, not a whit more spacious or commodious, furnished a
+dwelling to three or four. The persecutions which limited the Jewish
+quarter to certain defined boundaries, the intolerance which prohibited
+the Jews from possessing or cultivating land, or from acquiring any
+trade or profession, were to blame for this wretchedness.
+
+A brief review of the past career of our new acquaintance, Itzig Maier,
+will give us a picture of the unfortunate destiny of thousands of
+Russian Jews.
+
+Itzig had studied Talmud until he had attained his eighteenth year. But
+lacking originality he lapsed into a mere automaton. His eighteenth year
+found him a sallow-visaged, slovenly lad, ignorant of all else but the
+Holy Law. His anxious and loving parents began to think seriously of his
+future. Almost nineteen years of age and not yet married! It was
+preposterous! A _schadchen_ (match-maker) was brought into requisition
+and a wife obtained for the young man. What mattered it that she was a
+mere child, unlettered and unfit for the solemn duties of wife and
+mother? What mattered it that the young people had never met before and
+had no inclination for each other? "It is not good for man to be alone,"
+said the parents, and the prospective bride and bridegroom were simply
+not consulted. The girl's straggling curls succumbed to the shears; a
+band of silk, the insignia of married life, was placed over her brow,
+and the fate of two inexperienced children was irrevocably fixed; they
+were henceforth man and wife.
+
+Both parents of Itzig Maier died shortly after the nuptials and the
+young man inherited a small sum of money, the meagre earnings of years,
+and the miserable hut which had for generations served as the family
+homestead. For a brief period the couple lived carelessly and
+contentedly; but, alas! the little store of wealth gradually decreased.
+Itzig's fingers, unskilled in manual labor, could not add to it nor
+prevent its melting away. He knew nothing but Law and Talmud and his
+chances for advancement were meagre, indeed. After the last rouble had
+been spent, Itzig sought refuge in the great synagogue, where as beadle
+he executed any little duties for which the services of a pious man were
+required--sat up with the sick, prayed for the dead, trimmed the lamps
+and swept the floor of the House of Worship; in return for which he
+thankfully accepted the gifts of the charitably inclined. His wife, when
+she was not occupied with the care of her rapidly growing family,
+cheerfully assisted in swelling the family fund by peddling vegetables
+and fruit from door to door.
+
+Oh, the misery of such an existence! Slowly and drearily day followed
+day and time itself moved with leaden soles. There were many such
+families, many such hovels in Kief; for although thrift and economy,
+prudence and good management are pre-eminently Jewish qualities, yet
+they are not infrequently absent and their place usurped by neglect with
+its attendant misery.
+
+In spite of privations, however, life still possessed a charm for Itzig
+Maier. At times the wedding of a wealthy Jew, or the funeral of some
+eminent man, demanded his services and for a week or more money would be
+plentiful and happiness reign supreme.
+
+Hirsch Bensef entered the hut and found Jentele, Maier's wife,
+perspiring over the hearth which occupied one corner of the room. She
+was preparing a meal of boiled potatoes. A sick child was tossing
+restlessly in an improvised cradle, which in order to save room was
+suspended from a hook in the smoke-begrimed ceiling. Several children
+were squalling in the lane before the house.
+
+"_Sholem alechem_," said the woman, as she saw the stranger stoop and
+enter the door-way, and wiping her hands upon her greasy gown, she
+offered Hirsch a chair.
+
+"Where is your husband?" asked Hirsch, gasping for breath, for the heat
+and the malodorous atmosphere were stifling.
+
+"Where should he be but in the synagogue?" said Jentele, as she went to
+rock the cradle, for the child had begun to cry and fret at the sight of
+the stranger.
+
+"Is the child sick?" asked Bensef, advancing to the cradle and observing
+the poor half-starved creature struggling and whining for relief.
+
+"Yes, it is sick. God knows whether it will recover. It is dying of
+hunger and thirst and I have no money to buy it medicines or
+nourishment."
+
+"Does your husband earn nothing?"
+
+"Very little. There have been no funerals and no weddings for several
+months."
+
+"Can you not earn anything?"
+
+"How can I? I must cook for my little ones and watch my ailing child."
+
+"Are your children of no service to you?"
+
+"My oldest girl, Beile, is but seven years old. She does all she can to
+help me, but it is not much," answered Jentele, irritably.
+
+Hirsch sighed heavily and drawing out his purse, he placed a gold coin
+in the woman's hand.
+
+"Here, take this," he said, "and provide for the child." He thought of
+Mendel at home and tears almost blinded him. "Carry the boy out into the
+air; this atmosphere is enough to kill a healthy person. Well, God be
+with you!" and Hirsch hurriedly left the the house.
+
+He found the man he was seeking at the synagogue. Poverty and privation,
+hunger and care, had undertaken the duties of time and had converted
+this person into a decrepit ruin while yet in the prime of life.
+
+Without unnecessary delay, for great was the need of haste, Hirsch
+unfolded his plans, and Itzig, in consideration of a sum of money,
+consented to undertake the journey at once. The money, destined as a
+gift to the _bal-shem_, was securely strapped about his waist, and
+arrangements were made with a _moujik_, who was going part of the way,
+to carry Itzig on his wagon.
+
+"Get there as soon as possible, and by all means before _Shabbes_!" were
+Bensef's parting words.
+
+In the meantime not a little sympathy was manifested for the unfortunate
+lad. Bensef's house was crowded during the entire day. Every visitor
+brought a slight token of love--a cake, a cup of jelly, a leg of a
+chicken; but Mendel could eat nothing and the good things remained
+untouched. There was no lack of advice as to the boy's treatment.
+Everyone had a recipe or a drug to offer, all of which Miriam wisely
+refused to administer. There was at one time quite a serious dispute in
+the room adjoining the sick-chamber. Hinka Kierson, a stout, red-faced
+matron, asserted that cold applications were most efficacious in fevers
+of this nature, while Chune Benefski, whose son had had a similar
+attack, and who was therefore qualified to speak upon the subject,
+insisted that cold applications meant instant death, and that nothing
+could relieve the boy but a hot bath. Miriam quieted the disputants by
+promising to try both remedies. To her credit be it said, she applied
+neither, but pinned her entire faith upon the coming remedy of the
+_bal-shem_.
+
+Friday noon came but it brought no improvement. He continued delirious
+and his mind dwelt upon his recent trials, at one moment struggling
+against unseen enemies and the next calling piteously upon his brother
+Jacob.
+
+Hirsch and Miriam could witness his suffering no longer, but went to
+their own room and gave free vent to the tears which would not be
+repressed.
+
+"Oh, if the answer from the Rabbi were but here," sighed Miriam.
+
+"Itzig will have just arrived in Tchernigof," said her husband,
+despondingly. "We can expect no answer until Monday morning."
+
+"And must we sit helpless in the meantime?" sobbed Miriam, through her
+tears.
+
+The door opened and a woman living in the neighborhood entered to
+inquire after the patient.
+
+"See, Miriam," she said, "when I was feverish last year after my
+confinement, a _snakharka_ gave me this bark with which to make a tea. I
+used a part of it and you remember how quickly I recovered. Here is all
+I have left. Try it on your boy; it can't hurt him and with God's help
+it will cure him."
+
+Yes, Miriam remembered how ill her neighbor had been and how rapid had
+been her convalescence. She took the bark and examined it curiously,
+made the tea and administered a portion without any visible effect.
+
+"Continue to give it to him regularly until it is all gone," said the
+neighbor, and she went home to prepare for the Sabbath.
+
+Miriam, too, had her house to put in order and to prepare the table for
+the following day; but for the first time the gold and silver utensils,
+the snow-white linen--the luxurious essentials of the Sabbath
+table--failed to give her pleasure. What did all her wealth avail her if
+Mendel must die! Her husband sat apathetically at the boy's bedside,
+watching his flushed face and listening to his delirious raving. The end
+seemed near. The boy asked for drink and Miriam gave him more of the
+tea.
+
+Five o'clock sounded from the tower of a near-by church and Hirsch arose
+to dress for the house of prayer. _Shabbes_ must not be neglected,
+happen what may. Suddenly there was an unusual commotion in the narrow
+lane in which stood Bensef's house. The door was hastily thrown open and
+in rushed Itzig, the messenger to Tchernigof, followed by a dozen
+excited, gesticulating friends.
+
+Bensef ran to meet them, but when he saw his messenger already returned
+his countenance fell.
+
+"For God's sake, what is the matter? Why are you not in Tchernigof?" he
+said.
+
+"I was," retorted Itzig, "but I have come back. Here," he continued,
+opening a bag about his neck and carefully drawing therefrom a small
+piece of parchment covered with hieroglyphics, "put this under the boy's
+tongue and he will recover!"
+
+"But what is this paper?" asked Hirsch, suspiciously.
+
+"It is from the _bal-shem_. Don't ask so many questions, but do as I
+tell you! Put it under the boy's tongue before the Sabbath or it will be
+of no avail!"
+
+Hirsch looked from Itzig to the ever-increasing crowd that was peering
+in through the open door. Then he gazed at the parchment. It was about
+two inches square and covered with mystic signs which none understood,
+but the power of which none doubted. In the margin was written in
+Hebrew, "In the name of the Lord--Rabbi Eleazer."
+
+There was no time for idle curiosity. Hirsch ran into the patient's
+presence with the precious talisman and placed it under the boy's
+tongue.
+
+"There, my child," he whispered; "the _bal-shem_ sends you this. By
+to-morrow you will be cured."
+
+The boy, whose fever appeared already broken, opened his eyes and,
+looking gratefully at Hirsch, answered:
+
+"Yes, dear uncle, I shall soon be well," and fell into a deep sleep.
+
+Hirsch closed the door softly and went out to his friends. The
+excitement was intense and the crowd was steadily growing, for the news
+had spread that Itzig Maier had been to Tchernigof and back in less than
+two days.
+
+"Tell us about it, Itzig," they clamored. "How is it possible that you
+could do it?" But Itzig waved them back and not until Hirsch Bensef came
+out from the sick chamber did he deign to speak. Then his tongue became
+loosened, and to the awe and amazement of his listeners he related his
+wonderful adventures. He told them that, having left the wagon half-way
+to Tchernigof, he had walked the rest of the distance, reaching his
+destination that very morning at eleven o'clock. The holy man, being
+advised by mysterious power of his expected arrival, awaited him at the
+door and said: "Itzig, thou hast come about a sick boy at Kief." The
+_bal-shem_ then gave him a parchment already written, and told him to
+return home at once and apply the remedy before _Shabbes_, otherwise the
+spell would lose its efficacy.
+
+"Then," continued the messenger, "I said, 'Rabbi, this is Friday noon;
+it takes almost a day and a half to reach Kief. How can I get there by
+_Shabbes_?' Then he answered, 'Thinkest thou that I possess the power to
+cure a dying man and not to send thee home before the Sabbath? Begin thy
+journey at once and on foot and thou shalt be in Kief before night.'
+Then I gave him the present I had brought and started out upon my
+homeward journey. I appeared to fly. It seemed as though I was suspended
+in the air, and trees, fields and villages passed me in rapid
+succession. This continued until about a half hour ago, when I suddenly
+found myself before Kief and at once hastened here with the parchment."
+
+This incredible story produced different effects upon the auditors
+present.
+
+"It is wonderful," said one. "The _bal-shem_ knows the mysteries of
+God."
+
+"I don't believe a word of it," shouted another; "such things are
+impossible."
+
+"But we have proof of it before us," cried a third. "Itzig could not
+have returned by natural means."
+
+Then a number of the men related similar occurrences for which they
+could vouch, or which had taken place in the experience of their
+parents, and the gathering broke up into little groups, each
+gesticulating, relating or explaining. The excitement was indescribable.
+
+Bensef laid his hand upon Itzig's shoulder and led him aside.
+
+"Look at me, Itzig," he commanded. "I want to know the truth. Is what
+you have just related exactly true."
+
+"To be sure it is. If you doubt it, go to the _bal-shem_ and ask him
+yourself."
+
+"Do you swear by----" Then checking himself, Hirsch muttered: "We will
+see. If the boy recovers, I will believe you."
+
+When Itzig arrived at the synagogue that evening, he was the cynosure of
+all eyes, and it is safe to say that there was not in Kief a Jewish
+household in which the wonderful story was not repeated and commented
+upon.
+
+Mendel recovered with marvellous rapidity. Whether his improvement was
+due to the Peruvian bark which the kind-hearted neighbor had brought,
+or to the power of the Cabalistic writing, or to the psychological
+influence of faith in the _bal-shem's_ power, it is not for us to
+decide, but certain it is that Rabbi Eleazer received full credit for
+the cure and his already great reputation spread through Russia.
+
+The fact that Itzig, whose poverty had been notorious, now occasionally
+indulged in expenditures requiring the outlay of considerable money,
+caused a rumor to spread that the worthy messenger had gone no further
+than the village of Navrack, where he himself prepared the parchment and
+then returned with the wonderful story of his trip through the air and
+with his fortune augmented to the extent of Bensef's present to the
+Rabbi. Envious people were not wanting who gave ear to this unkind rumor
+and even helped to spread it. But the fact that Mendel had been snatched
+from the jaws of death was sufficient vindication for Itzig, who for a
+long time enjoyed great honors at Kief.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 5: Wallace, p. 77.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+MENDEL THINKS FOR HIMSELF.
+
+
+Mendel's fondness for study determined his future career. Nowhere were
+there such opportunities for learning the Talmud as in Kief. Its
+numerous synagogues, its eminent rabbis, its large Hebrew population,
+made it the centre of Judaism in Southern Russia. In its schools some of
+the most learned rabbis of the Empire had studied.
+
+Throughout the whole of Russia there were, at the time of which we
+speak, but few universities, and these scarcely deserved to rank above
+second-rate colleges. Education was within the reach of very few. At the
+present day, "the merchants do not even possess the rudiments of an
+education. Many of them can neither read nor write and are forced to
+keep their accounts in their memory, or by means of ingenious
+hieroglyphics, intelligible only to their inventors. Others can decipher
+the calendar and the lives of the saints, and can sign their name with
+tolerable facility. They can make the simpler arithmetical calculations
+with the help of a little calculating machine, called _stchety_."[6]
+
+In the days of Nicholas it was infinitely worse. Learning of any kind
+was considered detrimental to the State; schools were practically
+unknown. "The most stringent regulations were made concerning tutors and
+governesses. It was forbidden to send young men to study in western
+colleges and every obstacle was thrown in the way of foreign travel and
+residence. Philosophy could not be taught in the universities."[7]
+
+Contrast with this enforced lethargy the intellectual activity that we
+meet with everywhere in Jewish quarters. No settlement in which we find
+a _minyan_ (ten men necessary for divine worship), but there we will
+also find a _cheder_, a school in which the Bible and the Talmud are
+taught. Indeed, study is the first duty of the Jew; it is the
+quintessence of his religion. The unravelling of God's Word has been
+from time immemorial regarded as the greatest need, the most ennobling
+occupation of man--a work commanded by God. The Talmud teems with
+precepts concerning this all-important subject.
+
+"Study by day and by night, for it is written: 'Thou shalt meditate
+therein day and night.'"
+
+"The study of the Law may be compared to a huge heap that is to be
+cleared away. The foolish man will say: 'It is impossible for me to
+remove this immense pile, I will not attempt it.' But the wise man says:
+'I will remove a little to-day, and more to-morrow, and thus in time I
+shall have removed it all.' It is the same in studying the Law."[8]
+
+It was to this incessant study of the Scriptures that Israel owed its
+patience, its courage, its fortitude during centuries of persecution. It
+was this constant delving for truth which produced that bright, acute
+Jewish mind, which in days of fanaticism and intolerance, protected the
+despised people from stupefying mental decay. It was this incessant
+yearning after the word of God, which moulded the moral and religious
+life of the Jews and preserved them from the fanatical excesses of the
+surrounding peoples.
+
+That this study often degenerated into a mere useless cramming of
+unintelligible ideas is easily understood, and its effects were in many
+cases the reverse of ennobling. At the age of five, the Jewish lad was
+sent to _cheder_ and his young years devoted to the study of the Bible.
+Every other occupation of mind and body was interdicted, the very plays
+of happy childhood were abolished. The Pentateuch must henceforth form
+the sole mental nourishment of the boy. Later on he is led through the
+labyrinth of Talmudic lore, to wander through the dark and dreary
+catacombs of the past, analyze the mouldering corpses of a by-gone
+philosophy, drink into his very blood the wisdom, superstitions,
+morality and prejudices of preceding ages. He must digest problems which
+the greatest minds have failed to solve. Either the pupil is spurred on
+to preternatural acuteness and becomes a credit to his parents and his
+teachers, or he succumbs entirely to the benumbing influence of an
+over-wrought intellect and is rendered unfit for the great physical
+struggle for existence.
+
+What is the Talmud, this sacred literature of Israel? It is a collection
+of discussions and comments of biblical subjects, by generations of
+rabbis and teachers who devoted their time and intellects to an analysis
+of the Scriptures. It is a curious store-house of literary gems, at
+times carefully, at times carelessly compiled by writers living in
+different lands and different ages; a museum of curiosities, into which
+are thrown in strange confusion beautiful legends, historical facts,
+metaphysical discussions, sanitary regulations and records of scientific
+research. In it are preserved the wise decisions, stirring sermons and
+religious maxims of Israel's philosophers.
+
+Although a huge work, consisting of twelve folios, it bears no
+resemblance to a single literary production. On first acquaintance it
+appears a wilderness, a meaningless tangle of heterogeneous ideas, of
+scientific absurdities, of hair-splitting arguments, of profound
+aphorisms, of ancient traditions, of falsehood and of truth. It is a
+work of broadest humanity, of most fanatical bigotry.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that the Talmud contains a great number
+of trivial subjects, which it treats with great seriousness. It
+contains, for example, dissertations upon sorcery and witchcraft as well
+as powerful religious precepts, and presents along-side of its wise and
+charitable maxims many utterances of an opposite nature. "For these
+faults the whole Talmud had often been held responsible, as a work of
+trifles, as a source of trickery, without taking into consideration that
+it is not the work of a single author. Over six centuries are
+crystallized in the Talmud with animated distinctness. It is, therefore,
+no wonder if in this work, sublime and mean, serious and ridiculous,
+Jewish and heathen elements, the altar and the ashes are found in motley
+mixture."[9]
+
+To the _jeschiva_, or Talmud school, Mendel was immediately sent after
+his phenomenal recovery. The great Rabbi Jeiteles himself became the
+lad's instructor. Let us accompany Mendel on this beautiful autumn day
+to his school.
+
+The house of Rabbi Jeiteles was hemmed in on three sides by decaying and
+overcrowded dwellings, facing on the fourth a narrow, neglected lane.
+There was nothing in its appearance to attract a passer-by. The
+interior, however, was neatly and tastefully, if not luxuriously,
+furnished. On entering, one found himself in a comfortably arranged
+reception-room. On the eastern wall there hung a _misrach_, a scriptural
+picture bearing the inscription, "From the rising of the sun to its
+setting shall the name of the Lord be praised." Prints of biblical
+subjects adorned the remaining walls, the Sabbath lamp hung from the
+ceiling and thrift and comfort seemed to be thoroughly at home. Rebecca,
+the Rabbi's wife, a pleasant-faced, mild-tempered little woman, was busy
+arranging the table for the evening meal. There is not much to be said
+about her and absolutely nothing against her. To a profound admiration
+for her husband's ability, she added charity and benevolence and shared
+with him the respect of the congregation. It had pleased the Lord to
+deprive her of her three sons and the mother's love and devotion was now
+lavished upon her sole remaining child, her daughter Recha.
+
+"My sons would be a great comfort to me," she often sighed, and then
+added, with resignation: "the Lord's will be done."
+
+To the right of the entrance lay the staircase leading to the bed-rooms
+on the second floor, and to the left a door opened into the
+school-rooms, a recent addition to the dwelling, and in which the
+Rabbi's fifty-odd pupils were daily instructed in their important
+studies.
+
+In the first of these rooms, the elementary department, sat the younger
+boys, whose spiritual and mental welfare were entrusted to an assistant,
+a young pedagogue, who did not believe in sparing the rod at the expense
+of the child, but, mindful of the unmerciful whippings he had received
+in his youth, endeavored on his part to inculcate the precepts of the
+Pentateuch by means of sound thrashings. The progress of his pupils was
+not phenomenal, but their training was eminently useful in aiding them
+to bear the blows and trials which the gentile world had in store for
+them. The Rabbi occasionally looked in upon the class and added his
+instructions to those of the assistant, who in the presence of his
+superior concealed his rod and assumed an air of unspeakable tenderness
+and loving solicitude towards his charges.
+
+The second school-room was for the more advanced pupils, who had for the
+most part passed their _bar-mitzvah_ and now revelled in the mystic lore
+of the Talmud. On rough wooden desks, whose surfaces had been engraved
+by unskilled hands, huge folios lay open. At the upper end of the room
+sat the Rabbi, on whose head the frosts of sixty winters had left their
+traces. His snow-white beard covered his breast and his hair hung in
+silver locks over his temples. His pale and finely-cut features stamped
+him as a man of education and refinement. The venerable patriarch had
+for more than thirty years filled the position of Chief Rabbi of Kief,
+and his reputation as a Talmudist and a man of great mental acumen was
+not confined to his native town.
+
+The rattan which the Rabbi held in his hand, the better to guide his
+pupils, was never used for corporal punishment, for a glance or a
+whispered admonition from the beloved teacher was more potent than were
+blows from another. At his side sat his little daughter Recha, scarcely
+nine years of age, whose features gave promise of great oriental beauty.
+Her dark eyes and darker hair, her rosy lips and merry smile, formed a
+veritable symphony of childish loveliness. Recha deemed it a great favor
+to be allowed in the room with her father during school-hours, and as
+her presence exercised a refining influence over the boys, each one of
+whom loved the girl in his own juvenile way, the Rabbi offered no
+objections.
+
+The boys were being instructed in a difficult passage of the Talmud.
+Following the movements of the Rabbi's head and body they recited their
+appropriate lines. Like a mighty _crescendo_ swelled the chorus, for the
+greater the pupil's zeal the louder rose his voice, and ever and anon
+they were inspired to quicker time, to greater enthusiasm, until the
+lesson came to an end.
+
+Alas, poor boys! Taken from the cheerful sunlight to pass the days of
+happy boyhood in wading through heaps of useless learning, tutored in a
+philosophy which demands age and experience for its perfect
+comprehension; of what use can all this Talmud delving be to you, when
+once life summons you to more practical duties? And yet how much better
+this training, confusing and bewildering though it be, than the absolute
+ignorance, the unchecked illiteracy of the Russian Christians.
+
+Rabbi Jeiteles interrupted his class to amplify upon the passage just
+read. He had been a great traveller in his youth, had wandered through
+Austria and Germany, and had picked up disconnected scraps of worldly
+information, to which, in a measure, his superiority in Kief was due.
+There were envious calumniators who did not hesitate to assert that the
+Rabbi was a _meshumed_ (a renegade), that his mind had become polluted
+with ideas and thoughts at variance with Judaism, that he had in his
+possession--_O mirabile dictu!_--a copy of the Mendelssohnian
+translation of the Pentateuch, against which a ban had been hurled.
+These were but rumors, however, and the better class of Hebrews paid no
+attention to them.
+
+The passage under consideration was the beautiful legend concerning the
+necessity of understanding the Law, and the Rabbi undertook to elucidate
+its somewhat difficult construction. According to the wise scribes of
+the Talmud, each soul after death enters into the presence of its maker,
+and is asked to give a reason for not having studied the _Torah_. If
+poverty is offered as an excuse, he is reminded of Hillel, who though
+poor deprived himself of life's comforts that he might enjoy God's word.
+If the burdens and cares of wealth are advanced in palliation, he is
+reminded of Eleazer, who abandoned his lands and possessions to seek the
+consolation of knowledge. If a man pleads temptations and weakness to
+excuse a life of evil, he is told of Joseph's constancy. In short, it is
+incumbent on all to understand God's commandments and to obey them, for
+"the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord."
+
+Silence reigned in the class-room, while the Rabbi, in explanation of
+his subject, related incidents that had occurred to him during his
+eventful career. The interest was intense, numerous questions were asked
+and graciously answered, and the _mishna_ was again taken up.
+
+At length the lesson came to an end and the school was dismissed. The
+pupils, glad to be released from their duties, bade their teacher
+good-by and tripped out into the inviting sunlight. Mendel alone
+remained.
+
+"Well, my boy, what is it?" asked the Rabbi, as Mendel gazed wistfully
+at him.
+
+"Rabbi, are you going out for your walk?" he asked, timidly.
+
+"Yes," answered the other, surprised at the question.
+
+"May I accompany you? I have so much to ask of you."
+
+The Rabbi gladly acquiesced. Although Mendel had been but six months
+under his tuition, he had already become his favorite pupil. His quick
+perception and wonderful originality of thought attracted the teacher.
+
+The teacher and pupil walked through the miserable streets of the
+quarter until they reached the open fields. Here the Rabbi stopped and
+drew a long breath.
+
+"How different this is," he said, "from the contaminated air one
+breathes in the narrow lanes of our quarter."
+
+"You have travelled much, Rabbi," said the boy. "Tell me, are the Jews
+treated as cruelly all over the world as they are in Russia?"
+
+"Unfortunately they are, in some other countries. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because I think--Rabbi, are we not ourselves to blame for our wretched
+existence?"
+
+Jeiteles looked at the boy in surprise.
+
+"That is a very grave question for a boy of your age," he said. "What
+gave you such an idea?"
+
+"I have been thinking very much of late that if we were more like other
+people we might be made to suffer less."
+
+"God forbid that we should become like them," answered the Rabbi,
+hastily. "Israel's greatest calamities have been caused by aping the
+fashions of other nations. Our only salvation lies in clinging to our
+customs and faith. Do not attempt to judge your elders until you are
+more conversant with your own religion. Obey the Law and do not trouble
+yourself concerning the religious observances of your people."
+
+The boy took the rebuke meekly and the two walked on in silent
+meditation. After a pause, Mendel again took up the conversation.
+
+"In to-day's lesson," he said, "we learned that the fear of God is the
+beginning of wisdom; that study is God's special command. A wise Rabbi
+furthermore said upon this subject: 'He gains wisdom who is willing to
+receive from all sources.' Am I right?"
+
+"You have quoted correctly. Go on!"
+
+"Is there any passage in the Talmud which forbids the learning of a
+foreign language or the reading of a book not written in Hebrew?"
+
+The Rabbi gazed thoughtfully upon the ground but could not recollect
+such a passage.
+
+"Last week," continued Mendel, "while in the city, I saw a book in
+Russian characters. I bought it and took it home to study. My uncle tore
+the book from my hands and threw it into the fire, all the time
+bewailing that anything so impure had been brought into the house. Then
+I was obliged to run to the house of worship and pray until sunset for
+forgiveness. Was there anything so very wrong in trying to learn
+something beside the Talmud?"
+
+The worthy Rabbi was sorely puzzled for a reply. His knowledge of the
+world had long ago opened his eyes to the narrow-minded bigotry which
+swayed the Russian Jewish people in their prejudices against anything
+foreign. He, too, deplored the fact that intellects so bright and alert
+should be content to linger in these musty catacombs. Full well he knew
+that the constant searching for hidden meanings in the Scriptures was
+the direct cause of many of the superstitions which had crept into
+Judaism. He, too, had in his youth yearned for more extended knowledge
+than that derived from the Talmud's folios, and had in secret studied
+the Russian and German languages at the risk of being discovered and
+branded as a heretic. He understood the boy's craving and sympathized
+with him; but could he conscientiously advise him to brave the
+opposition and prejudices of his people and pursue that knowledge to
+which he aspired?
+
+"Well, Rabbi," said the boy, eagerly, "you do not answer. Have I
+violated any law by asking such a question?"
+
+Rabbi Jeiteles wiping his perspiring brow with a large red handkerchief,
+sat down upon a moss-grown log and bade the boy sit at his side.
+
+"My dear Mendel," he began, "you are scarcely old or experienced enough
+to comprehend the gravity of your question. It is important for Israel
+the world over to remain unpolluted by the influence of gentile customs.
+The Messiah will surely come, nor can his arrival be far off, and a new
+kingdom, a united power will reward us for our past sufferings and
+present faith. Were Israel to become tainted with foreign ideas, she
+would in each country develop different propensities, learn different
+languages and her religion would become contaminated by all that is most
+obnoxious in other faiths. It is to preserve the unity of Israel, the
+similarity of thought, the purity of our religion, that we look with
+horror upon any foreign learning. Now, compare our mental condition with
+that of the Russian _moujiks_, or even nobles. What do they know? What
+have they studied? Very little, indeed! They know nothing of the great
+deeds of the past that are revealed to us through the Scriptures; they
+cannot enjoy the grand and majestic philosophy of our God-inspired
+rabbis. Brought up in utter ignorance, their life may be likened to a
+desert, barren of all that pleases the eye and elevates the mind."
+
+"But," interrupted the boy, "might we not hold on to our own, even while
+we are learning from the gentiles? Our language, for example, is, as I
+have heard you say, a terrible jargon. We have forgotten much of our
+Hebrew and use many strange words instead. We have but to open our
+mouths to be recognized at once as Jews and to be treated with contempt.
+If we were but to learn the Russian language, it might save us from many
+a cruel humiliation and the Hebrew tongue might still be preserved in
+our own circle."
+
+"You mistake, my boy; our humiliations do not proceed from any one
+fact, such as jargon or customs, but from a variety of circumstances
+combined, principal among which are envy of our domestic happiness,
+fanaticism because of our rejection of the Christian religion, and a
+cruel prejudice which has been handed down through generations from
+father to son. No amount of learning on our side can change this.
+Persecutions will continue, the gentiles will never learn that the Jew
+is made of flesh and blood and has sentiments and feelings the same as
+they. Our right to humane treatment will not be recognized any more than
+at present, and harder, unspeakably harder, will be the sting and pain
+of our degradation, if by deep study we rise mentally above our sphere.
+The ignorant man suffers less than the person with elevated
+susceptibilities. Learning, therefore, while it would not improve our
+treatment at the hands of the gentiles, would but serve to make us the
+more discontented with our own unfortunate condition."
+
+The Rabbi was right; he spoke from bitter experience, and Mendel slipped
+his hand into that of his teacher and gazed thoughtfully before him.
+
+"A great head," muttered the old man, looking fondly at the boy. "If his
+energies are directed into the proper channels, he will become a shining
+light in Israel."
+
+"Come, Mendel, let us go home," he said aloud, and they started silently
+for the town, both too much engrossed in thought to speak. Only once,
+Mendel asked:
+
+"Rabbi, you are not offended by my questions?" and the Rabbi replied:
+
+"No, my boy. On the contrary, I am glad that you are beginning to think
+for yourself. The world is but a group of thinkers and the best heads
+among them are usually leaders. This has been an agreeable walk to me.
+Let us repeat it soon."
+
+"Nothing would give me greater pleasure," cried Mendel, with undisguised
+delight. "And if you will be so kind, I should like to hear all about
+your travels."
+
+The Rabbi promised, and, having reached the Jewish quarter, pupil and
+teacher parted for their respective homes.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 6: Wallace, p. 179.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Foulke, "Slav or Saxon," p. 91.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Rabbi Chonan.]
+
+[Footnote 9: "Graetz's History of the Jews," vol. 4, p. 309.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE RETURN OF THE RENEGADE.
+
+
+It was just a week since Mendel and the Rabbi had walked out together.
+
+Hirsch Bensef rushed with gigantic strides up the street leading to his
+house, and long before he reached his door he shouted, at the top of his
+voice:
+
+"Miriam! Miriam! I have news for you!"
+
+Miriam had recovered her health, and was in the kitchen preparing meat
+for the following day. This was a most important operation, requiring
+the housewife's undivided attention. According to a Mosaic command blood
+was sacrificed upon the altar of the Temple, but was strictly forbidden
+as an article of diet. The animal is slaughtered in a manner which will
+drain off the greatest amount of the life-giving fluid, and great
+importance is attached to the processes for extracting every particle of
+blood from the meat which is brought upon the Jewish table. A thorough
+rubbing with salt and an hour's immersion in water are necessary to its
+preparation. Scientists who acknowledge that the blood is the general
+vehicle for conveying the parasites and germs of disease, recognize in
+this command of Moses a valuable sanitary measure, worthy of universal
+imitation.
+
+Miriam heard her husband's distant call and, with her hands full of
+salt, she ran to the door.
+
+Hirsch entered, completely out of breath.
+
+"Who do you think has arrived?" he gasped.
+
+"How should I know?"
+
+"Guess."
+
+"I might guess from now until the coming of _Meschiach_ and still not be
+right."
+
+"Pesach Harretzki, your cousin and old admirer."
+
+Miriam sank into a chair and a smile rippled over her pretty features.
+
+"Pesach Harretzki here? When did he arrive?"
+
+"To-day. This morning. Itzig Maier, who knows all the news in town, has
+just told me. He has come back from America to visit his old parents and
+take them with him across the ocean."
+
+"Has he changed much?" asked Miriam.
+
+"No doubt of it! Itzig says he is without a beard and looks more like a
+_goy_ (gentile) than like one of our own people. I suppose he has lost
+what religion he once possessed, which by the way was not much."
+
+"You will invite him to call on us, of course."
+
+Hirsch looked askance at his wife and frowned.
+
+"I don't know," he answered, reflectively; "we shall see."
+
+Hirsch Bensef, the _parnas_ of the chief congregation, and whose
+reputation for piety overtopped that of any other man of the community,
+might well pause before inviting the new arrival to his house. Pesach
+Harretzki was one of those perverse lads that one meets occasionally in
+a Hebrew community, who, feeling the wild impulse of youth in every
+vein, throws over the holy traditions of his forefathers and follows
+rather the promptings of his own heart than that happiness which can
+only be found in a firm adherence to the law and its precepts.
+Unrestrained by his parents' anxious pleadings, bound by no will save
+that of momentary caprice, he overstepped the boundary which separates
+the pious Jew from his profane surroundings and thereby forfeited the
+respect and good-will of the entire community. The young man had never
+been guilty of actual wrong-doing, but had in a thousand petty ways
+displayed his utter disregard of the customs that were so dear to the
+hearts of his co-religionists. The Sabbath found him strolling through
+the city instead of attending divine service at the synagogue. Of the
+Talmud he knew very little, having preferred to play with his gentile
+friends to wasting his hours in the _cheder_. He had been known to eat
+_trefa_ at the house of a _goy_, and with a fastidiousness that was
+without parallel in the annals of Kief, he had shaved off all of his
+beard, leaving only a jaunty little mustache. So it happened that his
+name became a terror to all pious Israelites. There was but one
+attraction in Judaism which still fascinated Pesach, and that was his
+charming cousin Miriam. She alone possessed the power of bringing him
+back when he had strayed too far from the fold and her bright eyes often
+recalled him to a sense of duty. He loved the girl, and had she shown
+him any encouragement he might still have reformed the evil of his ways.
+But even had Miriam favored his advances, her father, one of the most
+pious men of Kief, would have dispelled all hope of an alliance between
+the two. Old Reb Kohn, after endeavoring in vain to bring the reprobate
+to his senses, finally forbade him the house. Shortly after, the
+betrothal of Miriam Kohn with the learned and wealthy Hirsch Bensef was
+announced. Pesach became despondent and put the finishing touch to his
+ungodly career by becoming intoxicated with beer on the Passover. In
+consequence of this and former misdeeds, he was ostracized from good
+Jewish society, and finding himself shunned by his former associates he
+departed from Kief to seek his fortune in a foreign land.
+
+After wandering about Germany for a year or two, picking up a precarious
+living and a varied experience, he set sail for America, where he
+arrived without a penny. Fortune smiled upon the poor man at last. He
+drifted into an inland city, Americanized his name to Philip Harris, and
+succeeded, through honesty, thrift and perseverance, in building up a
+large business and accumulating a respectable fortune. It was only after
+success had been assured that he communicated with his parents in
+Russia, and in spite of his past record great was the rejoicing when the
+first letter was received. He whom his friends had mourned as dead was
+alive and thriving; he had moreover become rich and respected and had
+been the means of establishing a Jewish synagogue in the land of his
+adoption. The last two facts, coupled with the munificent gifts which he
+sent to the synagogue in Kief and to his parents, were sufficient to
+lift the ban which had so long rested upon his name and to re-establish
+him in the good graces of the community. Pesach, the _meshumed_,
+continued these contributions to the synagogue and to his parents, and
+the Jews of Kief, having forgotten his former escapades, referred to him
+thenceforth as "Pesach the Generous." He had now returned after an
+absence of twelve years, and the whole settlement was in a state of
+pardonable excitement.
+
+"Is he still a Jew? Has he remained true to the old faith?" was asked on
+every side.
+
+It being Friday, the Sabbath eve, the synagogue was crowded and
+curiosity to see the stranger was at its height. The men frequently
+looked up from their prayer-books, and the women from their seats in the
+gallery craned their necks to get a view of the sunburnt, closely-shaven
+American. Yes, he had changed; no one would have recognized him. Of all
+the pious men that filled the house of worship, he was the only one who
+was without a beard. It was against the Jewish custom to allow a razor
+to touch the beard, and had not Philip's benevolence paved the way it is
+doubtful whether his presence would have been tolerated within those
+sacred precincts. In all other respects, however, he bore himself like a
+devout Israelite. He stood by the side of his father, earnestly scanning
+the pages of his prayer-book, the greater part of whose contents were
+still familiar to him. His beardless face was in a measure atoned for.
+
+What a throng of visitors there was that evening at Harretzkis house!
+The little room could scarcely hold them all. Among them was Rabbi
+Jeiteles, who shook the suave and smiling stranger by the hand,
+congratulated him upon his appearance and asked him a hundred questions
+about his travels. Indeed, it seemed as though the worthy Rabbi intended
+to monopolize his company for the rest of the evening. Then came Hirsch
+Bensef and his charming wife, the latter trembling and blushing in
+recollection of the days when she and her cousin Pesach loved each
+other in secret. Philip recognized her immediately.
+
+"Why this is my dear cousin Miriam," he said. "How well you look! You
+seem scarcely a day older than when I left you. Is this your husband?
+Happy man! How I used to envy you your good fortune? But that is all
+over now!" and he turned with a sigh to meet other friends.
+
+He recollected every man and woman in Kief; moreover, he had a kind word
+and pretty compliment for each and the worthy people returned home more
+than ever impressed with the true excellence of Pesach Harretzki.
+
+"What a _medina_ (country) America must be to make such a finished
+product of the ungodly youth that Kief turned out of doors twelve years
+ago!" Such was Bensef's remark to his wife, as they wended their way
+homeward.
+
+On the Sabbath morn the capacity of the synagogue was again tested to
+the utmost. Those who had not yet seen Philip hastened to avail
+themselves of this opportunity. The man from America had become the
+greatest curiosity in the province. And to him, the great traveller,
+every incident, however trivial, served to recall a vision of the past.
+The devout men about him, wearing the fringed _tallis_, the venerable
+Rabbi at the _almemor_, the ark with the same musty hangings, the
+Pentateuch scrolls with the same faded covers which they bore in the
+years gone by, all appealed mightily to his heart and a tear forced
+itself unchecked through his lashes. Philip would have been unable to
+explain to himself the cause of his emotion. The past had not been
+particularly pleasant; there was nothing to regret. Perhaps some
+psychologist can account for that sweet and melancholy sentiment which
+the recollection of a dim and half-forgotten past brings in its train.
+
+It was delightful to Philip to find himself once more in the presence of
+all that had been dear to him. His mind reviewed the many vicissitudes
+he had undergone, the many changes he had witnessed, and he fervently
+thanked the God of Israel that he was permitted to revisit the scenes of
+his childhood, and that the people who had rejected him in his youth now
+received him with open arms. After prayers the _hazan_ (reader),
+assisted by the Rabbi, opened the Holy Ark and took therefrom one of the
+scrolls. To Philip, as a stranger, was accorded the honor of being one
+of those called up to say the blessing over the _Torah_ (Law). He
+touched the parchment with the fringes of his _tallis_, kissed them to
+signify his reverence for the holy words, and began with "_Bar'chu eth
+Adonai_."
+
+"He knows his _brocha_ yet, he is still a good Jew!" was the mental
+comment of the congregation.
+
+Then followed Rabbi Jeiteles in a short but pithy address, in which he
+laid great stress upon the fact that Jehovah never allows his lambs to
+stray far from the fold, and that charity and benevolence cover a
+multitude of sins. He incidentally announced the fact that Harretzki had
+offered the synagogue new hangings for the ark, covers for the scrolls
+and an entirely new metal roof for the _schul_ (synagogue) in place of
+the present one, which was sadly out of repair.
+
+Such generosity was unparalleled. In spite of the sanctity of the place,
+expressions of approval were loud and emphatic. For a time the services
+were interrupted and general congratulations took the place of the
+prayers. Philip's popularity was now assured. All opposition vanished
+and the American became a lion indeed. Bensef no longer hesitated as to
+the propriety of inviting the stranger to his house. As _parnas_ he must
+be the first to do him honor and after the services were at an end the
+invitation was extended and accepted.
+
+It was a pleasant assemblage that gathered at Bensef's house. Philip,
+his father and mother, Rabbi Jeiteles, Haim Goldheim (a banker and
+intimate friend of the host), and several other patriarchal gentlemen,
+pillars of the congregation, were of the company. Miriam was an
+excellent provider and on this occasion she fairly outdid herself.
+
+"Perhaps," thought Bensef, "there still lingers in her breast a spark of
+affection for the man who is now so greatly honored."
+
+But, no! Miriam loved her husband dearly, and if she was attentive to
+her cousin it was but the courtesy due to a man who had been so far and
+seen so much.
+
+Mendel, too, was at the table and could not take his eyes from the
+handsome stranger whose praises every mouth proclaimed. The boy regarded
+him as a superior being.
+
+Tales of adventure, stories of travel, were the topics of conversation
+during the evening. After the dessert the talk took a more serious turn.
+The liberty enjoyed by the Jews in America was a fruitful theme for
+discussion and many were the questions asked by the interested group.
+That Israelites were politically and socially placed upon the same
+footing with their Christian neighbors was a source of gratification,
+but that some religious observances were in many cases neglected or
+totally abolished, appeared to these pious listeners as very
+reprehensible.
+
+"You see," said Philip, in explanation, "where a number of Jewish
+families reside in one place it is still possible to obey the dietary
+laws, but in inland towns, where the number of Israelite families is
+limited, it becomes an impossibility to observe them. Nor do they deem
+it necessary that all the ceremonies that time has collected around the
+Jewish religion should be strictly observed. Those Israelites who
+soonest adopt the customs of their new country soonest enjoy the
+benefits which a free and liberty-loving nation offers."
+
+Hirsch Bensef shook his head, doubtingly.
+
+"Then you mean to imply that it becomes necessary to abolish those
+usages in which one's heart and soul are wrapped!" he said.
+
+"Not at all," answered the American. "There are thousands of Jews in
+America as observant of the ordinances as the most pious in Kief. Yet it
+seems to me that a Jew can remain a Jew even if he neglect some of those
+ceremonials which have very little to do with Judaism pure and simple.
+Some are remnants of an oriental symbolism, others comparatively recent
+additions to the creed, which ought to give way before civilization.
+What possible harm can it do you or your religion if you shave your
+beard or abandon your jargon for the language of the people among whom
+you live?"
+
+"It would make us undistinguishable from the _goyim_," answered Bensef.
+
+"The sooner such a distinction falls the better," said Philip. "You may
+recollect reading in history that in the time of Peter the Great the
+Russian nobility wore beards and the Czar's efforts to make them shave
+their faces provoked more animosity than did all the massacres of Ivan
+the Terrible. Now a nobleman would sooner go to prison than wear a
+beard."
+
+"We never read history," interposed the childish treble of Mendel. "If
+we did we should know more about the great world."
+
+"That is indeed a misfortune," said Philip, sadly. "Every effort to
+develop the Jewish mind is checked, not by the gentiles, but by the Jews
+themselves. Had I been allowed full liberty to study what and how I
+pleased, I should never have been guilty of the excesses which drove me
+from home. A knowledge of the history of the world, an insight into
+modern science, will teach us why and wherefore all our laws were given
+and how we can best obey, not the letter but the spirit of God's
+commands."
+
+The faces of the little group fell visibly. This was rank heresy. God
+forbid that it should ever take root in Israel. Mendel alone appeared
+satisfied. He was absorbed in all the stranger had to say. This new
+doctrine was a revelation to him. But Philip did not observe the
+impression he had created. He had warmed up to his subject and pursued
+it mercilessly.
+
+"The Israelites in America," he continued, "are free and respected. They
+enjoy equal rights with the citizens of other religious beliefs. They
+are at liberty to go wherever they please and to live as they desire,
+and are often chosen to positions of honor and responsibility. Such
+distinctions are only obtained, however, after one has become a citizen,
+and citizenship means adherence to the laws of the land and assimilation
+with its inhabitants. It was not long before I discovered, through
+constant friction with intelligent people about me, the absurdity of
+many of my ideas and prejudices. The more I associated with my
+fellow-men the more difficult I found it to retain the superstitions of
+by-gone days."
+
+"But in giving up what you call superstition," said the Rabbi, "are you
+not giving up a portion of your religion as well?"
+
+"By no means," said Philip, eagerly. "If Rabbi Jeiteles will pardon my
+speaking upon a subject concerning which he is better instructed and
+which he is better qualified to expound than myself, I will endeavor to
+tell why. You well know that until after the destruction of the second
+Temple the Jews had no Talmud. They then obeyed the laws of God in all
+their simplicity and as they understood them, and not one of you will
+assert that they were not good and pious Jews. Then came the writers of
+the Talmud with their explanations and commentaries, and the laws of
+Moses acquired a new meaning. Stress was laid upon words instead of upon
+ideas, upon conventionalities instead of upon the true spirit of God's
+word. After five centuries of Talmudists had exhausted all possible
+explanations of the Scriptures, the study of the Law eventually paved
+the way for the invention of the _Cabala_. A new bible was constructed.
+The pious were no longer content with a rational observance of the
+Mosaic command, but a hidden meaning must be found for every word and in
+many cases for the individual letters of the Pentateuch. The six hundred
+and thirteen precepts of Moses were so altered, so tortured to fit new
+constructions, that the great prophet would experience difficulty in
+recognizing any one of his beautiful laws from the rubbish under which
+it now lies buried. New laws and ceremonies, new beliefs and, worse than
+all, new superstitions were thrust upon the people already weakened by
+mental fatigue caused by their incessant delving into the mysteries of
+the Talmud. The free will of the people was suppressed. Instead of
+giving the healthy imagination and pure reason full power to act, the
+teachers of the _Cabala_ arrogated to themselves the power to decide
+what to do and how to do it, and as a result the Jewish observances, as
+they exist to-day in pious communities, are bound up in arbitrary rules
+and superstitious absurdities which are as unlike the primitive and
+rational religion of Israel as night is to day."
+
+This bold utterance produced a profound sensation in Bensef's little
+dining-room. Murmurs of disapproval and of indignation frequently
+interrupted the speaker, and long before he had finished, several of his
+listeners had sprung up and were pacing the room in great excitement.
+Never before had any one dared so to trample upon the time-honored
+beliefs of Israel. For infinitely less had the ban been hurled against
+hundreds of offenders and the renegades placed beyond the pale of
+Judaism.
+
+The Rabbi alone preserved his composure. Mendel lost not a word of the
+discussion. He sat motionless, with staring eyes and wide open mouth, as
+though the stranger's eloquence had changed him into stone.
+
+"No, this is too much!" at length stammered Hirsch Bensef. "Such a
+condemnation of our holy religion is blasphemy. Rabbi, can you sit by
+and remain silent?"
+
+The Rabbi moved uneasily upon his chair, but said nothing.
+
+Philip continued:
+
+"That your Rabbi should be of one mind with you is natural, but that
+does not in any way impair the force of what I have said. You will all
+admit that you place more weight upon your ceremonials than upon your
+faith. You deem it more important to preserve a certain position of the
+feet, a proper intonation of the voice during prayers than to fully
+understand the prayer itself, and in spite of your pretended belief in
+the greatness and goodness of God, you belittle Him by the thought that
+an omission of a single ceremony, the eating of meat and milk together,
+the tearing of a _tzitzith_ (fringe) will offend Him, or that a certain
+number of _mitzvoth_ (good acts) will propitiate Him. Do you understand
+now what I mean when I say that superstition is not religion?"
+
+"But," returned Goldheim, "the _Shulkan-aruch_ commands us to do certain
+things in certain ways. Is it not our duty as God-fearing Jews to obey
+the laws that have His sanction?"
+
+"Undoubtedly! If you were certain that this book contained His express
+commands it would be incumbent upon you to observe them, only, however,
+after having sought to understand their meaning. But you know, or ought
+to know, that the book was written by a man like yourselves, who was as
+liable to err as you are. Many of these commands were excellent at the
+time in which they were given, but change of circumstances has made them
+absurd."
+
+"What is godly at one time cannot become ungodly at another," said
+Bensef, with determined obstinacy.
+
+"No; but what is beautiful and appropriate in one land may become the
+reverse in a different country, or at another period. Let us take an
+example: It is an oriental custom to wear one's hat or turban as a mark
+of respect. In Palestine such a usage is proper and the man who keeps
+his head covered before his fellow-men certainly should keep it covered
+before God. In America, however, I am considered ill-bred if I keep my
+hat on when I am conversing with the humblest of my associates; should I
+therefore keep it on when I am addressing my God? Thus, many of your
+religious observances take their origin outside of religion and are
+appropriate only to the country in which they were conceived."
+
+"But to appear before God bareheaded is surely a sin!" stammered Hirsch
+Bensef, who would gladly have ended the conversation then and there.
+
+"Not a sin, simply a novelty," answered Philip.
+
+"But our proverb says: 'Novelty brings calamity.'"
+
+"Proverbs do not always speak the truth," replied the American. Then
+after a pause he continued, reflectively: "There is another class of
+ceremonials which find their origin in one or the other of the commands
+of Moses, and which through the eagerness of the people to observe them
+for fear of Divine wrath, have been given an importance out of all
+proportion to their original significance. For instance, Moses, for
+reasons purely humane, prohibited the cooking of a kid in its mother's
+milk, wisely teaching that what nature intended for the preservation of
+the animal should not be employed for its destruction. This law has been
+so distorted that the eating of meat and milk together was prohibited,
+and the severity of the resulting dietary laws makes it necessary to
+have two sets of dishes--one for meat, the other for all food prepared
+with milk. And so in a thousand cases the original intention of the
+command is lost in the mass of foreign matter that has been added to
+it."
+
+Philip paused and, toying with his massive watch-chain, tried hard not
+to see the indignant glances that threatened to consume him. Bensef
+arose from his chair in sheer desperation.
+
+"What would you have us do?" he asked, angrily. "Desert the ceremonies
+of our forefathers and surrender to the ungodly?"
+
+"Not by any means," was the quiet rejoinder. "Worship God as your
+conscience dictates, continue in your ancient fashion if it makes you
+happy, but be tolerant towards him who, feeling himself mentally and
+spiritually above superstition, seeks to emancipate himself from its
+bonds and to follow the dictates of his own good common-sense."
+
+With these concluding words, Philip arose and prepared to leave. The
+remaining guests also arose from their chairs and looked at each other
+in blank dismay. Rabbi Jeiteles stepped to the American and placed his
+hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"My dear Pesach," he began, "what you have just said sounds strange and
+very dangerous to these good people. To me it was nothing new, for
+during my early travels I heard such discussions again and again. Your
+arguments may or may not be correct. We will not discuss the matter. One
+thing you must not forget, however: the Jews in Russia and elsewhere are
+despised and rejected; they are degraded to the very scum of the earth.
+Social standing, pursuit of knowledge, means of amusement, everything is
+taken from them. What is left? Only the consolation which their sacred
+religion brings. The observance of the thousand ceremonials which you
+decry, is to them not only a religious necessity, a God-pleasing work;
+it is more, it is a source of domestic happiness, a means of genuine
+enjoyment, a comfort and a solace. Whether these observances are needed
+or are superfluous in a free country like America I shall not presume
+to say, but in Russia they are a moral and a physical necessity. You
+have spoken to-night as no man has ever spoken before in Kief. Were the
+congregation to hear of it, you would again find yourself an outcast
+from your native town, shunned and despised by all that now look upon
+you as a model of benevolence and piety. For your own sake, therefore,
+as well as for the peace of mind of those among whom your words might
+act as a firebrand, we hope that you will speak no more upon this
+subject and we on our part promise to keep our own counsel."
+
+Philip readily consented and with his aged parents he left for his home,
+at the other end of the quarter.
+
+The friends bade each other a hasty good-night, and not another word was
+spoken concerning the discussion.
+
+"Uncle," said Mendel, as he was about to retire, "is not Harretzki a
+very wise man?"
+
+"My boy," replied his uncle; "our rabbis say, 'Much speech--much
+folly.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+FORBIDDEN BOOKS.
+
+
+Philip remained in Kief about two weeks, during which time he was
+hospitably entertained by the leaders of the Jewish community. There was
+some difficulty in obtaining a passport for his parents, for, anxious as
+the Russians are to expel the Jews, by a remarkable contrariety of human
+nature they throw every obstacle in the way of a Jew who endeavors to
+emigrate.
+
+Mendel never missed an opportunity of passing Harretzki's house. It had
+a strange fascination for him, and if he but saw the American at the
+window and exchanged greetings with him, the boy returned home with a
+happy heart.
+
+Once--it was the day before Philip's departure--Mendel again passed the
+wretched abode in which the stranger dwelt. The door was open and Philip
+was busied with preparations for his coming voyage. Mendel gazed
+wistfully for some minutes and finally mustered up courage to enter and
+ask:
+
+"Can I be of any service to you, sir?"
+
+Philip, who had taken a decided fancy to the boy, said, kindly:
+
+"Yes; you may assist me. Here are my books. Pack them into this chest."
+
+With a reverence amounting almost to awe, Mendel took up the books one
+by one and arranged them as Philip directed. Now and then he opened a
+volume and endeavored to peer into the wondrous mysteries it contained,
+but the characters were new to him; they were neither Hebrew nor
+Russian, and the boy sighed as he piled the books upon each other.
+Philip observed him with growing interest.
+
+"Are you fond of books?" he asked, at length.
+
+"Oh, yes. If I could but study," answered the boy, eagerly, and big
+tears welled up into his eyes.
+
+"And why can't you?"
+
+"Because I have no books but our old Hebrew folios, and if I had they
+would be taken from me."
+
+"Continue to study the books you have," said Philip, "you will find much
+to learn from them."
+
+"But there are so many things to know that are not in our books. How I
+should like to be as wise as you are."
+
+Philip smiled, sorrowfully.
+
+"I know very little," he answered. "I am not regarded as a particularly
+well-educated person in my country. What good would learning do you in
+Kief?"
+
+"It would make me happy," answered the boy.
+
+"No, child; it would make you miserable by filling your little head with
+ideas which would bring down upon you the anathemas of your dearest
+friends."
+
+There was a pause, during which Mendel worked industriously. Suddenly he
+said:
+
+"Might I ask a favor, sir?"
+
+"Certainly, my boy; I shall be happy if I can grant it."
+
+"Let me take one of your books to keep in remembrance of you?"
+
+"You cannot read them; they are written in German and English."
+
+"That does not matter. Their presence would remind me of you. Besides I
+might learn to read them."
+
+"But if a strange book is found in your possession it will be taken from
+you."
+
+"I will conceal it."
+
+Philip reflected a moment; then carefully selecting two books, he
+presented them to the overjoyed boy.
+
+"Remember," he said, "that ignorance is frequently bliss. A Rabbi once
+said: 'Beware of the conceit of learning.' It is often well to say, 'I
+don't know.'"
+
+Then the American spoke of the difficulties he had experienced in
+acquiring an education, how he had worked at a trade by day and gone to
+school during the evening. Mendel had a thousand questions to ask, which
+Philip answered graciously; but the packing having come to an end, and
+Mendel having exhausted his inquiries and finding no further excuse to
+remain, the two bade each other an affectionate farewell. Mendel ran
+home with his sacred treasures carefully concealed under his blouse, and
+with great solicitude he locked them up in an old closet which served as
+his wardrobe. The following morning Philip and his parents were escorted
+to the limits of the city by the influential Jews of Kief, and the
+travellers started upon their long voyage to America.
+
+During the next few weeks Mendel was at his Talmudic studies in the
+_jeschiva_ as usual, but there was a decided change in his manner--a
+certain listlessness, a lack of interest, which were so apparent that
+Rabbi Jeiteles could not but observe them.
+
+"I fear that the boy has been studying too hard," he said to his wife
+one day. "We must induce him to take more exercise."
+
+After the close of the lesson, the teacher said:
+
+"Come, Mendel; it is quite a while since we have walked together. Let us
+go into the fields."
+
+Mendel, who adored his preceptor, was well pleased to have an
+opportunity of relieving his heart of its burden, and gladly accepted
+the invitation. For a while the two strolled in silence. The air was
+balmy and nature was in her most radiant dress.
+
+"Tell me," at length began the Rabbi; "tell me why you appear so
+dejected?"
+
+"You will reproach me if I confess the cause," answered the boy,
+tearfully.
+
+"You should know me better," answered the Rabbi. "You ought to be aware
+that I am interested in your welfare."
+
+"Well, then," sobbed Mendel, no longer able to repress his feelings, "I
+am unhappy because of my ignorance. I wish to become wise."
+
+"And then?" asked the Rabbi.
+
+The boy opened his eyes to their full extent. He did not comprehend the
+question.
+
+"After you have acquired great wisdom, what then?" repeated the Rabbi.
+
+"Then I shall be happy and content."
+
+The Rabbi stopped and pointed to a dilapidated bridge which crossed the
+Dnieper at a place to which their walk had led them. Sadly he called his
+pupil's attention to a sign which hung at the entrance of the structure
+and which bore the following legend: "Toll--For a horse, 15 kopecks; for
+a hog, 3 kopecks; for a Jew, 10 kopecks."
+
+"Read that," he said; "and see how futile must be the efforts of wisdom
+in a country whose rulers issue such decrees."
+
+"Perhaps you are right," said the boy, sorrowfully; "and yet I feel that
+God has not given me my intellect to keep it in ignorance and
+superstition. It must expand. Look, Rabbi, at this river. They have
+dammed it to keep its waters back; but further down, the stream leaps
+over the obstruction and forces its way onward. Its confinement makes it
+but sparkle the more after it has once acquired its freedom. Is not the
+mind of man like this river? Can you confine it and prevent its onward
+course?"
+
+The Rabbi gazed with looks of mingled astonishment and admiration upon
+the boy at his side.
+
+The boy continued:
+
+"I would become wise like you and Pesach Harretzki. I would acquire the
+art of reading other works besides our ancient folios. Rabbi, will you
+teach me?"
+
+"Has Harretzki been putting these new ideas into your head?" asked the
+old man.
+
+"No; they were there before he came. You yourself have often told me:
+'Study rather to fill your mind than your coffers.' I have some of
+Harretzki's books, however, and at night when I cannot sleep I take them
+out of my closet and look at them. But they are not in Hebrew and I
+cannot read them. Rabbi, I beg of you to teach me."
+
+Rabbi Jeiteles was in a quandary. He hated the bigotry and
+narrow-mindedness which forbade the study of any subject but the
+time-honored Talmud. He himself had been as anxious as was Mendel to
+strive after other knowledge. On the other hand, he bore in mind the
+prejudice which the Jews entertained against foreign learning, and he
+clearly foresaw the many difficulties which Mendel must encounter if his
+desire became known.
+
+"Well, Rabbi, you do not answer," said the boy, inquiringly.
+
+"Bring me your books to-morrow and I will decide."
+
+Mendel seized the preceptor's hand and kissed it rapturously.
+
+"Thanks," he murmured.
+
+Teacher and pupil turned their steps homeward, the one perplexed, the
+other overjoyed.
+
+The sun had not fully risen on the morrow, when Mendel, with his
+precious books carefully concealed, sought the Rabbi's presence, and the
+two withdrew into an inner room, beyond the reach of prying intruders.
+The teacher glanced at the titles. They were Mendelssohn's "Phaedon," and
+Ludwig Philippson's "The Development of the Religious Idea," both
+written in German. Mendel did not take his eyes from his teacher; he
+could scarcely master his impatience.
+
+"Well, Rabbi," he asked, "of what do they speak?"
+
+"Of things beyond your comprehension," replied the teacher. "The writers
+of both these books were good and pious Jews, who, because of their
+learning, were branded and ostracized by many of their co-religionists.
+Their only sin lay in the use of classical German. You must know that
+many hundreds of years ago, our ancestors lived in Germany, and,
+mingling with men of other creeds, learned the language of their time.
+By and by, persecutions arose and gradually the Jews were driven into
+closer quarters and narrower communities. Many emigrated to Poland and
+Russia, carrying with them their foreign language, which was little
+changed except by the addition of Hebrew--and, in this country, of a few
+Russian words--so that what was once a language became a semi-sacred
+jargon in which the translations of our holy books were read. When
+Mendelssohn began to write in the ordinary German, he was thought to be
+ashamed of his fathers' speech and to have abandoned it for that of
+their oppressors. Pause before you choose a path which may estrange you
+from all you love best."
+
+"Did these men accomplish no good by their writings?"
+
+"Much good, my son; but through much travail."
+
+The more the teacher talked, the more gloomy the picture he drew, the
+greater became the enthusiasm of the pupil, the firmer his determination
+to emulate the example of the men of whom he now heard for the first
+time. The Rabbi at last consented to instruct the boy in the elements of
+the Russian and German languages.
+
+While the old man did not for a moment close his eyes to the perils
+which his pupil invited by his pursuit of knowledge; while he did not
+conceal from himself the fact that his own position would be endangered
+if the nature of his teachings was suspected, he was happy in the
+thought of having before him a youthful mind, brave to seek truth. Rabbi
+Jeiteles was a learned man; his youth had been spent in travel. He had
+seen much and read more, and even in the bigoted community in which he
+lived he kept abreast of the knowledge of the times.
+
+The first lesson was mastered then and there. It was a hard and tedious
+task and progress was necessarily slow, but Mendel possessed two great
+essentials to progress, indomitable perseverance and an active
+intellect, and his teacher displayed the painstaking care and patience
+with which love for his pupil inspired him.
+
+Day by day, Mendel added to his store of knowledge. He was still the
+most industrious Talmud scholar of the college; his remarkable aptitude
+and zeal for the studies of his fathers was in nowise diminished; but
+when the hours at the _jeschiva_ were at an end, instead of returning to
+his uncle's home, or of spending his time upon the streets with his
+boisterous playmates, he would walk with Rabbi Jeiteles in the fields,
+or remain closeted with him, pursuing his investigations in new fields
+of knowledge. Nor were his labors at an end when he had retired to his
+bed-room. In the still hours of the night, when every noise was hushed
+and he deemed himself safe from intrusion, he would rise, silently open
+his closet for his carefully concealed volume and creep back to bed.
+Then, by the aid of secretly purloined candle ends, he would read hour
+after hour, and often the dawn found him still at his books.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+PERSECUTIONS IN TOGAROG.
+
+
+The flight of time brings us to the year 1855--the epoch of the Crimean
+War.
+
+Ever since the days when Bonaparte was driven from burning Moscow, there
+was a popular belief that the Russian soldiery was superior to that of
+the western nations. The Emperor Nicholas was a thorough soldier as well
+as a tyrant, possessing an enormous and well-equipped army, which he
+deemed invincible. This boasted superiority was now to be tested. For
+years the Russians had been groaning under heavy taxes. During this
+period they had been finding fault with their central government in a
+mild, Siberia-fearing manner. To keep them from brooding on their
+oppressed condition, visions of glory and conquest were to be opened to
+them by a foreign war. As the patriotic enthusiasm and military fervor
+increased, the praises of Nicholas were sounded throughout the vast
+dominion. "The coming war was regarded by many as a kind of crusade, and
+the most exaggerated expectations were entertained of its results. The
+old Eastern question was at last to be solved in accordance with Russian
+ideals, and Nicholas was about to realize Catherine's grand scheme of
+driving the Turks out of Europe. That the enemy could prevent the
+accomplishment of these schemes was regarded as impossible. 'We have
+only to throw our hats at them,' became a favorite expression."[10]
+
+The greater portion of the army was concentrated at the Southern
+extremity of Russia, for it was here that the fleets of the allied
+powers would be encountered. Like devastating swarms of locusts the
+semi-barbarous warriors descended upon the fertile fields, destroying
+all that lay in their path. Great was the misery of the peasantry in
+that section of the Empire; greater still the hardships endured by the
+Jews, who were despoiled of their possessions and driven from their
+homes.
+
+In the village of Togarog the Jewish quarter was exactly as we last saw
+it--poverty-stricken and dilapidated. Nothing appeared to be changed in
+it except the miserable inhabitants. The Governor of Alexandrovsk
+continued to persecute the Jews with relentless ferocity, and the
+kidnapping of their children was followed by other acts almost as cruel.
+If a Jew was suspected of possessing money, he was forced by the gentle
+persuasion of the Governor's men to disgorge. Broken in fortune and in
+spirits, the Israelites were indeed in a pitiable plight.
+
+Mordecai Winenki was reduced to dire want. Deprived of the means of
+livelihood by the removal of his former pupils, despoiled of his meagre
+savings, the reward of years of toil, there was no occupation open to
+him but to peddle, the meagre income from which, added to the earnings
+of his wife by knitting and sewing for the neighboring peasantry, gave
+them a scanty subsistence.
+
+For six days of each week they toiled patiently, saving and scraping to
+provide for the holy Sabbath, the celebration of which alone compensated
+for days of misfortune and privation. On the Sabbath all work was laid
+aside; the dreary room blazed with the lights of many candles; white,
+unsullied linen adorned the table; a substantial meal was served, and
+joy returned to the oppressed and weary hearts. Then the father and
+mother spoke lovingly of the dear ones whom a cruel despotism had torn
+from them, and a prayer of thanks was sent to the God of Israel that one
+of the boys, at least, was alive and well; for Mendel since his arrival
+in Kief had regularly corresponded with his parents, and his progress
+and welfare were in a measure a compensation for the trials they had
+endured. Of Jacob they had never discovered a trace, and they had long
+since believed him dead.
+
+It was the Sabbath eve. Mordecai and his wife were seated in their
+humble little room, happy for the time being, in spite of their
+deplorable condition. A sudden noise in the street interrupted their
+conversation. The narrow Jewish quarter became animated, and a company
+of Russian soldiers, led by the Elder of the village and followed by a
+group of ragged urchins, marched with martial tread through the crooked
+lane.
+
+"Soldiers!" cried Mordecai and his wife, in one breath. "God help us,
+they will quarter them on us!"
+
+It was the advance guard of the great army that had entered Togarog.
+Before Mordecai and his wife could recover from their fright, the door
+opened and half a dozen soldiers entered the room.
+
+"Give us something to eat!" cried one of the men, boisterously, as he
+relieved himself of his gun and knapsack. His example was followed by
+his comrades.
+
+"We are hungry," said another of the men. "We have had nothing to eat
+since five o'clock this morning. Get us our supper!"
+
+"We have nothing to give you," replied Mordecai, trembling. "Why do you
+come to us?"
+
+"Not from choice, I can tell you," said a soldier, angrily. "Lots were
+cast and we were unlucky enough to be sent here. As we are here,
+however, let us make the best of it and see what your larder contains."
+
+"Bah!" said another, as Mordecai did not move; "you can't expect these
+people to wait upon us! We must help ourselves," and suiting the action
+to the word, he strode to the cupboard and pulled it open.
+
+The harvest was more plentiful than they had anticipated. Cooking, like
+all other work, being forbidden on the Sabbath, provisions sufficient
+for the holy day were prepared on Friday, and stood temptingly upon the
+shelves. In a twinkling the succulent viands were placed upon the table
+and quickly devoured by the half-famished soldiers. The repast, however,
+failed to satisfy the hunger of these sturdy warriors.
+
+"Come," cried one of them, "what else have you to eat?"
+
+"Nothing," answered Mordecai, sullenly.
+
+"You lie, Jew. Tell us where we may find something to eat."
+
+"You have just eaten all there was in the house," said Mordecai, gulping
+down a rising lump in his throat, as he thought of the fast he would
+have to endure on the morrow.
+
+"Then give us money that we may buy our own food!" shouted one of the
+soldiers.
+
+"I have no money; it is all gone, all gone," said the poor man, sadly.
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! that is a good joke!" retorted the soldier, while his
+companions laughed immoderately. "A Jew without money! I'll wager there
+is gold and silver in every closet. I know you Jews; you are sly dogs."
+
+"Look for yourselves," cried Mordecai, driven to desperation. "You are
+welcome to all the gold and silver you can find."
+
+The soldiers took him at his word and began to ransack the house, while
+Mordecai and Leah, paralyzed with fear, great beads of perspiration
+starting from their foreheads, sat idly by and watched the work of
+destruction. Not an article of furniture was left entire in the wild
+search for treasure, which, according to popular belief, every Jew was
+supposed to possess. Finding nothing, they bestowed a few resounding
+curses upon the inmates of the house, and in sheer desperation wended
+their way to the village inn and sought the solace of Basilivitch's
+vodka.
+
+Poor Mordecai! Poor Leah! For hours they sat just as the soldiers had
+left them, great tears streaming down their pale and haggard faces,
+viewing the destruction of their few earthly possessions, the loss of
+all they could still call their own. They knew not what course to
+pursue, whether to remain or to flee. The unexpected blow appeared to
+have robbed them of their faculties; all power of reflection seemed to
+have left them, and trembling and groaning they remained where they
+were, in fearful expectancy of what might follow.
+
+Towards midnight the soldiers returned. The liberal potations in which
+they had indulged had washed away the last semblance of humanity. Food
+and money had been the motives of their previous excesses, but on their
+return, hunger and cupidity had made way for lust. Mordecai's wife
+became the object of their insults, and in the resistance which she and
+her husband offered, both were beaten unmercifully. Finally, the
+soldiers, overpowered by the close quarters and by the fumes of the
+wretched liquor they had imbibed, dropped off, one by one, into a
+drunken sleep.
+
+"Let us take what we can, Leah," said the wretched man, after assuring
+himself that the soldiers were all fast asleep, "and let us flee."
+
+"We dare carry nothing--we dare not even travel, for this is the
+Sabbath," answered Leah, sadly.
+
+Poor Jews! In the midst of sorrow, as in the midst of joy, the behests
+of their holy religion are never forgotten.
+
+"Yes, we may travel," replied Mordecai. "It is a matter of more
+importance than life and death, and the Talmud authorizes the
+desecration of the Sabbath in time of great danger."
+
+"Then let us go at once," whispered Leah.
+
+Hand in hand they left the miserable hut, the place they had for so many
+years called home, and wandered out into the world, without a prospect
+to cheer them on their desolate way.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 10: Wallace.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A HAPPY PASSOVER.
+
+
+It is the eve of the Passover feast, the birthday of Israel's
+nationality. All is bustle and excitement in the Jewish quarter of Kief.
+Kitchen utensils and furniture have been removed from the houses and are
+piled up in the streets. Dust rises in clouds, water flows in torrents
+through the muddy gutters. Children, banished from the vacant rooms, are
+romping and playing, shouting and crying in the lanes. Feather beds and
+blankets, clothing and linen are being aired. Within the houses
+scourers and scrubbers are cleaning, dusting and white-washing. The
+great national house-cleaning is in progress. From closet and cupboard,
+dishes and cooking utensils are brought out for their eight days'
+service.
+
+To-morrow is _Pesach_ (Passover). An entire nation await with passionate
+longing the arrival of this festival and accord it a hospitable welcome.
+The man of wealth lavishly displays on this day his gold and silver, his
+finely wrought utensils and crystal dishes. The poor man has labored day
+and night to save enough to give the guest a worthy reception. The
+stranger and the homeless are made welcome at every table, that they,
+too, may enjoy, free from care and sorrow, the advent of the _Pesach_.
+
+What yearning, what hopes, what anticipations usher in this feast of
+feasts! Winter, with its manifold hardships, is past. Nature awakes from
+her frigid lethargy, and the balmy air gives promise of renewed life and
+happiness.
+
+The preparations are at length complete. Every nook and corner is
+scrupulously clean; all _chometz_ (leaven) has been banished from the
+house; even the children have carefully emptied their pockets of stray
+crumbs. The round and tempting _matzoth_ (Passover bread) have been
+baked--the guest is at the door!
+
+In the dining-room of Hirsch Bensef sat a goodly circle of friends at
+the _seder_ (services conducted on the eve of Passover). The lamps shone
+brightly, and the lights in the silver candelabra threw their sheen upon
+the sumptuously set table, with its white embroidered cloth and its
+artistic dishes and goblets. At the head of the table stood a sofa
+covered with rich hangings and soft pillows, a veritable throne, upon
+which sat the king of the family, clad in snow-white attire. In the
+midst of richly-robed guests, surrounded by an almost oriental luxury,
+the master of the house had donned his shroud. It is a custom akin to
+that of the ancient Egyptians, who brought the mummies of their
+ancestors to the festive board, that in the excess of carnal enjoyment
+they might not forget the grim reaper, Death. Upon the table stood a
+plate of _mitzvoth_ (a thicker kind of _matzoth_ prepared specially for
+the _seder_), covered with a napkin, and upon this were placed a number
+of tiny silver dishes containing an egg, horseradish, the bone of a
+lamb, lettuce and a mixture of raisins and spices--all symbolical of
+ancient rites. Before each guest there stood a silver wine cup, to be
+refilled three times in the course of the evening. In the centre of the
+table stood the goblet of wine for _Elijahu Hanovi_ (the Prophet
+Elijah), the hero of a thousand legends, and the fondly expected
+forerunner of the redemption of Israel and the coming of the Messiah. By
+each plate was a copy of _Hagada_, the order of service for the evening.
+It is a book of facts and fancies, containing a recital of Israel's
+trials in Egypt; of its deliverance from the house of bondage; of its
+wanderings in the desert, and the sayings of Israel's wise men--a
+mixture of Bible stories, myths and prayers.
+
+Contentment, peace and joy were plainly written upon the faces of the
+participants. The terrors of persecution were forgotten in the
+recollection of the miraculous deliverance of the Jews from their
+Egyptian task-masters. Reb Hirsch Bensef having pronounced a short
+blessing over the wine, pointed solemnly to the plate of unleavened
+bread before him.
+
+"See," he said, "this is the bread your fathers ate in _Mizraim_. He
+that hungers let him partake of it, he that is in need let him eat and
+be satisfied."
+
+As though in response to the hospitable invitation, there came a soft
+rap at the door. Mendel opened it and the bright light revealed a man
+and a woman, whose haggard faces and tattered garments presented the
+very picture of misery.
+
+"Father! Mother!" Mendel cried, joyfully. "God be praised!" and he threw
+himself into the arms of his father.
+
+With a single impulse the entire company arose and welcomed the
+unexpected guests. Mordecai and his wife had travelled on foot from
+Togarog to Kief, and, after terrible hardships, had arrived in time for
+the Passover. Great was the pleasure at their unlooked-for appearance,
+and as they hastened to tell the story of their sorrows and wanderings,
+sincere was the joy at their providential escape and the safe
+termination of their journey. All Israel is one family, and had the
+wanderers been in nowise related to Bensef, their reception would have
+been equally cordial and sincere.
+
+A short time sufficed to remove the last traces of their terrible
+journey and to clothe them in the best that the wardrobe of their hosts
+afforded. Two more plates were set, two more goblets of wine were served
+and the ceremonies were continued.
+
+So excited was Mendel over the arrival of his parents that he could
+scarcely compose himself sufficiently to follow the _seder_ and ask the
+conventional question concerning the significance of the _Pesach_
+festival. In reply, the head of the house recited from his _Hagada_ how
+the Lord punished Pharaoh for his obduracy, how the children of Israel
+were eventually led from captivity, how the Red Sea was divided that
+the chosen people might traverse its bed while the Egyptian perished
+miserably, and how the Lord conducted his people safely through the
+wilderness to the promised land. Then followed praise and thanksgiving,
+the _Hagadas_ were pushed aside and feasting followed, continuing far
+into the night.
+
+The woes and adventures of Mordecai and his wife elicited the hearty
+sympathy of their hearers, and the enjoyment of the evening was greatly
+enhanced by the knowledge that the dear ones were, for the present at
+least, safe from persecution.
+
+The quiet dignity which had distinguished Mendel since he had become a
+student vanished. He became a child again, embracing and caressing his
+parents, weeping at their sorrows, laughing over their deliverance, and
+asking a thousand questions without waiting for replies.
+
+It was decided that for the present the fugitives should remain with
+Bensef as his guests.
+
+At the conclusion of the meal, the _Hagadas_ were again taken up, and to
+the prayers of thanksgiving was added a prayer for the welfare of that
+little soul that was lost to Israel, the missing child Jacob.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+TWO LOVING HEARTS.
+
+
+The Crimean War had reached its disastrous conclusion. Russia had
+suffered ignominious defeat, the allies were successful in the Black
+Sea, and the despised Turks had shown a bold front along the Danube. It
+was evident that the military organization was as corrupt as the civil
+administration, that fraud and dishonesty were prevalent and neutralized
+the bravery of the troops.
+
+"Another year of war and the whole of Southern Russia will be ruined,"
+so wrote a patriot of 1855.
+
+Under this great humiliation, the people suddenly awoke from their
+lethargy. The system of Nicholas had been put to the test and found
+wanting. The Government believed that it could accomplish everything by
+its own inherent wisdom and superiority, and had shown itself wofully
+incompetent. Dissatisfaction was deep and widespread. Philippics and
+satires appeared, and reforms were so boldly demanded that the Czar
+could not close his ears to the universal clamor. In the midst of
+disasters abroad and dissatisfaction at home, Nicholas died, and was
+succeeded by his son, a man of very different type.
+
+The new monarch was well aware of the existing abuses, many of which had
+been carefully concealed from Nicholas by his obsequious counsellors. As
+heir-apparent he had held aloof from public affairs, and was therefore
+free from pledges of any kind; yet, while he allowed popular ideas and
+aspirations to find free utterance, he did not commit himself to any
+definite policy.
+
+To Alexander, the Russians, Jew and gentile, now looked for relief.
+There were many abuses to correct and oppressive laws to repeal, and the
+public heart beat high with hope at the prospect of reforms. He repealed
+the laws limiting the number of students at each university; he reduced
+the excessive fees for passports; he moderated the rigorous censorship
+of the press, and, in fact, the Czar's acts justified the hopes of his
+subjects. Hundreds of new journals sprang into existence. He introduced
+reforms into the civil and military administrations, and, best of all,
+he created the _semstvos_ or town assemblies of the people.
+
+To the Jews, Alexander was particularly gracious. He removed many of the
+restrictions imposed by his predecessor. The stringent laws limiting the
+number of marriages in a community were moderated. In some few instances
+their quarters were enlarged, and an order was issued restoring to their
+parents all children that had been forcibly taken from them during the
+reign of the old Czar.
+
+What rejoicing was there in Israel! How many families, separated by the
+inhuman decrees of Nicholas, were now reunited! Every home was gladdened
+either by the restoration of some beloved son, or in sympathy with the
+general rejoicing. One family in Kief waited in vain, however, for the
+return of a missing child. It was hoped by Mordecai that under the
+general amnesty Jacob, if indeed he were still living, would be allowed
+to return; but there were no tidings of him, and the conviction that he
+had met his death was strengthened.
+
+A new and promising era opened for the oppressed and persecuted Hebrews.
+It appeared as if their patient resignation under adverse circumstances
+would eventually be rewarded by the concession of equal rights with
+their fellow-men. To be sure, all persecution did not cease. The badge
+of disgrace was still worn by every male Jew, the owning of land and the
+following of many trades was still forbidden. The Jew was still the
+object of derision throughout the Empire; he was still judged by a
+severer code of justice than were his gentile neighbors; the entire race
+was still held responsible for the crime of the individual. But active
+hostilities ceased and the Hebrews rejoiced thereat.
+
+Mendel continued his studies, and in the course of a few years his fame
+spread from _jeschiva_ to _jeschiva_, from congregation to congregation.
+By the time that he was twenty-one years of age, he had published a book
+in Hebrew, which, while it respected the religious sentiment of his
+people, paved the way for assimilating the modern knowledge. The work
+created a profound impression. The chief synagogues of Moscow and of
+Warsaw invited him to take up his residence with them. His reply was
+that as his parents resided in Kief, he preferred to remain there.
+
+There was another attraction in Kief more powerful than that exercised
+by his parents, more potent to keep the young philosopher in the city of
+his adoption. Mendel was in love. His heart, schooled in the wisdom of
+many nations, had surrendered unconditionally to the charm of Recha, the
+beautiful dark-eyed daughter of Rabbi Jeiteles. Recha was rapidly
+nearing her seventeenth year and each month, nay each day, added to her
+charms. Like most girls of her ancient race, she was well developed for
+her years, and her symmetrical figure, lustrous eyes and raven tresses
+presented a picture of oriental beauty, whose peer did not exist among
+the Slavonic types that lived and loved round about her. So at least
+thought Mendel, and so thought a score of enamored youths beside.
+Recha's beauty was by no means her chief attraction. The graces of her
+mind and heart were in keeping with her lovely exterior. From her father
+she had acquired learning, wit and wisdom, and from her mother charm of
+manner and gentle ways.
+
+The student's affection for the girl into whose society he was daily
+thrown, exercised great influence in holding him to the path of duty. To
+become worthy of such a treasure was his one desire. All that was best
+and brightest in his soul was aroused when he thought of Recha. It was
+she that inspired him, and his mind appeared more active when he thought
+of her. She was the beacon that guided his steps through the difficult
+paths of learning. Nor was his love unrequited. Young, handsome,
+intelligent beyond the generality of Jewish youth, Mendel was to Recha
+the embodiment of all that was good and noble.
+
+No word of love had ever passed Mendel's lips, and yet there was a
+sympathetic understanding between them; they found a paradise in each
+other's society. Recha had not a few admirers. Go where she would, she
+found herself surrounded by willing slaves, who at the slightest
+encouragement would have thrown themselves at her feet. In vain were
+_schadchens_ employed by many of the wealthy and influential Jewish
+residents in Kief to seek the hand of Jeiteles' lovely daughter in
+marriage. But Recha had neither eyes nor ears for any of them.
+
+One evening Mendel entered the Rabbi's house in unusual haste, his face
+wearing an expression of mingled doubt and hope.
+
+The Rabbi and his wife were absent. Recha observing his perturbation,
+asked eagerly:
+
+"Has anything happened?"
+
+"Here, Recha, read this letter."
+
+Recha read the missive which Mendel handed to her. It was a flattering
+invitation from the congregation of Odessa. "Our Rabbi is old and
+infirm," stated the letter, "and desires a staff in his declining years.
+Your reputation as a scholar has reached our people and we would
+consider it an honor to have you with us."
+
+As Recha read, she turned deadly pale and the paper almost fell from her
+hands.
+
+"What will you do?" she faltered at length, while the great tears stood
+in her eyes.
+
+Mendel's heart throbbed with wild delight as he saw her evident emotion,
+and her eyes fell under his ardent gaze. Seizing her hand, he asked, in
+a low voice:
+
+"What would you have me do?"
+
+Recha gazed fondly into Mendel's eyes, and said:
+
+"I should be very unhappy if you left home. What would my father do
+without you? Think of the void it would create in the lives of your
+parents and of your uncle. What would the congregation do without you,
+whom they already regard as an oracle? Stay with us in Kief."
+
+"God bless you, my dear," replied the young man, fervently. "I will
+remain; I shall never leave this place unless you go with me as my
+wife."
+
+It was simple and unromantic.
+
+The lovers, happy and contented, sat side by side, discussing their
+roseate future, and when the Rabbi and his wife returned, the young
+folks advanced to meet them.
+
+"Rabbi," said the student, bravely, "Recha has promised to be my wife."
+
+"_Mazal tov_," ejaculated both Jeiteles and his wife. "May the Lord of
+Israel bless you."
+
+The messenger from Odessa was dismissed with a negative reply.
+
+There was a merry gathering the following Saturday afternoon to
+congratulate the betrothed couple. Sincere were the wishes for their
+future happiness that were showered upon them. It is a characteristic of
+Israelites the world over to feel a lively interest in whatever befalls
+their co-religionists, high or low. "Despised and rejected" by their
+gentile neighbors, they sought for consolation and found it in the
+society of their own kin, and thus arose this sympathy, this love for
+one another which has so strongly cemented the hearts of the Jews.
+
+"Clannish" has been hurled at them as a term of reproach. So are the
+frightened sheep clannish when they huddle together in the shelterless
+field, for protection against the blasts of the pitiless storm.
+
+The interval between the betrothal and the wedding is usually short, and
+the happy day that made Mendel and Recha man and wife was not long in
+coming.
+
+"I have a request to make," said the student to the Rabbi, a few days
+before the all-important event took place.
+
+"Name it, my son," replied the Rabbi.
+
+"I do not wish Recha to have her hair cut off. Her tresses are her
+crowning beauty, and it would grieve me to the heart to see her shorn of
+them."
+
+The Rabbi shrugged his shoulders and uttered a short ejaculation of
+surprise.
+
+"A breach of so old a custom," said he, "will be looked upon by the
+whole congregation as impiety."
+
+"I know," replied Mendel, "but in this instance, I must brave their
+displeasure."
+
+"But," said the Rabbi, still hesitating, "if--God forbid--your wife
+should meet with any misfortune, it would be attributed to the anger of
+God at this innovation."
+
+"I must do what I think is right," replied Mendel, "and if the example
+of Recha induces others to disobey an offensive and obnoxious
+injunction, the people will be the gainers."
+
+After much deliberation, the Rabbi and his wife at last consented. Not
+so easily, however, were the rest of the congregation reconciled.
+
+We will anticipate a little to remark that there was no calamity in the
+course of Mendel's conjugal experience, which could be traced to Recha's
+luxuriant hair.
+
+Great were the preparations with which the happy day was ushered in.
+
+The closely veiled bride, supported by her mother and aunt, was
+conducted into the room in a shower of barley, and was led to the
+supremely happy groom, who, arrayed in cap and gown and wearing a
+praying scarf, stood ready to receive her. Seven times the maiden
+encircled her future husband and then took her position at his side,
+after which the father of the _kalle_ (bride) began the important
+services. Holding a goblet of wine in his right hand, he invoked God's
+blessing with the tenderness of a loving father and the solemnity of a
+priest. Short and impressive was the chanted prayer. The couple sipped
+the wine, the ring was placed on the bride's finger, the words uttered,
+a glass broken into fragments under the heel of the groom, prayers were
+recited by the Rabbi, and the religious ceremony was at an end. Then
+followed the congratulations of the friends, the good-natured pushing of
+the assembled guests in their eagerness to kiss the bride or shake the
+radiant groom by the hand. A bounteous feast closed the festivities.
+Mendel and Recha were bound to each other by indissoluble ties.
+
+The newly wedded pair took up their residence with Rabbi Jeiteles, whose
+advanced age incapacitated him at times from attending to the onerous
+duties of his office. Mendel was ever at his side as a helper, until he
+grew into the office. Despite the honors showered upon him he remained
+the modest, unassuming, amiable young man, whom flattery could not
+affect nor pleasure lure from the course of strict duty.
+
+When at the end of a year Recha presented him with a little girl-baby,
+which they called Kathinka, he was the happiest man on the face of the
+earth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE CHOLERA AND ITS VICTIMS.
+
+
+A new danger threatened our friends. Scarcely had the fanatical Russian
+given the Jews a brief respite from persecution, when Nature seized the
+rod and wielded it with relentless hand, smiting Jew and gentile, the
+pious and the ungodly, with equal severity. The cholera had broken out
+in Central Russia and its devastations were terrible beyond description.
+The country from Kief to Odessa was as one vast charnel-house. As has
+always been the case during epidemics, the Jews suffered less from the
+ravages of the disease than did their gentile neighbors. The strict
+dietary laws which excluded everything not absolutely fresh and clean,
+the frequent ablutions which the religious rites demanded of the Jews
+and their freedom from all enervating excesses, bore excellent results
+in a diminished mortality. Nevertheless, many a victim was hurried to an
+untimely grave, many a family sat in sackcloth and ashes for a departed
+member.
+
+Amid the general consternation caused by the rapid spread of the plague,
+the _feldshers_ were unceremoniously relegated to the background. Their
+surgery was practically useless and their drugs proved powerless to
+stay the disease. The _snakharkas_, on the other hand, prospered
+greatly. Superstition flourished; prayers, sacrifices, incantations,
+magical rites, exorcisms, were invoked to allay the evil. The _moujiks_
+called frantically upon the saints for assistance, and then deliberately
+frustrated any relief these might have afforded by committing frightful
+excesses. Many a saint fell into temporary disfavor by his apparent
+indifference to the sufferings of his devotees.
+
+The priests invented new ceremonials and each village had its own
+peculiar method of appeasing divine wrath. In Kief, the disease had
+taken a particularly virulent form. The filthy Dnieper, contaminated by
+the reeking sewerage of the city, was in a great measure to blame for
+the rapid spread of the disorder, but to have advanced such a theory
+would have been useless; the ignorant inhabitants ascribed the scourge
+to any source but the true one. At one time the _feldshers_ were accused
+of having propagated the plague for their own pecuniary benefit, and the
+excited populace threw a number of doctors out of the windows of a
+hospital and otherwise maltreated the poor practitioners who fell into
+their clutches.
+
+In Kanief, the inhabitants, crazed with fear at the progress of the
+plague, adopted an original and ingenious method to check it. At
+midnight, according to a preconcerted plan, all the maidens of the
+village met on the outskirts of the place and formed in picturesque
+procession. At the head marched a girl bearing an icon of the Madonna,
+gaudily painted and bedecked with jewels. Behind her came her
+companions, dragging a rope to which was attached a plow. In this order
+they made the circuit of the village, and it was confidently believed
+that the cholera would disappear within the magical circle thus
+described.[11]
+
+Many and equally ingenious were the devices employed in Kief by the
+ignorant peasants. A wonder-working icon was brought from St.
+Petersburg, where, according to tradition, it had performed many
+miracles. Yet the plague continued, fed by the ignorance and
+intemperance of the people.
+
+Surrounded by such dense superstition, it is not strange that the Jews,
+too, should resort to absurd rites to rid themselves of the dreaded
+guest. The poorer classes, living in the lower portions of the quarter,
+were the chief sufferers. There, where a dozen half-starved wretches
+were crowded into one small room, the plague was at its height. A
+hundred souls had already succumbed and the list of victims was growing
+daily. Alas! the misery of the stricken families! Deprived of medical
+attendance, of drugs, of fresh air, there appeared little hope for the
+denizens of the infected district.
+
+The busiest man during these troublous times was Itzig Maier, the
+beadle, whose acquaintance we have already made as the messenger sent by
+Bensef to the _bal-shem_ at Tchernigof. The condition of Itzig and his
+family had not improved since we last saw him. The little fortune which,
+if gossip spoke truly, he had acquired by his adroit manoeuvring at
+that time, had been dissipated; his family had grown larger and was a
+constant drain upon his meagre resources, while his income appeared to
+diminish as his expenses increased. Besides, Itzig had a daughter who
+was now of a marriageable age, and he was obliged to toil and save to
+provide a dowry. Beile was unattractive and uninteresting, and Itzig did
+not conceal from himself the fact that without a dowry it might prove
+difficult to bring her under the _chuppe_.
+
+Of late Itzig had had little time to think of his family. In the house
+and in the hovel, wherever the cholera had knocked for admittance, there
+was Itzig Maier, performing his duties with an unfailing
+regularity--preparing the shrouds, attiring the dead and comforting the
+mourners--all unmindful that he might be the next victim. His services
+were in constant demand and money was actually pouring in upon him.
+
+The first to visit, aid and counsel the stricken community was Rabbi
+Jeiteles, whose unselfish devotion to duty led him from house to house,
+administering simple remedies to the suffering, closing the eyes of the
+dead and consoling the grieving survivors. He knew no fear, no
+hesitation. To his wife's anxious words of warning he had but one reply,
+"We are all in God's hands."
+
+Earnestly he went about his work, conscious of his danger, yet putting
+all thought of self aside until he, too, fell a victim to the dread
+destroyer.
+
+One day, while performing the last sad rites over a dead child, he was
+stricken, and before he could be removed to his home he had breathed his
+last.
+
+Great was the grief in the Jewish community in Kief. From one end of the
+quarter to the other the inhabitants mourned for thirty days, bewailing
+the death of their beloved Rabbi, as though each household had lost a
+revered parent.
+
+The plague continued its ravages, and the people in their wild terror
+resorted to the _bal-shem_ for amulets and talismans. On every door
+could be read the inscription, "Not at home." But the cholera would not
+be put off by so flimsy a device and entered unbidden. Even the death of
+a grave-digger did not stay the dread disease, although it had been
+prophesied that such an event would end the trouble. The cabalistic
+books were ransacked for charms and mystic signs with which to resist
+the power of the conqueror, but all in vain.
+
+One morning Itzig ran as fast as his shuffling legs would bear him, up
+the dirty lane that led to his abode, and fell rather than walked into
+the low door that led into his hut. His wife was engaged in washing a
+baby--the seventh--and Beile, an ill-favored, sallow-complexioned girl,
+sat at the window sewing.
+
+"Jentele," cried Itzig, sinking into a chair, "God has been good to us!"
+
+"Have you just found that out?" asked his wife, petulantly. "What is the
+matter? Have you come into a fortune?"
+
+"Beile, leave the room," said Itzig.
+
+"Why, father?"
+
+"Leave the room! I want to talk to your mother."
+
+Beile put away her work and walked out into the lane.
+
+"Rejoice with me, Jentele," said the delighted husband, as he rubbed his
+shrivelled hands. "Beile is a _kalle_; she will marry to-morrow."
+
+"Has anybody fallen in love with her?" asked the mother.
+
+"No; but she will marry all the same."
+
+"Well, speak out, man! You kill one with suspense."
+
+"Do you know Reb Bensef, our _parnas_?"
+
+"Yes; but what has he to do with our Beile?"
+
+"Reb Bensef being very much distressed by the death of Rabbi Jeiteles,
+went to Tchernigof to ask counsel of the _bal-shem_ and has just
+returned."
+
+"Well, what did the wise man advise?" asked Jentele, burning with
+impatience, while her partially washed baby lay kicking in her arms.
+
+"Listen, I am coming to that," answered Itzig, with provoking slowness.
+"He said that if a poor man would marry an equally poor girl, under a
+_chuppe_ erected in the cemetery between two newly made graves, God's
+anger would be appeased and the scourge would end. To-day Bensef sought
+me out. 'Itzig,' he said, 'you have a daughter. I know a husband for
+her. I will give an outfit to both bride and groom and provide them with
+money to last a year, if you will consent to their marrying in the
+cemetery.' What do you think of it?"
+
+"Who is the young man?" queried Jentele, her face expressing neither
+pleasure nor pain.
+
+"You know the _jeschiva_ student, Kahn?"
+
+"He is poor, very poor, indeed."
+
+"What is that to us? Reb Bensef will provide clothing and money for a
+whole year."
+
+"And when that is all gone?" queried his wife, resuming operations upon
+the baby.
+
+"Then God will provide. Did we have more when we married?"
+
+"It is an opportunity of a life-time," mused Jentele, looking at her
+parched and yellow better-half. "Do as you think best."
+
+Armed with the support of his wife and without consulting his daughter,
+whose voice in a matter of such minor importance seemed to him
+unnecessary, Itzig hastened to Bensef's house and expressed his consent
+to the arrangement. Together the worthies went to the synagogue, where
+the unsuspecting Kahn was engaged in prayer. A few words sufficed to
+explain the situation. Kahn looked timidly at Bensef, then upon the
+ground; finally, he shrugged his shoulders and signified his readiness
+to be led to the altar. It mattered not to him what disposition they
+made of him. He was poor and without prospects and could never hope to
+support a wife by his own exertions. The way was now made easy. Besides,
+in thus sacrificing himself for the extinction of the plague he was
+doing a _mitzva_ (a good deed) in the sight of the Lord. To refuse was
+out of the question. The young man was led in triumph to Itzig's house
+and introduced to his future wife, who heard of the arrangement for the
+first time and evinced neither pleasure nor dissatisfaction.
+
+The betrothal was duly announced and hasty preparations made for the
+coming ceremony, since delay meant new victims to the plague.
+
+Mendel strove with all his eloquence to prevent the carrying out of this
+monstrous purpose. Every fibre within him revolted at such folly, and he
+hurried from house to house, entreating the most influential members of
+the congregation to aid him in opposing it. But the scourge spoke more
+eloquently than did the young Rabbi--the people listened to him but
+shook their heads. Many who doubted the efficacy of the plan, lacked the
+moral courage to oppose an act which met with the approval of the
+greater portion of the community.
+
+"Every means should be employed to prevent the disease from doing
+further mischief," argued some. "We have vainly tried everything else,
+let us try this. God may at last listen to our prayers."
+
+"The _bal-shem_ has commanded it; it is sure to prove successful," said
+others.
+
+After a day spent in earnest but ineffectual arguments, Mendel saw that
+his endeavors in this direction were futile, and concluding that further
+interference would be useless, he sorrowfully wended his way homeward.
+
+The sun shone fiercely on the morrow upon a desolate landscape. All
+nature appeared to be under the ban of the plague. The leaves upon the
+trees were sere and withered, the brooks were dry and the birds had long
+since hushed their melody. The highways were deserted, save where at
+intervals a solemn funeral train carried the dead to a final
+resting-place.
+
+A strange procession wended its way to the Jewish cemetery. It was not a
+funeral, although from the tears and lamentations of those who took part
+in it, it might have been mistaken for one. Young and old, men and
+women, all in whom superstition still dwelt, followed the cortege to the
+field of death and accompanied the bride and bridegroom to the
+improvised altar. Thanks to the generosity of Bensef, Beile was richly
+attired, and the groom in spite of his poverty was neatly clad. They
+walked hand in hand, happy in the consciousness that they were
+performing a service to humanity. As the grotesque train entered the
+burial-ground the lamentations became louder at the sight of the scores
+of newly-made graves. The bride and groom lost their happy look, for a
+stern and terrible reality confronted them. The _chuppe_ had been
+erected between two freshly-dug graves. The people ceased their wailing
+and became as silent as the awful place in which they stood.
+
+Mendel, who had been requested to tie the solemn knot, had refused to do
+so and had absented himself. The ceremony was, therefore, performed by
+the Rabbi of another congregation, who hurried through the short service
+with almost eager haste. Jentele kissed the weeping bride, Itzig
+embraced his son-in-law.
+
+Suddenly the father tottered and with a moan fell to the ground. His
+face became livid, his eyes sank in their sockets, his blue lips
+frothed, and his whole body shook with agony.
+
+"The cholera! the cholera!" shouted those nearest him, and while many
+fled for their lives, a dozen willing hands lifted up the prostrate
+beadle and endeavored by every means in their power to restore him to
+consciousness. In vain were all their ministrations, in vain their
+prayers and exhortations. For a short while Itzig suffered intense
+agony, then his shrunken form became rigid, his head fell back, his
+homely and shrivelled features relaxed into a hideous grin, and the
+unfortunate beadle travelled the way of the hundreds he had in his time
+borne to this very spot.[12]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 11: Wallace, p. 78.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+COMMON-SENSE VS. SUPERSTITION.
+
+
+In spite of the sacrifice, in spite of the fanaticism of the gentiles
+and the equally great superstition of the Jews, the plague continued
+with unabated violence. But few families in Kief had been spared a visit
+from the dread reaper.
+
+On the Sabbath following the events just narrated, the Israelites went
+to their places of worship as usual, and ardent prayers for deliverance
+ascended to the Almighty. Mendel, notwithstanding his youth, officiated
+in the place of the departed Rabbi Jeiteles, and on this occasion he
+formally entered upon the duties of his honorable office.
+
+Sermons, as we understand them, were not in vogue among the Russian
+Jews, and lectures in the synagogue on topics unconnected with religion
+or morality had not been dreamed of. Jeiteles would at times discourse
+upon some knotty point in the _Torah_, and on the more important
+holidays expound the meaning of certain ceremonials. When Mendel
+ascended the pulpit, the stricken congregation, with hushed and eager
+expectation, awaited his words.
+
+Mendel began by alluding to the sad demise of the beloved Rabbi. He
+spoke of his great heart, of his benevolence and wisdom, and as his
+powerful and sympathetic voice rang through the vast synagogue, few were
+the eyes that were not suffused with tears.
+
+"Friends," he continued, "in an epidemic such as is at present raging in
+our midst, our thoughts are naturally directed to _Adonai_, and we
+implore His mercy. If such a misfortune tends to turn our prayers
+heavenward, to arouse our humanity towards our suffering fellow-men,
+then indeed the evil may become a blessing in disguise. But if you lay
+the blame of your misfortunes to God alone, and believe that He inflicts
+His creatures with disease because He is angry with the world, you
+degrade the Lord into an angry, revengeful Being of human type, instead
+of the grand and supreme _Adonai Echod_ whom our forefathers worshipped.
+
+"The many absurd observances of which you have been guilty, and which
+culminated in the marriage at the cemetery, are blasphemous. I will tell
+you why. If God has really sent this trouble, it is done for a wise
+purpose, and God will know when to remove the infliction without such
+barbaric ceremonies to propitiate Him. If, on the other hand, your own
+negligence of the laws of health is to blame, then absurd rites, even
+though sanctioned by a wonder-working Rabbi of some distant city, are of
+no avail; but the only effective way to terminate the trouble is to
+investigate our way of living, and to correct whatever we find
+prejudicial to our well-being."
+
+That this new and hitherto unheard-of doctrine should cause a profound
+sensation was but natural. A murmur through the audience showed plainly
+that sentiment was divided upon the subject. Mendel, disregarding the
+interruption, continued. In clear and concise terms he pointed out the
+historical fact that throughout all the epidemics of the past, Israel,
+by the perfection of her sanitary laws, enjoyed almost an immunity from
+disease. He hurriedly enumerated the many excellent Mosaic laws
+concerning diet and cleanliness, and endeavored to show that the ablest
+physicians of modern times could not improve upon these commands. Then
+he spoke of the recent discoveries by the German doctors, and the
+promulgation of the new theory that contagious diseases were due to the
+existence of germs which could only be exterminated by certain
+well-defined means, prominent among which was cleanliness. While he
+spoke his audience hung breathlessly upon his words, and, as they gazed
+upon the inspired countenance of the young man, they felt that he
+expounded the truth, and they believed in him.
+
+"And now, my friends," continued Mendel, "let us drop superstition and
+substitute common-sense. Let us show our gentile neighbors that we can
+combat this epidemic with intelligence. In the first place, let us
+determine upon some well-defined plan. Let us organize. With unity of
+purpose much can be accomplished. The greatest danger of the disease
+lies in its contagious nature. Our first duty, therefore, is to isolate
+those who are sick. In this way the spreading of the plague may be
+checked. There is nothing new in this plan. Moses commanded that all
+persons suffering with infectious diseases should be placed outside of
+the camp of Israel. That you have not already resorted to this means
+shows rather a kind heart than a quick wit.
+
+"You have doubtless observed that those living upon the swampy ground
+near the river mourn a greater number of departed than those dwelling
+further inland. That locality must, therefore, exercise a prejudicial
+influence upon the health of the people. It is here that the poor and
+destitute live. Let us care for them. Let the more wealthy and more
+fortunate families take into their houses those to whom Providence has
+been less bountiful. You whose daily business takes you to the hovels of
+the poor, know how wretched and filthy they are, how even the healthy
+can scarcely bear the foulness of their atmosphere. How great must be
+the power of such pest-holes to extend the plague when once it finds a
+foothold there! Let us tear down those hovels. There are enough rich men
+among you to build new and better houses. You have heard that many have
+become ill through drinking the water from the wells. Water you must
+drink; but a German doctor tells us that heat will kill the germs of
+disease. Let us, therefore, boil all the water we drink and diminish the
+tendency to sickness in that way. Finally, it is necessary to avoid all
+excesses, to live temperately, to observe strict cleanliness. Thus you
+may cheat the plague of a great number of victims. God sends the good,
+my friends, but we bring the evil upon ourselves. This evening I shall
+be pleased to see at my house all those who are willing to devote their
+time and money to the great cause, and we will there discuss the ways
+and means of driving out the cholera, and thus avenging the death of our
+beloved and regretted Rabbi Jeiteles."
+
+Such enthusiasm as greeted the speaker when he descended from the pulpit
+had never been known in the synagogue. His manner as well as his words,
+his beauty and imposing presence as well as his profound and magnetic
+intellect, had carried the hearts of his auditors. The men clasped him
+warmly by the hand and promised their co-operation, and the women in the
+gallery gave vent to their approval in a no less hearty manner. When the
+Sabbath service came to a close, the only sentiment among the members of
+the congregation was in favor of immediate action.
+
+The news of the sermon spread rapidly through the community, and the
+other congregations became interested and promised their support.
+
+The young Rabbi still lived with his mother-in-law, and a large company
+assembled at the house to carry out the plans suggested by him that
+morning. The meeting included all the wealthy and influential men of the
+quarter, and they entered into the spirit of the new ideas with as much
+enthusiasm as they had displayed in the superstitious observances of a
+few days before. Those willing to take an active part in the great
+hygienic work were divided by Mendel into committees, one of which was
+to undertake the arduous work of isolation and of providing willing and
+capable nurses to wait upon the sick; another to superintend the
+disinfection or removal of the wretched hovels in the lower portion of
+the Jewish quarter; a third to visit the families into which the scourge
+had already forced an entrance, and inculcate such lessons of
+cleanliness as would materially lessen the chances of further contagion.
+
+Mendel placed himself at the head of all these bodies, so that he might
+the better direct their actions. He then explained to them in detail the
+various theories that had been advanced throughout the civilized world
+as to the cause of the cholera and the methods employed in western
+countries to combat the disease. He had read much and his powerful
+memory had retained all that was useful and important, and he spoke with
+such decision that all those pious men, among whom any delving outside
+of the sacred limits of the Talmud was strictly prohibited, now
+listened, in open-mouthed wonder, to the instruction of their youthful
+sage without once demanding whence he had obtained his knowledge. It
+sufficed them to know that they now possessed a tangible weapon with
+which to fight their dreaded enemy, and they were ready to follow their
+leader wherever he chose to conduct them.
+
+The great work was begun without delay. Before undertaking it, however,
+it was necessary to obtain the Governor's consent to the improvements,
+and to Mendel fell the task of calling upon the mighty man at his
+palace.
+
+When Alexander II. ascended his father's throne, his first important act
+was to appoint new Governors of the various provinces, for it was a
+notorious fact that the heads of these departments were as a rule
+totally unfit to direct the affairs with which they were entrusted. He
+replaced the old and corrupt Governors by young and vigorous men,
+heartily in accord with his ideas of reform. General Pomeroff, a friend
+and stanch admirer of the Emperor while he was still Czarewitch, was
+selected to govern the influential province of Kief. Pomeroff was a
+strikingly handsome man, progressive in his views, humane in the
+treatment of his subordinates, quick to perceive merit where it existed
+and anxious to assist in any work which promised to redound to the
+credit of his province. With this man Mendel sought an interview. It was
+with difficulty that he gained admittance to the presence of the august
+ruler, into whose sanctum no Jew had yet entered, but after a long delay
+he succeeded in meeting the Governor face to face.
+
+"Your excellency," said Mendel, in a quiet and dignified manner,
+speaking in perfect Russian, "I come to seek your assistance in a matter
+of great importance to a large class of your subjects."
+
+The Governor, surprised as much by the purity of language as by the
+temerity of the Jew, looked at the young man, scrutinizingly, for some
+moments.
+
+"What do you wish?" he asked, at length. "Make your application short,
+for I have much to do."
+
+Mendel unfolded his views briefly to the astonished Governor. He
+expressed his desire to rid the Jewish quarter as far as practicable
+from the effects of the plague.
+
+"The cholera has almost run its course," he said, "and while our efforts
+might have been impotent to check its ravages during its early course,
+they may serve to prevent its further spread and to diminish the number
+of its victims. We are amply provided with willing hands and with the
+necessary money, but we desire your excellency's sanction, and your
+permission to remove those hovels from our quarter which are dangerous
+to the general health of its inhabitants."
+
+Governor Pomeroff had arisen and was striding up and down his apartment.
+When Mendel concluded, he stopped and held out his hand.
+
+"Give me your hand," he said; "you are a man after my own heart. Go on
+with your work, and I will give instructions that no one shall interfere
+with you. If you need assistance, call upon me and I will do what I can
+for you."
+
+"I thank your excellency," replied Mendel, overjoyed, "but your
+good-will is all we ask. The cholera is a frightful evil, and if we
+succeed in lessening its ravages we shall be well repaid for our
+trouble."
+
+"I expect you to come and report to me from time to time," said the
+Governor, so far forgetting his dignity as to accompany the Jew to the
+door.
+
+Mendel bowed and left the apartment. In the ante-room, a number of
+servants had collected, and no sooner did the young man appear than they
+began to banter and annoy him. It was perfectly legitimate for the serfs
+to derive as much amusement from the Jews as possible.
+
+"Here comes the Jew," cried one, "and by the Holy St. Peter he is still
+alive."
+
+"Well, Jew," said another, seizing Mendel by the beard; "by what charms
+did you force your way into the Governor's presence? Impudence is a
+great characteristic of your race."
+
+At that moment the door opened and Governor Pomeroff appeared at the
+threshold.
+
+He severely rebuked the astonished servants for their rude behavior,
+apologized to Mendel for the indignities he had been obliged to endure,
+and sent a guard with him to conduct him to his home.
+
+The Rabbi returned to his people with a light and happy heart. He had
+been more than successful, for he had gained a friend in the Governor,
+and his mind lost itself in visions of the good this powerful ally would
+enable him to effect.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 12: Herzberg-Fraenkel's "Polnische Juden" cites a similar
+incident.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE GOVERNOR'S PROJECT.
+
+
+Great were the energy and zeal which the Hebrew community of Kief
+displayed in carrying out the plans of their young Rabbi. Mendel himself
+led them on with an ardor that knew no abatement. He visited the most
+dangerous pest-holes, helped to move the sick, brought relief and
+consolation to the suffering and bereaved, while ever at his side was
+his wife, Recha. Her devotion to the cause was only second to the love
+she bore her husband. Undaunted by the awful fate that had befallen her
+father, she followed Mendel into the thickest of the danger and like a
+ministering angel brought comfort and relief. Their example was
+contagious. Young and old, male and female, vied with one another in
+doing good and in mitigating suffering. The superstitious dread with
+which they had formerly regarded the disease had disappeared and with it
+much of the danger which fear or an over-wrought imagination causes. A
+large building was secured and fitted up as a hospital. Thither the sick
+were conveyed and there kept in strict quarantine. It was not difficult
+to find nurses among those who had already had the disease, when told
+that they need not fear its recurrence.
+
+Many of the miserable dwellings of the poor were demolished and the
+ground cleansed and fumigated, their former inhabitants in the meanwhile
+finding ample accommodations in the synagogues or in the houses of the
+wealthy. There was not a family of well-to-do Jews that did not harbor a
+number of those who were thus summarily deprived of shelter. Every well
+which might have become contaminated was filled up with earth and stone,
+and strict injunctions were issued to use no water that had not been
+thoroughly boiled. The schools were temporarily closed to avoid the
+danger of infection, exercise in the fields was recommended, and so well
+were all these regulations observed that at the end of six weeks the
+Jewish quarter was practically free from the disease, while the grim
+monster still raged among the families of the less prudent gentiles.
+Then the work of reconstructing what had been demolished was taken up.
+Thanks to the offerings of Hirsch Bensef and his friends, money was not
+lacking and willing hands were found to supply the necessary manual
+labor. Where wretched huts and unpainted hovels had offended the eye,
+unpretentious but clean and comfortable dwellings now were seen. The
+lower portion of the town had been entirely remodelled and vied in point
+of neatness with the more aristocratic quarter. As home after home was
+completed, the former inmates took possession and great was the
+rejoicing. It was impossible, however, to do away with all the poor
+hovels that abounded in the Jewish quarter: such an undertaking would
+have required a vast amount of money and years of labor. It was only
+where the need was most pressing that the work of regeneration was
+carried on.
+
+The sad fact soon forced itself on Mendel that the portion of Kief
+allotted to the Jews was entirely inadequate for the fifteen thousand
+inhabitants who were condemned to dwell there. So overcrowded were some
+of the houses that it seemed a miracle that the death-rate had not been
+even greater; yet there seemed to be no remedy for the evil. The limits
+had been fixed by the government and against its decree who dared
+appeal? By _Rosh-Hashana_ (New Year's) there was not a single case of
+cholera in the Jewish quarter. One morning, several days after the New
+Year festival, Mendel sat in his snug parlor with his wife and her
+mother, speaking hopefully of the coming time.
+
+"How happy we would be," said Recha, "if father were alive to see all
+the good that has been accomplished. His only ambition was to improve
+the mental and physical condition of our people. He would have taken the
+greatest interest in your undertaking, and would have been the most
+zealous of your helpers."
+
+Mendel sighed.
+
+"I feel, Recha," he said, "that all this work was inspired by his death.
+Had it not been for the grief it caused me, I doubt whether I should
+have felt it my duty to open the eyes of our good people, but might have
+allowed them to continue in their accustomed way. Troubles, dear Recha,
+are frequently blessings in disguise, and under the rod of affliction we
+may recognize the loving hand of God. Our hearts groan under the heavy
+blows of misfortune, but in the end we will find ourselves the stronger,
+the better, the more perfect for the tribulations we have undergone."
+
+Recha felt the truth of her husband's words and dried her eyes.
+
+"I look into the year just begun with great hopes," continued Mendel.
+"Among our own people the greatest harmony prevails. The sorrows we have
+suffered in common have served to knit our souls more closely together,
+and the little quarrels and petty jealousies that formerly agitated our
+community have ceased. All is bright and beautiful without. The Emperor
+purposes to introduce various reforms and the Governor is favorably
+disposed towards us. Let us trust that those who have suffered losses
+through the merciless hand of death may find some consolation in the
+greater happiness and prosperity of the community."
+
+Mendel was interrupted by a knock at the door, and Recha upon opening it
+gave admittance to a soldier, whose uniform proclaimed him one of the
+Governor's body guard.
+
+"I seek Mendel Winenki," said the man, with military precision.
+
+Recha became pale as death; a terrible suspicion flashed through her
+mind. Mendel, too, was ill at ease.
+
+"What do you want of me?" he asked.
+
+"His excellency, the Governor, has instructed me to conduct you into his
+presence," answered the soldier.
+
+"For what purpose?" asked the Rabbi, anxiously.
+
+"I do not know. I am simply to take you with me."
+
+The greatest consternation prevailed among the little group. For a Jew
+to be summoned before the Governor betokened no good.
+
+"You would arrest my husband!" cried Recha, placing herself between the
+soldier and the Rabbi. "He has done no wrong. You shall not take him!"
+
+"Calm yourself, Recha," said the Rabbi, gently. "There is no need of
+borrowing trouble. The soldier has not intimated that I am to be
+punished. The Governor was at one time very friendly to me; perhaps it
+is upon a friendly matter that he now wishes to see me."
+
+Kissing his wife and mother-in-law and bidding them be of good cheer,
+Mendel accompanied the guide to the Governor's residence. It was a long
+walk through a number of densely populated streets to the animated
+_podol_, or business centre. Hundreds of shops lined the streets, but
+they were empty and deserted. The cholera had deprived them of their
+customers and in many cases of their proprietors. Business was
+practically suspended during the continuance of the plague. On leaving
+the _podol_, the road led up a steep incline to the Petcherskoi. This
+was the official portion of the town. Here stood the vast Petcherskoi
+convent, a mass of old buildings, formerly a fine specimen of Byzantine
+architecture, but now gradually yielding to the ravages of time. Here,
+too, were the barracks, and the martial tread of the exercising
+regiments rang out clearly in the September air. Beyond the barracks,
+and by its high position commanding a fine view of the city, stood the
+Governor's palace, an imposing pile of Russian architecture, which, when
+Kief was still the capital of the Empire, was the scene of regal
+festivities and despotic cruelty.
+
+The ante-room of the Governor was filled with a motley crowd of
+petitioners. There were deputations from the provincial towns, haughty
+noblemen attired in lace coats and bedecked with badges, officers,
+soldiers and _gendarmes_ in gorgeous uniforms. Mendel's courage sank
+when he saw the formidable group before him.
+
+"Remain here," commanded the guard who had accompanied him, "and I will
+announce your presence to his excellency."
+
+A moment later he returned and, to the surprise of the waiting
+petitioners, beckoned Mendel to follow him into the private cabinet.
+That a Jew should be shown such favor was scarcely calculated to put the
+rest in a good humor, and loud murmurs of discontent arose from all
+parts of the room.
+
+If Mendel had any fears of the reception which awaited him, they were at
+once dispelled by the Governor's cordial greeting:
+
+"Well, Rabbi," he exclaimed, smilingly, extending his hand, "I have
+waited in vain for you to bring me the promised tidings and have sent
+for you in sheer despair. Why did you not come to see me?"
+
+"Your excellency," replied Mendel, "I have been busy day and night, but
+had I thought that you took an interest in our work I would have
+hastened to inform you of our progress. Thank God, the result has
+exceeded our fondest expectations."
+
+"I have heard of it," replied Pomeroff. "It has been the subject of a
+hundred discussions at court and at the exchanges, and there is nought
+but praise for the man who was the first to fight the cholera here in
+Russia with the weapons science has furnished mankind."
+
+Mendel blushed and said, modestly:
+
+"That man is a Jew, your excellency. It is not usual for one of our race
+to be the recipient of compliments at the hands of the gentiles."
+
+The Governor's brow darkened and he remained silent for a moment.
+Finally he replied:
+
+"Such praise would be more plentiful if all Jews were like you."
+
+"They are, your excellency," answered Mendel, warmly. "Oh, if you but
+knew how brave, how noble a heart beats beneath the rough exterior of
+the Jew; if you but knew how passionately he yearns for an opportunity
+to show himself in his true character, you would pity him more and judge
+him less harshly."
+
+"It is upon that very topic that I wish to converse with you," said the
+Governor, motioning Mendel to a seat, while he threw himself upon a
+comfortable lounge. Lighting a cigarette, he settled himself for a long
+conversation, apparently unmindful of the dignitaries who awaited an
+audience without. "I would give the Jew an opportunity to become not
+only a useful but a respected citizen."
+
+"Your excellency is too good," said Mendel, joyously, as bright visions
+of emancipation flashed through his brain.
+
+"I am told that you have great influence with your people," continued
+the Governor. "Am I correctly informed?"
+
+"I am too young to influence them, but I believe I have their esteem and
+respect."
+
+"They, at all events, place confidence in you," answered Pomeroff. "Now
+listen to me patiently. I have always been a friend of the Hebrews. As a
+boy, I associated with Jews of my own age and found them congenial
+companions. When I had arrived at the age of manhood I awoke one day to
+find myself in grave financial difficulties. There is no need of going
+into details. Suffice it to say that in my dilemma I went to one of the
+companions of my youth, a Jew, who had in the meantime acquired a
+fortune, and appealed to his generosity. My confidence was not misplaced
+and his timely aid saved my reputation and my honor. I am therefore
+favorably disposed toward your people and would help them if it were in
+my power to do so."
+
+"Your excellency can do much," exclaimed Mendel.
+
+"Let me finish what I have to say before you indulge in vain hopes,"
+answered the Governor. "Let us discuss the situation fearlessly and
+without prejudice and try to find the root of the difficulty. Why are
+your people despised? Firstly, because they are not Christians and the
+gentile can never forget that it was your race that was directly
+responsible for the death of our Saviour; secondly, were the gentile to
+forget it, the religious and social observances of your race are so
+thoroughly at variance with his own that he does not understand you and
+therefore looks down upon you. Under usual conditions, however, the Jew
+and the non-Jew live side by side in peace and harmony. It is only in
+time of unusual religious or political excitement that race prejudice
+comes into play and then the Hebrews suffer. Were your people to adopt
+the Christian religion and change their oriental customs for our own,
+race prejudice and persecution would cease, they would be placed
+socially upon a footing of equality with the gentiles and the entire
+human race would be benefited thereby. Do I make my meaning clear?"
+
+"I do not quite grasp it," answered Mendel.
+
+"Briefly, then, my idea is this: You have great influence over your
+co-religionists. Use that influence to their lasting advantage. Persuade
+them to accept the Christian faith. Induce them to be baptized and with
+that solemn rite will end the unnumbered persecutions, the untold misery
+which has unfortunately been the lot of Israel. His majesty Alexander is
+most graciously disposed towards reform. Now, at the beginning of his
+career, he is eager to accept any innovation which will reflect renown
+upon his rule. He has already considered plans for freeing the serfs and
+would gladly include in that emancipation the three million Jews that
+reside in the Empire. I speak with his august authority when I say that
+as soon as the Jews embrace the holy Catholic faith not only will their
+troubles end, but they will find themselves raised to an enviable
+condition and the fittest among them will fill positions of rank and
+honor."
+
+Mendel had arisen and with a pitying smile waited for the Governor to
+conclude his remarks.
+
+"Your excellency does me too much honor," he said, quietly. "The man was
+never born, nor will he ever be, who can wean the Jews from their faith.
+Your excellency would find it easier to turn the waters of the Dnieper
+into the Arctic Ocean than to change the handful of Jews in Kief into
+Christians."
+
+"But there are many who have already deserted the ranks of Israel," said
+the Governor.
+
+"There are some renegades, it is true, but they do not in reality desert
+the faith of their people. They merely seek to escape some of the
+observances with which they are not in accord. Such people do not become
+Christians--they remain Jews to the end of their days."
+
+"But, consider," said the Governor, earnestly, for he had set his heart
+upon this project. "At present you are despised and hated. You are
+forced to vegetate, rather than live, within the narrow confines of an
+uninviting and unhealthy quarter. Your natural capabilities are dwarfed.
+Your property and even your lives are at the mercy of the ignorant
+people that surround you. An acknowledgment of the faith that already
+counts many millions of adherents, a mere profession of belief in the
+great Saviour who came from heaven to save mankind, will change all this
+and you will at once enter into a life of peace and honor and social
+equality with the noblest of the land. Is it not worth considering?"
+
+"No, your excellency," answered Mendel, boldly. "As I have already told
+you, it is impossible."
+
+"Your reasons, Rabbi," said the Governor, with a shade of irritation in
+his voice. "Will not the new avenues for pleasure and happiness
+compensate for your ancient ceremonials and superstitions? The theatre,
+the lecture, the school will be opened to you. We will bid you enter and
+partake of all those delights which are in store for the best of us. Is
+that no inducement?"
+
+Mendel sighed deeply, as he answered:
+
+"Your excellency invites me to speak and I will do so frankly, even at
+the risk of incurring your displeasure. Think you that the prejudice
+which the Christian has felt against the Jew for over eighteen centuries
+can be eradicated in a moment by the apostasy of our race? The Russian
+nobility, accustomed to regard the Hebrews as accursed in the sight of
+God, as a nation of usurers and ungodly fanatics, is not in a fit
+condition of mind to forego its prejudices and welcome these same Jews
+as equals. The lower classes of Russians who have at the the mother's
+breast imbibed hatred and contempt for the despised and helpless Jew,
+who have from time immemorial considered the Jews as their just and
+legitimate prey, will scarcely condescend to offer the rejected race the
+hand of brotherly love simply because the Governor or even the Emperor
+commands it. It has been tried, your excellency, at various times;
+notably in Spain. Terrified by threats of torture on the one hand or
+seduced by promises of great reward on the other, many an Israelite
+accepted the Catholic faith. Alas! how bitterly was the error regretted.
+Instead of being admitted to that fellowship with which the gentiles had
+tempted them, greater humiliations, greater persecutions followed, until
+the horrors of the inquisition chamber and death at the stake were
+welcomed by the poor wretches as a relief from mental torment still more
+terrible."
+
+So they talked, the mighty ruler and the humble Rabbi, while those in
+the ante-room waited impatiently for an audience.
+
+Finally the Governor arose.
+
+"I will not exact a definite answer at present," he said. "Discuss the
+matter with your friends and come to see me again in the course of a
+week or two. Perhaps you will then think better of it."
+
+Mendel shook his head.
+
+"In a few days we shall have _Yom-Kipur_, our Day of Atonement," he
+said. "If you would know how tenaciously the Israelites cling to their
+faith and to their God, visit the synagogue on that day; behold them in
+fasting and prayer, renewing their covenant with the Lord and relying
+upon his divine protection and assistance. You will find it an
+impressive sight, one that will speak more eloquently than my weak
+words."
+
+"I may come," answered the Governor, half in jest and half in earnest,
+while Mendel bowed himself out through the crowd of angry people in the
+waiting-room.
+
+We shall not attempt to analyze the thoughts of the young Rabbi, as he
+retraced his steps towards his dwelling. On his arrival there, he found
+his wife and her mother greatly alarmed as to his safety. The strange
+and sudden summons and his long absence had aroused terrible fears in
+Recha's breast that he had been thrown into prison by the Governor, and
+her eyes were red with weeping. It was with a bounding heart, therefore,
+that she heard her husband's step on the threshold, and with a joyous
+cry she rushed to embrace him.
+
+"God be praised, my Mendel has returned," she exclaimed, and smiling
+through her tears she led him into the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+YOM-KIPUR.
+
+
+It is _Yom-Kipur_, the Day of Atonement.
+
+Long before nightfall the shops and booths of the Israelites are closed.
+The merchant has silenced his cravings for gain, the pedler and the
+wanderer have returned to their families, travelling leagues upon
+leagues to reach home in time for the holy day. The beggar has cast
+aside his rags and attired himself in a manner more befitting the solemn
+occasion. The God-fearing man has closed his heart to all but pious
+thoughts, and, yielding to the holy influence, even the impious cannot
+but think of God and of a future beyond the grave.
+
+The holy night is approaching. A river of light streams through the
+arched windows of the houses of prayer, flooding the streets and
+penetrating into the hearts of the inhabitants. Young and old slowly
+wend their way to the synagogues, there to bow down before the Lord who
+delivered their ancestors from Egyptian bondage and who on this day will
+sit in judgment upon their actions; will grant them mercy or pronounce
+their doom; will inscribe them in the book of life or in that of
+eternal death. The women are robed in white, the men wear shrouds over
+their black _caftans_ and carry huge prayer-books. At the door of the
+Lord's House, and before entering its sacred precincts, they ask pardon
+of each other for any sins or shortcomings, for the envy, the malice,
+the calumny of which they may have been guilty.
+
+"Forgive me whatever wrong I may have done thee!"
+
+The phrase is repeated from man to man, for none may enter the holy
+temple unless he be at peace with mankind.
+
+Let us enter the synagogue. Hundreds of candles fill the sacred hall
+with their light and the whitened walls and ceiling appear to glow with
+glory. Rows of men in ghastly attire, constant reminder of the
+inevitable end of mundane greatness, stand with covered heads and with
+their faces turned towards the orient, fervently praying. Screened by
+the lattice-work of the galleries are the women, who, with their treble
+voices, augment the solemn chant that vibrates on the air.
+
+Repentance, fear, self-reproach have blanched the cheeks and dimmed the
+eyes of the devotees. Fervent and sincere are the prayers that rise to
+the throne of God; contrite and remorseful are the blows with which the
+men beat their breasts and with which they seek to chasten their
+sin-encrusted hearts.
+
+Fearfully and tearfully they make the sorrowful avowal: "We have
+sinned!" Down into the depths of his soul does each one search to render
+to himself and to God a truthful account of the deeds and thoughts that
+lie hidden there. And above the din, the voice of the reader is heard,
+beseeching forgiveness for the repentant congregation, pleading for the
+grace of the Lord and asking to be enrolled in the book of life and
+happiness. It is a solemn, heart-stirring spectacle, moving the soul of
+the sinner with a mighty force. An observer, who for the first time
+attends the _Yom-Kipur_ services, can arrive at but one verdict
+concerning the beauty of the religion which has instituted this holy
+day.
+
+The heathen is impressed with the fact that in doing wrong he has
+offended a god whom, by means of sacrifice, he seeks to propitiate. The
+Christian proclaims that he sins by compulsion in consequence of the
+original fall of Adam, and, as he is not a free agent in the matter of
+right or wrong, he can expect grace only through the mediation of his
+Saviour. The Jew recognizes the fact that he is entirely free to sin or
+to remain pure, and that, having erred, he can only hope for forgiveness
+by acknowledging his error, by purifying himself from all that is vile
+and by a sincere resolution to do better. Mere faith has never played
+the important part in the Jewish religion that is assigned it in that of
+the gentiles. The Israelite believes that if he has done wrong and
+sincerely repents and by his subsequent actions seeks to repair the
+injury, divine forgiveness will not be withheld; but the dogma that
+belief independent of good deeds purifies the heart has never found
+favor in his eyes.
+
+The worshippers stayed until a late hour, and many of them remained in
+the synagogue all night. Early dawn found the congregation again at its
+post, as devout, as fervent as before. The candles were burning low in
+their sockets, casting a fitful glare upon the pale faces of the
+worshippers, reminding them of the flight of time, of the brevity of
+life, of the inevitable moment when repentance will come too late, when
+the account of one's good and evil deeds will be closed.
+
+The synagogue was filled to overflowing with fasting men and women. Not
+a morsel of food, not a drop of water was permitted to pass their lips
+for twenty-four hours. "As the body can abstain from food," said the
+wise rabbis, "so shall the soul abstain from sin."
+
+The terrible plague that had left its sad impress upon the community
+greatly increased the solemnity of the occasion. To the expressions of
+repentance were added the prayers of gratitude of those who had escaped
+its fatal breath and the lamentations of those whose hearts still
+smarted under recent bereavement. It was Rabbi Mendel's custom to
+combine instruction with devotion whenever an occasion presented itself,
+and to do this in such homely logic as his congregation could easily
+comprehend, taking especial pains to impress them with the spirit of the
+rites they observed. Being a great favorite with them, they listened
+attentively to his melodious voice and persuasive arguments, and found
+themselves the better for his teaching. On the Day of Atonement he had
+hardly begun to speak when his attention was attracted by a stranger who
+had entered and quietly taken a seat in the rear of the synagogue. With
+the exception of Mendel not one of the assembled worshippers recognized
+the unpretentious looking man.
+
+It was Governor Pomeroff who had come in response to his invitation.
+Mendel's face flushed with emotion when he saw the Governor enter the
+synagogue. After that he paid no further attention to his distinguished
+guest, but took up the thread of his discourse.
+
+He spoke of the effect of sin upon our earthly life and upon our
+possible existence after death, expounded the doctrine of punishment in
+the hereafter as given in the _Midrash_, and spoke of the infinite
+mercy of the Father in Heaven.
+
+"Not in idle protestations," he said, "lies the road to forgiveness, but
+in a thorough avowal of sins committed and in a sincere determination to
+avoid the iniquities of the past."
+
+Mendel's inspired words fell upon eager ears and contrite hearts. After
+the sermon the _hazan_ again intoned the prayers, assisted by the
+fervent responses of the congregation.
+
+The Governor remained a long time an interested observer of the
+impressive scene, until the lateness of the hour admonished him of other
+duties, and he left as unceremoniously as he had come.
+
+"The Rabbi is right," he murmured, as he wended his way out of the
+deserted quarter; "it will be a herculean task to alienate the Jews from
+their faith and bring them into the fold of the Russian church; but I
+shall not yet abandon my project!"
+
+The people prayed and fasted until the stars shone out in Heaven and the
+_shofar_ (ram's horn) blast announced the death of the solemn day. Then,
+with cheerful hearts and smiling faces they returned to their dwellings,
+purified in spirit, cleansed and purged of the dross that had defiled
+their souls, more thoroughly in unison with the Lord, who, though the
+sins of His people be as scarlet, will make them white as snow.
+
+Rabbi Mendel was not surprised next morning when a message came from the
+Governor, requesting his immediate presence at the palace. The summons
+did not create the consternation which had been caused by the
+unceremonious call of a few days before. On the contrary, Recha felt
+proud of the distinction accorded her husband in being thus made the
+confidant of the mighty ruler of Kief. She had implicit faith in her
+husband's ability to hold his ground even in the Governor's august
+presence.
+
+"Have you thought over our recent conversation?" asked Pomeroff, as soon
+as Mendel entered.
+
+"Yes, your excellency."
+
+"And to what conclusion have you come?"
+
+"Simply to thank your excellency for your kind interest in our behalf
+and to express the conviction that the Israelites of Kief would rather
+endure a thousand persecutions than abandon a jot of their holy faith."
+
+"Have you laid the matter before the people?" queried the Governor.
+
+"I have not, your excellency. It would have been worse than useless. You
+have doubtless observed how thoroughly sincere the Jews were in their
+devotions on _Yom-Kipur_ day: such men die for their religion, they do
+not abandon it. If your excellency can assist us in obtaining greater
+liberty of action, if you can gain for our children admittance into the
+schools of the Empire and open for us the various avenues of trade from
+which we have hitherto been shut out, we will hail you as our
+benefactor; but if we can only buy freedom and honors at the cost of our
+ancient and revered religion, we will be content to follow the example
+of our ancestors and suffer."
+
+A long discussion followed, in which Mendel proved that the Jews, in
+spite of persecution, were really happier than the unlettered and
+uncultured Russians and morally far superior to them.
+
+Finally the Governor arose.
+
+"Your hand, Rabbi," he said, heartily, "you have carried the day. I
+shall not revert to the subject of baptism again."
+
+"I hope your excellency will not renounce the desire to befriend us,"
+answered Mendel. "There is such a large field for improvement in our
+community. I wish you could see the crowded condition of our streets,
+the wretched abodes of our poor. If you knew the secret persecutions
+which the petty officers of the crown visit upon us, outrages which
+never reach the ears of the higher authorities, your excellency would be
+surprised that our moral and physical condition is no worse."
+
+"Poor Jews," said the Governor, sadly.
+
+"O, sir," continued Mendel, earnestly; "visit the Jewish quarter!
+Investigate the official abuses on every hand. Extend the limits of our
+homes. Remove the antiquated restrictions that enslave our daily
+actions. Give the Jew an opportunity to develop his great capabilities
+and he will become a desirable citizen and a stanch patriot."
+
+The kind-hearted Governor was visibly affected by Mendel's words.
+
+"I will reflect upon what you have said," he replied. "You are a brave
+champion and your people should feel proud of you."
+
+Governor Pomeroff, who recognized the young Rabbi's cleverness and
+learning, was loath to let him depart. Long after they had exhausted the
+topic that first engaged them, he detained him, conversing upon every
+conceivable subject, and listening with pleasure to the original
+thoughts and eloquent words of the young man. At length Mendel arose and
+prepared to leave.
+
+"Your excellency must pardon me," he said, "but my poor wife will be in
+despair at my late return and I must hasten to reassure her."
+
+"Go," answered the Governor; "but come again to-morrow or the day after.
+I have much to talk over with you."
+
+As Mendel bowed himself out, Pomeroff muttered to himself:
+
+"Strange man! He thinks more of allaying the anxiety of his wife than of
+currying favor with his ruler. He is right; such a people as he
+represents cannot be forced into baptism. They place their moral law and
+their ancient faith above temporal advantage."
+
+As Mendel had anticipated, Recha was a prey to the liveliest fears at
+the protracted absence of her husband. It seemed incredible to her that
+the busy Governor should have kept him so long. With Mendel, however,
+smiles and contentment returned.
+
+That evening the Rabbi called Hirsch Bensef and the elders of the
+congregation into his house and told them all about the Governor and his
+schemes. Great was the surprise of these worthy men and unanimous their
+approval of Mendel's course in the matter.
+
+"I believe," said the Rabbi, in conclusion, "that we have gained a
+friend in the Governor, and I see rising above the horizon a new era of
+security and prosperity for Israel."
+
+"God grant it," cried the listeners, fervently.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+NEEDED REFORMS.
+
+
+If Governor Pomeroff abandoned his original plan of Christianizing the
+Jews, he did not relinquish his friendship for Mendel. The Rabbi was
+frequently summoned to appear before him, professedly for the purpose
+of giving an account of this or that good work which he had undertaken,
+but in reality to entertain the Governor by his brilliant conversation.
+So frequent had these visits become that the guards about the palace
+were no longer surprised at the strange companionship and the term
+"Jew," with which they were wont to designate Mendel, gave place to the
+more respectful appellation of "The Rabbi."
+
+As Mendel became better acquainted with his powerful friend, his
+appreciation of his noble qualities steadily increased and they became
+warmly attached to each other.
+
+"Would that all the Jews were like you," Pomeroff occasionally remarked,
+to which Mendel would reply: "How fortunate would be our lot if all
+Christians possessed your nobility of character."
+
+Then came the glorious year 1861, the year in which Russia freed
+millions of serfs and removed the shackles of slavery from a debased
+people.
+
+While much praise should be accorded to the liberality and humanity of
+Alexander, the main cause of the emancipation act was the
+unprofitableness of serf labor. Public opinion, too, had demanded the
+change. What "Uncle Tom's Cabin" accomplished in this country Gogol's
+"Dead Souls" and Tourgenieff's "Recollections of a Sportsman" did for
+the Russian slaves. The disasters of the Crimean War were attributed to
+the corrupt condition of all classes, caused, it was claimed, by this
+pernicious institution of serfdom. By the edict of 1861, in the same
+year in which our own struggle for the emancipation of our Southern
+slaves began, the peasants were made free and were granted the right to
+purchase the lands occupied by them at the time. "Enfranchisement was
+effected in Russia in a manner far more skilful than in our own country,
+where it was accomplished through the terrible agency of a civil war.
+Yet the Russian people have been, perhaps, less satisfied with its
+results. Since then the serfs have been compelled to work harder than
+ever to pay for the land they had always cultivated and regarded as
+their own. The complete ignorance of the _moujiks_ has laid them open to
+greater vices than serfdom possessed and drunkenness has greatly
+increased since the emancipation."[13]
+
+At the time of which we speak, however, there was nought but rejoicing
+in Russia. Freedom had unfurled her banner, and the sanguine prophets
+foresaw in the near future a complete cessation of despotism and a
+constitutional government such as the people had demanded since the
+beginning of Nicholas' reign in 1825. Amidst the general joy, the
+Governor of Kief found an opportunity for materially improving the
+condition of the Jews of his province.
+
+Mendel would have been less than human had he not endeavored to turn
+this condition of affairs and Pomeroff's friendship to practical
+account. For himself he desired nothing. When the Governor, in order to
+have him constantly at his side, tendered him an honorable office in the
+palace, Mendel gently but firmly declined the proffered honor. All his
+energies were directed towards ameliorating the lot of his
+co-religionists.
+
+He one day induced the Governor to stroll with him through the Jewish
+quarter, and with tact and eloquence called his attention to the crowded
+condition of the houses and streets, explaining how difficult it was to
+preserve health where the hygienic laws were of necessity utterly
+disregarded. He showed how the streets, at first ample for all
+requirements, had in the course of years become overcrowded; how hut had
+been built against hut and story erected upon story, until the lack of
+room deprived many a dwelling of light and air. He led the surprised
+Governor through the squalid lanes near the river and demonstrated how
+difficult it would be to master an epidemic when once it had taken root
+there, and how the welfare of the entire town of Kief depended upon the
+sanitary condition of each of its parts.
+
+With the financial acumen of his race, he appealed to the economic
+aspect of the case, demonstrated how many houses, large and small, were
+standing idle in the city proper, bringing neither rent to their owners
+nor taxes to the province, and depicted the benefits that would be
+gained by granting the Jews the privilege of occupying such dwellings.
+
+The Governor, who had never before visited the haunts of poverty, felt a
+positive repugnance to the system, or rather lack of system, that could
+countenance such a condition of affairs. He hurried away from the
+uninviting neighborhood, and, having again reached a spot where the air
+was fit to breathe, he promised to exert his influence with the Czar to
+have the boundaries of the Jewish quarter extended.
+
+Nobly did he keep his word. He journeyed to St. Petersburg and sought an
+audience with Alexander. What happened at the interview the Jews of Kief
+never discovered, but the result was extremely gratifying. At the end of
+a fortnight there came a ukase extending indefinitely the limits of the
+Jewish quarters of all large cities, granting permission to all Jewish
+merchants who had been established in some branch of trade for
+twenty-five years or over, and to all rabbis and teachers, to reside in
+the city proper, in such streets as they might select, and permitting
+merchants of ten years' standing to dwell on certain streets carefully
+specified in the proclamation. It also made it lawful for Jews and
+Christians to live in the same building, a privilege hitherto withheld.
+
+Many were the Jews who availed themselves of their new privileges.
+Bensef was among the first. His house, since the arrival of Mendel's
+parents, had been too small for comfort and the wealthy man desired a
+dwelling befitting his means. Haim Goldheim, the banker, found that
+there was not enough room in his house for the works of art it
+contained. He took a house in the fashionable Vladimir quarter, where,
+to the intense disgust of the aristocrats, he established himself in
+princely magnificence. A hundred families, at least, followed the
+example thus set, leaving the crowded streets, in order to breathe the
+purer air of the more select quarters of Kief. To their credit be it
+said, however, few went far from their old homes; the synagogue still
+formed the rallying centre of their community. About it revolved their
+daily thoughts and actions and the greatest recommendation a new home
+could have was that it was near the _schul_.
+
+Upon Mendel, who had brought about this change, the greatest honors were
+showered. His congregation almost worshipped him. There were envious
+detractors, however, who contended that it did not behoove a Jew to
+become so intimate with a _goy_, and a Governor at that. They claimed
+that the Rabbi labored only to promote his own private ends; but, as
+these malcontents were among the first to seize the opportunity of
+bettering their condition, Mendel could afford to shrug his shoulders
+and smile at their insinuations.
+
+The principal class to benefit by the new order of things were the poor,
+who now found abundant room and greedily availed themselves of it. To
+them Mendel was a saviour in the practical sense of the word, and many a
+grateful woman whose hovel had been exchanged for a more commodious
+dwelling would kiss the Rabbi's hand as he passed through the quarter on
+his errands of mercy.
+
+But the young Rabbi's zeal did not end here. He convinced the Governor
+that the taxes exacted from the Jews were not only excessive, but
+disproportionate, and, as a result, they were lowered to a level with
+those paid by the gentiles.
+
+Hitherto the Jews had been forbidden to cultivate land on their own
+account. Mendel, in presenting this subject to the Governor, laid stress
+upon the fact that vast tracts were lying fallow for want of
+agriculturists, and that the crown was thereby losing much revenue which
+could easily be raised by a judicious distribution of these fields among
+the thrifty and industrious Hebrews. Pomeroff saw the justice of the
+argument and a proclamation resulted, removing the restrictions placed
+upon the cultivation of land by the Jews.
+
+The Jews of Kief and the surrounding provinces felt that a day of
+prosperity and happiness had dawned for them. In a measure they enjoyed
+the same liberty and privileges as did the lower classes of Russians.
+They were free to come and go, to live where they pleased and to engage
+in a score of occupations which had hitherto been forbidden, and Mendel
+was justly honored as the author of these changes. His fame spread at
+home and was heralded abroad. During his frequent visits to the Governor
+he came in contact with many of the great and brilliant men of the
+Empire. Dignitaries who at first met the Jew with a feeling of
+repugnance gradually yielded to the charm of his personal influence and
+vied with each other in honoring him, and through him Judaism was
+honored and respected. His character, his benevolence, his patriotism
+and his great mental gifts did more to convince those gentiles of what
+the Jew could be than the keenest arguments could have done.
+
+A great general one day asked him:
+
+"Why are you so different from the Jews one usually meets?"
+
+"Your excellency is in error," Mendel replied. "I am not unlike my
+fellow-men. In disposition and feeling I am the same, but I have had an
+opportunity for mental improvement of which most of my brethren have
+been deprived. Give them the privilege of attending your universities,
+open to them the avenues of knowledge and you will create for Russia an
+intellectual element which will eventually place her in the front ranks
+of the nations."
+
+The general shrugged his shoulders and smiled. The idea seemed
+preposterous.
+
+"You have certainly an exalted opinion of your co-religionists," he
+said.
+
+"I have, your excellency, and it is borne out by history. Your
+excellency has doubtless read of the intellectual supremacy of Spain
+when the Jews were in the ascendant."
+
+His excellency had not read of it. In fighting but not in reading lay
+his strength and, not wishing to display his ignorance, he wisely
+changed the subject.
+
+As might have been expected, violent objections were raised by the
+gentiles to the enlarged privileges granted the Jews. The priests were
+particularly virulent in their denunciation of the new liberties
+conferred, in which they saw but the beginning of the gradual
+emancipation of the Hebrews. Attacks were made against them from press
+and from pulpit, and all of these Mendel answered calmly and
+convincingly. His logic finally silenced the ravings of the unlettered
+and fanatical Jew-haters and the privileges once accorded were not
+repealed.
+
+Had Mendel's zeal ended here he would have avoided much subsequent
+difficulty, but he was well aware that the Jews had not attained to the
+ideal he had formed, that much ignorance, fanaticism and superstition
+still prevailed. He desired to imitate the example of his great
+prototype, Moses Mendelssohn, and spread the light of learning
+throughout the Jewish world. He did not lose sight of the vastness of
+the undertaking, of the dangers he was incurring, or of the animosity he
+was inviting, for the Jews of Russia still regarded all learning not
+found in the folios of the Talmud as sacrilegious and unholy. To
+overcome this antagonism to secular knowledge now became Mendel's
+self-imposed task.
+
+Consulting no one but his friend the Governor, and armed with a letter
+of introduction from this powerful ally, Mendel set out for St.
+Petersburg, to visit the Czar in person. It was an unheard-of experiment
+on the part of a Jew, but Mendel felt the inspiration of right and
+undertook his new mission fearlessly. What nothing else could accomplish
+was done by the Governor's letter of recommendation. After a little
+delay he was admitted into the august presence of the Czar Alexander
+and presented his petition.
+
+Alexander was not a little surprised at the temerity of a Jew in thus
+appearing before him, but the very strangeness of the proceeding
+enlisted the ruler's interest in the demands of the Rabbi. After a long
+conference, during which Mendel eloquently pleaded his cause, he was
+dismissed with the assurance that the educational disabilities of the
+Hebrews would be in a measure removed, and shortly after his return to
+Kief a proclamation was issued admitting Jewish youth into the Russian
+schools upon terms of equality with the gentiles.
+
+Then arose a storm of indignation among the pious Israelites. Those who
+had antagonized Mendel from the first, now were furious at his attempt
+to force intelligence upon them. They prophesied that these were but the
+stepping-stones to more radical changes and stubbornly refused to yield
+an inch, lest the proverbial ell might be seized.
+
+"Never," they cried, "shall our children be taught the wisdom of the
+_goyim_. The Law and the Talmud are sufficient for our needs.
+Instruction in the public schools will force rabbinical studies into the
+background and will gradually estrange our children from the religion of
+their fathers. We want no new-fangled education. We are Jews and we will
+remain Jews."
+
+So hostile was the greater part of the community to the idea of
+extending educational facilities, that the friends of Mendel, and there
+were many of them, advised him to make an effort to have the obnoxious
+privileges repealed.
+
+This Mendel positively refused to do.
+
+"It is but a privilege," he answered, "and not at all obligatory. You
+can do as you like about sending your children to the public schools.
+As for myself, however, I shall never cease to uphold the necessity of
+education in order to obtain the rights that belong to our race."
+
+The battle thus commenced raged fiercely. Hirsch Bensef was one of the
+ablest supporters of the young Rabbi. Haim Goldheim was another; his
+wealth had procured him the friendship of several aristocratic but
+impoverished families in the neighborhood of his new home, and he never
+forgot that the blessings he now enjoyed were due to Mendel's past
+labors.
+
+The young men were all on Mendel's side. They chafed under the restraint
+that had been put upon them and yearned for instruction in keeping with
+the enlarged sphere of activity now opened to them.
+
+Thus a schism arose in Kief. The progressive Israelites siding with
+Mendel founded a congregation of their own, leaving the more
+conservative to work out their salvation in their old accustomed way. It
+must not be supposed that Mendel observed this break in the ranks of
+Judaism without a pang. He spent many a sleepless night in planning how
+to avert further differences and to appease existing animosities. Balzac
+truly says: "Every great man has paid heavily for his greatness. Genius
+waters all its work with its own tears. He who would raise himself above
+the average level of humanity, must prepare himself for long struggles,
+for trying difficulties. A great thinker is a self-devoted martyr to
+immortality."
+
+In spite of the anathemas of the narrow-minded, in spite of the cry that
+the Messiah could never come as long as such sacrilege was tolerated in
+the household of Israel, the good work went steadily forward, to the
+manifest advantage of the entire body of Jews.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 13: Foulke.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+A DEN OF NIHILISTS.
+
+
+Let us open the records of Kief for the year 1879.
+
+Fifteen years have elapsed since the events last narrated; fifteen years
+of peace and plenty, of security and prosperity for Jew and gentile.
+
+What sudden change do we behold! Is this the country whose future looked
+so hopeful in the early days of Alexander's reign? Is this the people
+who saw the golden promise of a constitutional government? Alas, for the
+instability of human purpose! The reforms then instituted have been
+revoked, the men who were the leaders in these reforms have been exiled
+to Siberia. A period of reaction has set in: Despotism and Nihilism meet
+face to face. The entire nation is in chains.
+
+Russia during these troublous times presents a dreary picture. At a
+period when the intellectual activity of Europe is at its height, she
+still groans under the unrestricted despotism of an autocrat. Here the
+effects of progress that obtain elsewhere seem inverted. Such advance as
+is made in civilization and knowledge is used to buttress imperial
+tyranny and the knout is wielded more cruelly than ever before. We
+behold liberal institutions overthrown and a whole people held in
+bondage worse than slavery. We hear of families torn asunder, of
+innocent men condemned to life-long exile in Siberia, simply because
+they have aroused the suspicion or incurred the ill-will of those in
+authority. Force in its most brutal form holds sway throughout the
+Empire.
+
+What wonder then that the discontented masses writhe in their despair
+and seek redress! What wonder that Nihilism should flourish and the
+service of dynamite be enlisted to accomplish what moral suasion failed
+to achieve! The years beginning with 1879 were disastrous for Russia.
+They marked the decadence of those reforms which ten years before had
+given promise of such glorious results.
+
+In one of the most populous portions of Kief, in the shadow of the
+Petcherskoi convent, stood a large, modern house. As is the case with
+the generality of Russian dwellings, it was tenanted by a number of
+families who came and went, beat their children, ill-treated their
+servants and transacted their daily affairs, rarely becoming acquainted
+with each other.
+
+It was a many-storied building, of plain exterior. The lower floor was
+occupied by the worthy family of Pavel Kodasky, a clerk in the employ of
+the government. His wife filled the responsible position of _concierge_
+to the immense house. The third and fourth floors were the abode of
+families equally worthy but unimportant to our story, while the upper
+floors were inhabited by a vast number of students and officers who, in
+consideration of cheap rent and convenient proximity to the university
+and the barracks, had here furnished themselves with comfortable
+bachelors' quarters.
+
+The second floor still remains to be spoken of. It was occupied by a
+young officer of prepossessing appearance, who was widely known in the
+aristocratic circles of Kief. The dark-eyed Russian beauties adored him
+for his handsome bearing, his flashing eyes, his gallant and fearless
+demeanor; the gay young officers and dandies that hovered about the
+Governor's court admired him for his reckless habits, his daring
+escapades and his lavish expenditure of a fortune which seemed
+inexhaustible.
+
+Loris Drentell, the young lieutenant of the Seventh Cossack Regiment,
+might well be thankful to Fortuna for the gifts she had lavished upon
+him. The reader will remember having met the young man before, when he
+was but a baby in his nurse's arms at the Drentell villa at Lubny. The
+promise he then gave of becoming a spoiled child was fully realized.
+Indulged by his father and neglected by his mother, his every wish
+gratified as soon as expressed, enjoying unlimited freedom in the use of
+a vast fortune, Loris developed a disposition in which indolence,
+recklessness and unprincipled ambition contended for the mastery. The
+young man was unscrupulous and vindictive and he obeyed no law save that
+of his own unbridled will. He was a type of a class of Russian
+aristocrats whose social position and wealth enable them to tyrannize
+over their associates and dependants.
+
+Reckless and fearless as Loris was known to be, none suspected that this
+gay and pampered youth, this officer of the Imperial troops, was the
+acknowledged head of a Nihilist club. None but a chosen few knew that
+this apparently peaceful dwelling, with its many stories and
+multitudinous inhabitants, was the meeting-place of a powerful band of
+would-be patriots, whose mission it was to inaugurate a constitutional
+government by the aid of dynamite. Here was the unsuspected centre from
+which thousands of Nihilist documents were scattered to the ends of
+Russia. Here were concealed papers which if discovered would have
+consigned many of the greatest in Russia to Siberia or the scaffold, and
+here it was that the frightful engine of destruction--Nihilism--had its
+cradle. So great was the caution observed by the members of the secret
+organization that the wary and vigilant police did not dream of its
+existence.
+
+Loris was walking impatiently up and down his parlor, now looking at the
+clock, now gazing expectantly through his window up and down the street.
+
+"He is late," exclaimed the young man, anxiously. "I wonder what detains
+him."
+
+He began nervously to roll a cigarette, without however leaving his
+watch at the window. Finally he smiled with satisfaction.
+
+"At last," he cried, as he perceived his belated friend turn a corner
+and hurry towards the house. "We shall soon have news from the
+Governor."
+
+There was a hasty knock at the door and a tall young fellow entered,
+carefully locking the door behind him.
+
+"Well, Paulowitch, I began to feel uneasy," said Loris. "What kept you
+so late?"
+
+"I have just arrived from Pomeroff's," whispered Paulowitch. "He had a
+very large audience and it was some time before I could gain his ear."
+
+"What was the result?" asked Loris, eagerly.
+
+"He will come to-night. I told him that there would be a meeting of
+officers in honor of your birthday and that we would like to have him
+with us."
+
+"Does he suspect anything?"
+
+"How should he?"
+
+"He will find out soon enough."
+
+"You are mistaken, Loris, if you think he will join us. I know Pomeroff
+too well. Although he has had much to suffer from the arbitrary rulings
+of the Czar, the recollection of former favors will not permit him to
+desert his Emperor."
+
+"Mere sentimentality," answered Loris. "Do you forget how the Czar, in a
+proclamation, publicly reprimanded him for allowing the Jews too many
+liberties, and of harboring treasonable sympathy with them? I know that
+Pomeroff has been smarting under the insult ever since. He will be glad
+to have an opportunity of avenging himself."
+
+Paulowitch shook his head, in doubt.
+
+"And if, after having learned our secrets, he should refuse to join us?"
+he asked.
+
+"If he does not affiliate with us, we must render him harmless. We dare
+not give him an opportunity to betray us."
+
+"But what is to prevent him from informing the police of our plans and
+having us all sent to Siberia?"
+
+"We have foreseen such a possibility. Moleska, his secretary, who has
+access to his desks and closets, and who is one of us, has full
+instructions how to act in such an emergency."
+
+"Poor Pomeroff," murmured Paulowitch. "I am sorry for him."
+
+"Nonsense!" exclaimed Loris; "we need him to insure our success. While
+his police are prying about to discover something new, we are in
+constant danger of detection and can accomplish little. If, however, he
+declines to join us, we dare run no risk. He must be removed."
+
+"In that event, who do you suppose will take his place?"
+
+"I cannot say. But the arrest and execution or exile of the Governor
+will cause such a disturbance in the affairs of the province that
+several months must elapse before order is again restored. In the
+meantime our association will flourish unimpeded. We will be able to
+scatter our pamphlets and manifestoes broadcast, and to prepare
+everything necessary for the final stroke, which shall rid us of the
+imperial tyrant and pave the way for liberty."
+
+There was a peculiar knock at the door and a man, in the garb of a
+student and possessing a countenance that displayed rare intellect, was
+admitted. The new-comer was about twenty-three years of age. In fact,
+Martinski was one of the leaders of the order and most of its master
+moves were conceived by him.
+
+"Well," asked Loris, addressing him, "have the papers been forwarded?"
+
+"Yes; both Myra Sergeitch and Paulovna Tschorgini left for St.
+Petersburg at noon. The documents were concealed in secret compartments
+of their trunks. There is no danger of detection."
+
+"But if they should be found in spite of all precautions?" asked
+Paulowitch.
+
+"Bah! Who will suspect two inoffensive-looking women? Besides, the
+messages were written in cipher which no one can read. Should the worst
+happen, however, both ladies are devoted to the cause and would rather
+die than betray us."
+
+"Noble hearts," said Paulowitch, reflectively. "A cause like ours makes
+heroes."
+
+"Come," said Loris; "it is growing late. Let us take a stroll while our
+landlady prepares the feast for to-night."
+
+It was a large and heterogeneous assembly that partook of the cheer of
+Loris' table that evening. There were a few army officers, some
+students, two or three political writers and half-a-dozen young
+noblemen, who, as a rule, possessed more money than brains. Supper was
+already begun, and the expected guest, Governor Pomeroff, had not yet
+made his appearance. The suspense was great, for it was felt that much
+depended upon securing Pomeroff as an ally. Few doubted that he would
+join them, for he, if any one, had just cause to detest the Czar, and
+the arrangements made to prevent disclosures would not be needed.
+
+After a long wait, during which the conspirators conversed in an
+undertone, the door was opened and the Governor entered in company with
+Paulowitch. He appeared surprised to find himself in so large a company,
+when he had expected to meet but a few intimate friends, but he greeted
+all cordially and sat down in the place of honor accorded him.
+
+The conversation was comparatively uninteresting during the progress of
+the repast. There was none of that conviviality which one is accustomed
+to find at a friendly banquet; each member of the circle appeared
+constrained and nervous in the presence of his comrades and an undefined
+suspicion that he had been decoyed into a trap of some kind flashed
+through Pomeroff's brain. Drinking, rather than eating, formed the chief
+part of the entertainment and the spirits of the party rose as the
+bottles were emptied.
+
+Suddenly Loris sprang to his feet and lifting his glass proposed the
+toast:
+
+"To his excellency, the Governor of Kief, the champion of liberty, the
+enemy of the autocrat at St. Petersburg!"
+
+"Long may he live!" shouted his associates.
+
+Pomeroff sat in his chair as if thunderstruck. The suspicion which up to
+this moment had but faintly suggested itself had become a terrible
+certainty. As soon as he could master his excitement he arose.
+
+"Gentlemen," he began, endeavoring to smile, "what jest is this? You
+are certainly in error. Allow me to correct it. I drink to the health
+and long life of his majesty the Czar!"
+
+A storm of hisses greeted this toast and Pomeroff, after trying in vain
+to make himself heard above the din, sat down. His face was pale and his
+frame shook with suppressed anger.
+
+Quiet was finally restored and Martinski rose and addressed the meeting,
+speaking more directly to the Governor. He rehearsed the outrages
+committed upon submissive Russians by the Czar Nicholas, whose despotic
+government had finally driven the country into the disastrous Crimean
+War. He spoke in terms of praise of the noble aims and ambitions of
+Alexander during the early years of his reign, only to denounce in
+unmeasured terms the reaction which had destroyed the little good that
+had been accomplished. He depicted the cruelty and the tyranny practised
+by the Czar upon those who had incurred his displeasure, the utter lack
+of educational facilities and the consequent ignorance of the masses,
+the rigorous censorship of the press and the arbitrary rule of the men
+in power. He pictured in vivid colors the cruelties of Siberian exile
+and the sufferings of the prisoners in those distant mines, from which
+there was no escape but through the valley of death.
+
+"But," continued he, warming up to a genuine outburst of eloquence,
+"there is still a lower depth; a dungeon, a human slaughter-house
+rather, has recently been contrived, the horrors of which surpass
+anything hitherto conceived by man. It is the Troubetzkoi Ravelin, where
+convicts condemned upon the most trivial charges are confined for life;
+a hell for those for whom the mines of Siberia are not considered
+severe enough. Compared to this prison, the Bastile of France was a
+palace of luxury. Woe to him who is obliged to enter this frightful
+place: hardships, hunger, disease and insanity await him.
+
+"The convicts of Siberia cry to us for help. The scurvy-stricken
+prisoners of the Troubetzkoi Ravelin appeal to us to avenge their wrongs
+upon the author of their misfortunes. The French destroyed their
+Bastile. Why should we not also demolish our dungeons before we
+ourselves are called upon to fill them. O, Russia, how pitiable is your
+condition! 'Despotism has blasted the high hopes to which the splendid
+awakening of the first half of the century gave birth. The living forces
+of later generations have been buried by the Government in the Siberian
+snows or Esquimaux villages. It is worse than the plague, for that comes
+and goes, but the Government has oppressed the country for years and
+will continue to do so. The plague strikes blindly but the present
+regime chooses its victims from the flower of the nation, taking all
+upon whom depend the fortune and glory of Russia. It is not a political
+party that they crush, it is a nation of a hundred millions that they
+stifle. That is what the Czar has done.'[14] Down with such despotism!
+Down with its instigator, the Czar!"
+
+At these concluding words, the whole party arose and, holding out their
+right hands in token of allegiance to their cause, they repeated the
+cry:
+
+"Down with the Czar!"
+
+For a few moments absolute silence reigned. Then Governor Pomeroff
+struggled to his feet.
+
+"I fear I am out of place here," he began. "You will do me the favor to
+remember that I came here ignorant of your purposes. Whatever cause you
+may have for complaint, you have taken the wrong means for correcting
+your grievances. Rest assured, gentlemen, that I sympathize with your
+troubles, even though I cannot agree with your method of changing the
+condition of things. I promise, moreover, to forget what I have heard
+and beg of you to excuse me from further attendance." And bowing
+politely, the Governor moved towards the door.
+
+"Stop!" cried Loris, excitedly, barring the passage and leading the
+Governor back to his seat. "Do you for a moment imagine that after
+having heard our deliberations and learned our secrets you will be
+allowed to leave here and denounce us? It is too late for you to
+retreat. You have cast your fortunes with us and must share our dangers
+and our glory."
+
+"You mistake," answered the Governor, proudly. "I came to a feast, not
+to a conspiracy. Your motive for bringing me here is not known to me,
+but if it is to make me a traitor to my country and my Czar you do not
+know me. A Pomeroff has never yet stooped to treason. Again I say, let
+me go!"
+
+"Governor, hear me," now said Martinski, in a tone of persuasion. "We
+need your assistance. Without your sympathy we are in constant fear of
+detection from your officers; with you on our side we can continue our
+noble work without fear of molestation. The work will go on, the
+glorious end will be achieved in spite of all difficulties, and our
+labors will only end when the Czar lies buried with his ancestors. Ours
+is not a society for wilful destruction of life or property. Our aims
+are just. We demand a general amnesty for political offenders and a
+convocation of the people for the framing of a liberal constitution, and
+meanwhile we demand as provisional concessions freedom of the press,
+freedom of speech and freedom of public meetings. These are the only
+means by which Russia can enter upon the path of peaceful and regular
+development. We will be content with nothing less. We will turn to
+dynamite, only when all else fails. Governor Pomeroff, will you join us
+in the attainment of these rights, which every civilized nation already
+possesses?"
+
+"No!" thundered the Governor, his eyes flashing.
+
+"Then I beg to call your excellency's attention to the fact that a trip
+to Siberia or to the gallows as a condemned Nihilist awaits you."
+
+The Governor turned pale, but remained silent.
+
+"Think not that we have rushed blindly into this danger," continued
+Martinski. "It was necessary to have you on our side or out of the way.
+Therefore, we brought you here this evening. We have carefully weighed
+our chances. Having made you our confidant we dare not jeopardize our
+lives by allowing you your liberty. By to-morrow you would have us all
+in chains. We therefore offer you the alternative of joining our
+fraternity or of being denounced to-morrow as an enemy of the Czar."
+
+"I refuse to identify myself with a band of assassins," answered
+Pomeroff, boldly. "Throughout my life I have ever striven to be on the
+side of right and justice, have ever protected the oppressed and
+assisted those who came to me for help. I have been loyal to my Czar and
+to my country. I will not now be frightened into doing that which my
+nature loathes and against which every fibre of my body revolts. I defy
+your power and laugh at your threats. You leave me no alternative but
+to inform his majesty of this diabolical plot upon his life."
+
+"And you leave us no alternative but to render you harmless," replied
+Martinski. At these words, all arose and silently surrounded the
+Governor.
+
+Pomeroff had by this time forced his way to the door which he tried to
+open. It was locked. Pale with anger, he turned upon the Nihilists.
+
+"Cowards!" he hissed, "you would force me to join your fraternity. Then
+I give you my brotherly greeting," and, drawing his pistol, he fired
+into the group.
+
+Loris was wounded in the side, but the ball striking a rib glanced off.
+A dozen men threw themselves upon the Governor, who defended himself
+with the strength of despair; but superior numbers quickly gained the
+mastery, and after a short struggle Pomeroff lay helpless upon the
+floor.
+
+Then one of the students took a vial of chloroform from his pocket.
+Seizing a napkin he saturated it with the liquid and applied it to the
+nostrils of the prostrated man. In a few minutes the victim was
+insensible.
+
+"Flee for your lives!" ordered Martinski, "we have not a moment to lose.
+It is fortunate that the shot has not already brought the police down
+upon us. We must carry the Governor at once to his palace. Drentell, you
+will pass the night with me."
+
+Under cover of a dark and cloudy night Pomeroff was carried to his home,
+and with the assistance of his secretary, Moleska, was carefully placed
+upon the couch in his private cabinet.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 14: Stepniak.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A MODERN BRUTUS.
+
+
+When Pomeroff awoke next morning, he rubbed his eyes sleepily and looked
+about him.
+
+"By St. Nicholas, I have had a horrible dream," he muttered. "I must
+have slept on this couch all night."
+
+On attempting to rise, however, he felt a soreness in every limb and the
+events of the preceding night flashed through his mind. Instantly his
+face became grave.
+
+"Can it be that I have not been dreaming after all; that I was really in
+the lair of the Nihilists? Bah, it must be a mistake!"
+
+He arose with difficulty and opened the window. It was a glorious day.
+The birds were chirping merrily in the trees that shaded the courtyard,
+but though the sun was high there were no signs of the usual activity
+below.
+
+"It must be early," mused the Governor; "no one is stirring. What!" he
+cried, looking at his watch, "ten o'clock! There is something wrong."
+
+He crossed the room and tried to open the door leading to the
+ante-chamber. It was locked. He tried a smaller door leading to the rear
+of the palace. It, too, was locked and resisted his efforts to open it.
+
+With a cry of anger and surprise, Pomeroff exclaimed:
+
+"This is carrying the farce to extremes. So I am a prisoner in my own
+house! Can it be that they will carry out their diabolical threats and
+have me tried as a suspect? Nonsense! I will subvert their plans and
+turn the tables on them."
+
+He rang the bell violently, but there was no response. As a last resort
+he hurled his whole weight against the oaken door, but it remained
+immovable.
+
+It appeared probable to him that his enemies would carry out their
+threat of accusing him, and he carefully mapped out his line of defence.
+He would prove that he had innocently walked into a trap, set for him by
+a band of conspirators, who had planned to assassinate the Czar, and
+that he had used every argument to dissuade them from their murderous
+project. He would prove that he had firmly refused to join their ranks,
+and that he had been obliged to use his pistol in his effort to escape
+from their midst.
+
+Prove it? How? A little reflection showed him that he had no proofs
+whatever and that he was absolutely powerless to defend himself against
+any charges that they might bring. Wearied with his vain exertions and
+furious at his helplessness, he threw himself upon the sofa. As he
+became calmer he began to reflect upon his situation.
+
+Slowly the hours passed without affording relief. About noon Pomeroff
+heard the key turn in the lock and an instant later the apartment was
+filled with officers of the _gendarmerie_.
+
+The Chief of Police, Polatschek, was the first to break the silence.
+
+"I regret, your excellency," he said, sadly, "that I am obliged to take
+this step against one who has been my friend and benefactor, but the
+Czar's orders are imperative. You will consider yourself my prisoner."
+
+"Of what am I accused?" asked the Governor.
+
+"You are accused of associating with Nihilists and of being at the
+present time involved in a plot to take the Czar's life."
+
+"It is false," cried Pomeroff.
+
+"We will hear your defence in due time," answered Polatschek. "In the
+meantime it becomes my unpleasant duty to search your desk and closets
+for Nihilistic papers, which the deposition accuses you of having in
+your possession."
+
+Pomeroff smiled bitterly.
+
+"Search, gentlemen. The absence of such documents will, I hope, convince
+you that I am innocent of this outrageous charge."
+
+"Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to see you vindicated," said
+the Chief, politely, as he gave orders to ransack the drawers and
+receptacles of the Governor's writing-desk.
+
+Alas, poor Pomeroff! Almost the first roll of papers examined proved of
+a most damaging nature, being the rules of an association of Nihilists
+in St. Petersburg. A further search revealed plans of a dynamite mine to
+be laid beneath the imperial palace at the capital.
+
+In vain were all the Governor's denials. Never was proof of guilt more
+complete and convincing, and Polatschek, who was almost as much unnerved
+by the discovery as the prisoner, reluctantly gave orders to seize and
+secure the unfortunate man, and Pomeroff was hurried away to the house
+of detention, to await his trial.
+
+Since the beginning of the so-called terrorist period, and the first
+attack upon the life of the Czar, a short time before the occurrence of
+the above events, the trial of political offenders had been taken from
+the civil tribunals and transferred to the military. Even counsel for
+the prisoner must be an army officer. The court to try Governor Pomeroff
+was hastily convened next morning. Instructions concerning the judgment
+to be rendered were telegraphed from St. Petersburg and the military
+judges had but to obey their imperial mandate. Under such conditions
+the trial was a mere form. The evidence against the prisoner was
+positive. Within an hour Pomeroff, who had no opportunity of saying a
+word in his defence, was sentenced to death.
+
+"The secret 'council of ten' that once terrorized Venice, and which,
+without process of law, condemned men to punishment upon secret charges,
+preferred by unknown accusers, often where no crime had been committed,
+has long been regarded as the most odious form of injustice. Yet the
+Russian system of to-day is quite as repugnant to every idea of justice.
+Men who have never been tried, nor perhaps even accused, but who are
+simply suspected by the police, are often without the slightest
+investigation hurried into exile or death."[15]
+
+On the following morning, Governor Pomeroff, the just and merciful, the
+friend and protector of the Jews, was secretly executed in the fortress
+of Kief.
+
+Excitement was at fever heat. The Governor was beloved by all. Never had
+the province been so well governed as during his administration.
+
+Among the Jews whom Pomeroff had especially befriended the grief was
+deep and sincere. Rabbi Mendel Winenki, in an address to his
+congregation, fearlessly denounced a system by which an innocent man
+could be put to death. In the synagogues the _kaddish_ (prayer for the
+dead) was recited as for a beloved parent. In consequence of these
+demonstrations the authorities warned the Jews that any further
+expressions of disapproval of the Government's course would be severely
+punished.
+
+Well might the Jews mourn their friend and protector. With his death
+their bright hopes and dreams, their prospects of emancipation, were
+rudely dispelled.
+
+Within a week of Pomeroff's execution Count Dimitri Drentell, our old
+acquaintance whom we left at Lubny and whom the Crimean War had made a
+General, arrived in Kief as its future Governor.
+
+While the majority of the inhabitants of the province were indifferent
+as to which creature of the imperial autocrat oppressed them, there were
+two classes who viewed the change with great misgivings: the Jews and
+the band of agitators to which Loris Drentell, the new Governor's son,
+belonged. The Jews had learned from their co-religionists in Poltava of
+the implacable hatred Dimitri bore their race. They had for fifteen
+years basked in the sunshine of Pomeroff's favor, but now trembled at
+the dismal prospect before them.
+
+The Nihilists had equal cause for fear. Their safety required a Governor
+who could be controlled or hoodwinked by them. But they well knew that
+this man was unapproachable, that neither bribes nor threats would avail
+to win him over. Besides, Loris felt that by remaining the leader of the
+Nihilist Club he would come in conflict with his father. The elder
+Drentell was not merely the civil Governor of Kief--he was also one of
+the Generals appointed by the Czar with unlimited power to punish the
+guilty; with the right to exile all persons whose stay he might consider
+prejudicial to public welfare; to imprison at discretion; to suppress or
+suspend any journal, and to take all measures that he might deem
+necessary for public safety. With a man of such vast powers, it was
+dangerous for even a beloved son to trifle. For the time being,
+therefore, the Nihilists were doomed to inactivity.
+
+General Drentell began his administration with a careful examination of
+the evidence which had caused the condemnation of his predecessor. He
+had a strong conviction that Pomeroff was innocent, but if guilty he
+felt it his duty to ferret out the conspiracy and discover Pomeroff's
+accomplices. He owed it to his own safety to purge the palace of such as
+might be there.
+
+With the skill of a trained detective, and with the utmost secrecy, he
+began the work. His first investigations were made in the palace which
+he was henceforth to occupy. Drentell soon discovered that Moleska,
+Pomeroff's secretary, had duplicate keys to the desk and closets in the
+private cabinet. If Pomeroff was innocent, this would explain the
+presence of the incriminating papers in the Governor's desk. Acting
+entirely upon this suspicion, he ordered the arrest of Moleska, who,
+overcome by terror, confessed the entire plot.
+
+On the following day, Loris was hastily summoned into the Governor's
+presence. He found his father striding up and down the apartment, a prey
+to the most violent agitation.
+
+"You have sent for me, father?" said the young man.
+
+"Yes; sit down," answered Drentell, curtly. "Have you ever read the
+history of Rome?"
+
+Loris opened his eyes wide at the unexpected question.
+
+"Why do you ask?"
+
+"Answer my question. Have you ever read the history of Rome?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Do you remember the story of Brutus, whose son was engaged in a
+conspiracy against the republic?"
+
+Loris became very pale and stammered an indistinct reply.
+
+"You do; I see it in your face! Tell me how did Brutus act towards his
+son?"
+
+"He condemned him to death," faltered Loris.
+
+"Right! He condemned him to death. The malefactor paid the penalty with
+his life."
+
+The General arose and again paced up and down the room, in a vain
+attempt to control his agitation.
+
+"What have these questions to do with me?" asked Loris, nervously.
+
+"Simply this," answered the Governor, coming to a sudden stop before his
+son, while his eyes flashed and big blue veins stood out upon his
+forehead: "I have proofs that my predecessor died an innocent man. I
+have also the names of those Nihilists who should have suffered in his
+stead. Shall I tell you whose name is at the head? My duty is clear. I
+should follow the example of Brutus and deliver my son into the hands of
+the law."
+
+Loris, a thorough coward at heart, sank into a chair.
+
+"Father," he stammered; "you would not condemn me to death; me, your
+only child?"
+
+"Coward!" cried the General, looking scornfully at his son, whom terror
+had robbed of strength to stand. "You have the courage to plan
+cold-blooded murder, but when the time comes to face your own death you
+show yourself a miserable poltroon. Fear nothing: you shall not die. I
+have passed a sleepless night, struggling between duty and parental
+affection. But were it known in St. Petersburg that I had shown you
+mercy, I would answer for it with my life."
+
+"Father!" exclaimed the young man, remorsefully, hiding his face in his
+hands.
+
+"Don't interrupt me," said the General, savagely. "I have already
+requested the immediate removal of your regiment to the frontier. The
+Turks are aggressive, and our forces in that neighborhood should be
+increased. By to-morrow you will receive your order to march. It is
+absolutely necessary that you should leave Kief. Of your misguided
+companions, Moleska, who revealed the conspiracy, is already in the
+fortress, and the others will soon follow. For your own safety, you must
+leave Kief before the arrests are made, or I will not answer for the
+consequences."
+
+"But, father, you will be lenient towards them," cried the young man.
+"You will not condemn them to death. Remember that whatever may have
+been their guilt, had it not been for the death of Pomeroff, you would
+not now be Governor of Kief."
+
+"For shame, Loris!" cried the General, red with anger. "Are you so lost
+to all sense of honor that you must remind me that I stepped into office
+over the corpse of my predecessor and my friend, murdered by my own son?
+Do not provoke me too far! Your associates have been guilty of the most
+grievous of crimes. They must die. Besides, were they to live they would
+denounce you as their leader and even I could not save your life. Go!
+Arrange your affairs, avoid further intercourse with your companions. By
+this time to-morrow you must be on the way to the frontier while they
+will mount the scaffold."
+
+Loris shuddered and for the first time a sentiment of humanity moved
+within him.
+
+"I will not go," he said, resolutely. "I have lived and plotted with
+them and I shall die with them."
+
+"No, Loris, no," replied his father, softened. "You must depart. There
+is no other course. A Drentell must not die a traitor's death. It would
+break my heart and kill your mother, who dotes upon you. It will be
+better not to see her before your departure. Questionings and
+explanations are dangerous. After all this is forgotten, you may return
+and work out the career I had hoped for you."
+
+Loris, sorrowful and conscience-stricken, kissed his father's hand and
+slowly left the room.
+
+On the morrow, the Seventh Cossack Regiment received orders from St.
+Petersburg to proceed to Kothim without delay, and long before nightfall
+it was on the march. Next morning twelve conspirators were arrested at
+their homes and dragged before the tribunal of judicial inquiry. Their
+trial, like that of Pomeroff, was a mockery, for their fate had already
+been decided. Defence was useless. The incriminating papers found in the
+places designated by the informer Moleska sealed their doom. Governor
+Drentell himself pronounced their sentence. Two days afterward they were
+secretly executed.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 15: Foulke.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+LOUISE'S PRACTICAL ADVICE.
+
+
+Tyranny, which for a brief period had slept, was now wide-awake and
+aggressively active. Throughout the entire Empire despotism stalked
+unimpeded. The recent attempt upon the Czar's life had increased the
+vigilance of the police, and the most frightful atrocities were
+committed in the holy name of Justice. The blood curdles with horror
+when reading of the indignities and the injustice visited upon the
+people.
+
+"When the police deem it best," says one writer,[16] in portraying the
+condition of that period, "they steal noiselessly through the streets
+and alleys, surround a private dwelling in the dead of the night, and
+under some false pretence, invade every room in the house, waking the
+sleeping occupants. Each member of the household is given in charge of a
+policeman, everything is turned topsy-turvy, books, papers, private
+letters are carefully inspected--nothing is secret. It is not necessary
+that the police should have any evidence for these searches. An
+anonymous charge, a mere suspicion is enough. Houses have sometimes been
+inspected seven times in a single day. If anything is discovered to
+excite the suspicions of the police an arrest follows and the supposed
+culprit is sent to the house of Preventive Detention. There he awaits
+his trial for weeks and months and sometimes for years. He is brought
+out occasionally for examination. If he confesses nothing he is sent
+back to reflect. Sometimes the wrong man is arrested and confined a year
+or two before the mistake is discovered."
+
+The solitary confinement to which prisoners were doomed in this house of
+detention was often fatal. The hardships to which they were subjected
+frequently led to consumption, insanity or suicide. The examination of
+prisoners and witnesses was dragged out to an interminable length. In
+one celebrated case it lasted four years and over seven hundred
+witnesses were kept in jail during that time. The prosecutor admitted
+that only twenty persons deserved punishment, yet there were
+seventy-three who died from suicide or the effects of confinement.
+
+Louder and louder grew the clamor of the masses and the threats against
+the imperial autocrat. Wholesale arrests could not quell the popular
+voice. A prisoner wrote from his living tomb in the Troubetzkoi Ravelin:
+"Fight on till the victory is won! The more they torment me in prison,
+the better it is for the struggle!"
+
+Governor Drentell entered upon his new duties at a trying time. His
+existence was embittered by political strife and tumult, and by
+complications with which he found it difficult to cope.
+
+Let us seek him in his palace, by the side of his wife, Louise.
+
+When we first met Louise, she was young and frivolous; now she is old
+and frivolous. The years have dealt gently with her, however, for she is
+still quite handsome and as vivacious, as capricious, as kind-hearted
+and as religious as when we last parted from her, twenty-seven years
+ago.
+
+"Poor Dimitri," she said, dolefully, after her husband had recounted the
+events of the day. "Eighteen persons exiled to Siberia and two sentenced
+to death. How hard you toil! You will kill yourself with overwork!"
+
+The General sighed.
+
+"I should think," continued Louise, "that Loris could be of service to
+you in these difficult affairs of State. Why don't you recall our boy?"
+
+The General's brow clouded.
+
+"He must remain at his post for the present," he answered. "After he has
+achieved military glory, it will be time enough to initiate him in civil
+affairs."
+
+"But you need an adviser, an assistant who can take some of your work
+off your hands."
+
+"You are right! But who shall it be? There are so many Nihilists about,
+that I cannot be too careful whom I take into my confidence."
+
+Louise rocked herself awhile in silence. Suddenly she said, impetuously:
+
+"I wish we were back in St. Petersburg, or even at Lubny. Do you know,
+Dimitri, our days at Lubny were pleasant, after all?"
+
+"Perhaps," answered Drentell, sarcastically, "that accounts for your
+incessant desire to leave the place."
+
+"I never know when I am happy," said Louise, truthfully.
+
+For some minutes she again rocked herself vigorously. It was her way of
+stimulating her mental faculties. Suddenly she cried:
+
+"Ah, if you had only brought Mikail along. He might assist you."
+
+"You appear too fond of Mikail's society," answered the Governor,
+sharply; "and that is just why I left him in St. Petersburg."
+
+"Fool," replied Louise, half in jest, half in earnest. "Why, he is only
+my father confessor. You surely would not be jealous of a priest?"
+
+"Yes, even of a priest, especially when he is as handsome and
+fascinating as our Mikail."
+
+Louise broke into a merry laugh.
+
+"Then that is why you were so solicitous about placing him with the
+Minister of War in St. Petersburg. You were afraid to bring him along on
+my account?"
+
+"Candidly, yes. In spite of his priestly robes, I fancied he was too
+fond of your society and you of his, and I deemed it best for my peace
+of mind to leave him at the capital while we came here."
+
+For a time Louise's mirth appeared uncontrollable.
+
+"Why, you goose!" she said, after her laughter had subsided. "Mikail has
+never approached me but with the greatest respect. He knows that I have
+been his benefactress, and I am sure that, while he thinks me awfully
+ignorant, he respects me as he would an aged relative."
+
+"And what are your feelings towards him?"
+
+"I know what he was in the past; and, while I have unbounded admiration
+for his wisdom, I can never forget how he first came into our house."
+
+"Then there is no danger of your falling in love with him?"
+
+"None, whatever. I am old enough to be his mother."
+
+"But his beauty--his charms?"
+
+"They do not compare with those of my dear husband," replied Louise, as
+she twined her arms about Dimitri's neck, with all the coquetry of
+twenty-seven years ago.
+
+There was no reason to doubt Louise's sincerity, and the General felt a
+little ashamed of his unfounded suspicions.
+
+"Have you heard from the Minister since our departure from St.
+Petersburg?" asked Louise.
+
+"Yes; he has written several times. He cannot sufficiently praise the
+keen intellect of our young priest."
+
+"He is the very man you want. Have him come to Kief at once. You need an
+assistant and Mikail is bound to you by ties of gratitude and
+affection."
+
+The General looked sharply at his wife. He still felt doubtful as to her
+feeling for Mikail. But Louise rocked away, unconscious of her husband's
+penetrating glance.
+
+"Perhaps it will be best to have him come," he reflected. "Yes, it must
+be so. After having had him educated, after having given him the
+opportunity of becoming what he now is, it would be folly not to employ
+him to my own advantage. I shall write for him to-morrow."
+
+"I shall see," he said, at length.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 16: Foulke.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+A DANIEL COME TO JUDGMENT.
+
+
+A week later Mikail arrived in Kief. He appeared to be about thirty
+years of age, was tall of stature, well built and sturdy. His complexion
+was dark, his features oriental, his face oval, framed by a coal black
+flowing beard, which gave him an appearance at once imposing and
+attractive. His large black eyes shone with the lustre of intelligence.
+A deep and melancholy calm seemed fixed in their commanding gaze. His
+quiet countenance and stately form, his black clerical garments, his
+sedate step and thoughtful mien added to the impressive effect of his
+appearance. His beauty, however, was marred by two serious defects. The
+lower half of his right ear had been torn away and his left arm was
+stiff at the elbow and almost useless.
+
+We find him in earnest conversation with Governor Drentell and a few of
+the counsellors of his court.
+
+"It is to be deplored," said the Governor, "that there seem to be no
+efficient means of quelling the popular discontent. Arrest and exile do
+not have the desired effect. Our prisons are filled to overflowing and
+there is scarcely a day that does not send its quota of criminals to
+Siberia. Here, in the southern part of Russia, the state of affairs is
+particularly threatening. It is becoming alarming."
+
+"Your excellency," remarked Mikail, in a deep, musical voice, "the
+object of exile is, or ought to be, corrective rather than vindictive.
+But, in my opinion, it exasperates the community and increases the
+discontent."
+
+"But," objected one of the counsellors, "to allow discontented persons
+to remain unmolested will make them dangerous to the State."
+
+"Undoubtedly," replied Mikail, "unless we remove the cause of their
+discontent."
+
+"Remove the cause?" interrupted Drentell, surprised. "To remove the
+cause would mean to grant them liberty of action, to grant them a
+constitutional government, to acquiesce in the thousand reforms they
+demand."
+
+"Let us not disguise from ourselves the fact that the people are
+entitled to all they ask," said Mikail, quietly; "that the inhabitants
+of other countries enjoy these rights and more, too, and that they only
+ask for what is the prerogative of every human being--liberty and
+happiness. But," continued he, emphasizing the little word; "while other
+nations may prosper under such a rule, Russia would not. Her people are
+not ready to enjoy the rights they demand. They would look into the full
+glare of the mid-day sun before having accustomed their eyes to
+candle-light. When I spoke of removing the cause, I did not mean to
+abolish the cause of their discontent, but to obviate the necessity of
+sending people into exile."
+
+The assembly, which had at first been appalled by the priest's
+unpatriotic sentiments, now breathed more freely.
+
+"How would you accomplish your purpose?" asked the Governor.
+
+"By directing the attention of the masses to something which will for
+the time divert their minds from their present projects."
+
+"It has been tried," replied the Governor. "We have begun quarrels with
+all the countries surrounding us without accomplishing our object."
+
+"Naturally enough. A war with Turkey or with Bulgaria is of very little
+interest to those living far from the scene of conflict. Beyond taking a
+few soldiers out of the country such quarrels are productive of no good.
+There must be some strong excitement in which every one can take a part
+and feel a personal interest, and then Nihilism will decline."
+
+"What do you propose?" asked the Governor, whose curiosity was now
+thoroughly aroused.
+
+"Nothing new," answered the priest, deliberately. "I have already had
+the honor of suggesting it to his excellency, the Minister of War, who
+graciously commended it. _We must attack the Jews_. They have enjoyed
+immunity long enough. For over twenty years they have lived in security,
+feeding upon the fat of the land, engaging in trades that are unlawful
+and amassing wealth which rightfully belongs to the faithful of the Holy
+Catholic Church." And Mikail crossed himself devoutly.
+
+The Governor and his counsellors looked at each other, significantly.
+
+The priest continued: "The Jews have entered every branch of trade and,
+worse still, have acquired lands. This is clearly against the laws of
+the Empire which forbid a Hebrew's owning land. They have crowded into
+our cities to the exclusion of our own people. Kief now contains over
+twenty thousand Jews, whereas I am confident that the ancient laws limit
+the population to less than one-half that number. They have
+systematically robbed and plundered the gentiles and by their wiles
+defrauded the poorer classes. They control the trade in intoxicants and
+the vast quantities drunk by the _moujiks_ pass through the hands of the
+Jews. Their wives are arrayed in satins and laces and wear the most
+elaborate jewelry, while our lower classes suffer poverty and misery. Is
+it right, gentlemen, that the Jews should have such advantages over the
+faithful? Something must be done to check their dangerous progress."
+
+"Your reverence evidently bears the race no great love," suggested one
+of the counsellors.
+
+"I have cause to hate them," answered Mikail, with darkening brow and
+heaving bosom.
+
+"You are right, Mikail," answered the Governor, eagerly; "they are a
+despicable, blood-thirsty race."
+
+"But how will a crusade against the Hebrews relieve the troubled
+condition of Russia?" inquired another of the gentlemen.
+
+"It will divert the attention of the masses from their present sinister
+projects. Once let them taste the blood of the Jews, give pillage and
+carnage unrestrained license, and they will forget their chimerical
+schemes, and, paradoxical as it may seem, domestic order will be
+re-established."
+
+"You are right," said Drentell, rising. "It is eminently proper that the
+Government should give its attention to the Jews and their relations
+with the rest of Russia's inhabitants. I do not believe, however, that
+this agitation can be brought about in a month or even in a year.
+Unfortunately, too many of our peasants live upon terms of friendship
+with them, absolutely blind to the fact that they are being preyed upon.
+We must open the eyes of these poor victims. We must point out to them
+that the Jew saves money and amasses wealth, while they toil in penury;
+that Jews fill our schools and colleges, while our people remain
+ignorant; that the Jew, base, deceitful, and avaricious, fattens on
+their misery."
+
+"The _moujiks_ once aroused," resumed the priest, "and the race struggle
+begun, the Czar may sleep in peace."
+
+"Will his majesty approve our plans?" inquired one of the counsellors.
+
+"There will be no interference from St. Petersburg," answered the
+priest. "I have already prepared the Minister of War for such a course
+and he is thoroughly in accord with us. We have but to notify him of our
+intentions, and he will order a similar movement in all parts of the
+Empire simultaneously."
+
+This course being decided on, the Council broke up, the Jews little
+dreaming of the sword that hung suspended over their heads.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+MIKAIL THE PRIEST.
+
+
+In Russia, the ecclesiastical administration is entirely in the hands of
+the monks belonging to the "Black Clergy," in contradistinction to the
+village priests, called "White Clergy." A black priest must be brought
+up in one of the five hundred rigorous monastic establishments of the
+Empire. The order is under the supervision of bishops, of whom there
+are a great number. The black priest looks upon the parish priest as a
+sort of ecclesiastical half-caste, who should obey blindly, sharing all
+the onerous duties but none of the honors of the calling.
+
+The history of monastic life in Russia does not differ materially from
+that in Western Europe. The early monks were mostly ascetics, living in
+colonies in a simple and primitive manner, subsisting on alms and
+charity. Their only aims in life were the glorification of God and to
+live as Christ commanded, in poverty, humility and self-denial. With the
+flight of time, this comfortless existence gave way to more luxurious
+customs. Money, lands and serfs were given to these simple monasteries,
+which gradually grew into a mighty power in the land, engaging in
+commerce, exercising jurisdiction over large domains, and moulding the
+religious sentiment of the Church and State. During this century,
+however, they grew less powerful. Secularization of church lands and the
+liberation of the serfs reduced many of them to poverty.
+
+The monks, nevertheless, hold a position in the church vastly superior
+to that of the village priest, or _batushka_, as he is called. These
+_batushkas_ belong to a hereditary caste, the members of which have been
+priests for generations. They are subject to the rulings of the district
+bishop; their livings, their distinctive names, even their wives--for
+they are allowed to marry--are provided for them by their religious
+superior. Their condition is not enviable. They are for the most part
+poor and ignorant, with no higher ambition than to perform the rites and
+ceremonies prescribed by their church. The parishioners are satisfied
+with very little, and the _batushkas_ have but little to give. They
+preach but rarely, and only after having submitted the sermon to the
+provincial _consistorium_. The moral influence they exercise over the
+people is necessarily small.
+
+It was to the "Black Clergy" that Mikail belonged. As far back as he
+could remember, his home had been in a monastery and his daily
+associates austere monks. He was taught that the Catholic faith is the
+only path to salvation. In so far, his education was similar to that of
+his brother priests, but while the Jew Jesus inculcated love of all men,
+Mikail was taught to hate the Jews. No occasion was permitted to pass,
+no opportunity neglected to instil the subtle poison into his young
+mind. The monks would point to his torn ear and palsied arm, and so
+vividly portray the tortures he had suffered, that Mikail clenched his
+little fists, his face became flushed and his bosom heaved at the
+recital of his wrongs. They took delight in repeating the tale, that
+they might witness his childish outbursts of passion and fury. This
+treatment had its desired effect; the boy developed into a rabid
+Jew-hater.
+
+As a child, Mikail was but a servant in the monastery, ill-treated and
+ill-fed. The only joyful episodes of this period of his existence were
+the occasional visits to the Count and Countess Drentell, at Lubny, to
+whom he believed himself distantly related. They received him with every
+appearance of cordiality, made inquiries about his progress, allowed him
+to revel in the companionship of Loris for a day or two, and finally
+sent him back to his dreary prison.
+
+As he grew up, his treatment at the hands of the Poltava monks improved.
+The Superior, Alexei, discovered a keen intellect in this reserved and
+sullen lad. It was astonishing with what avidity he read the limited
+number of books which the convent bookcase contained. His desire for
+learning appeared insatiable, and the few kopecks which he earned in
+showing strangers through the chapel and running errands for the monks,
+were invariably spent at the book shops for some bit of precious
+literature. By the time he was eighteen he had mastered all the learning
+that Alexei could impart, and the superior was by no means an illiterate
+or ignorant man. Mikail read Latin and German fluently, developed a
+talent for theology, and his shrewd arguments won the admiration of his
+fellow-priests.
+
+"He has a brilliant mind," said Alexei to himself one day. "Who knows,
+he may yet become a bishop."
+
+The Russian Catholic Church occupies a unique position as compared with
+the churches of Southern and Western Europe. She is now, as she was
+centuries ago, apparently oblivious of the world's advancement and
+impenetrable to new ideas. Her ancient traditions are still cherished.
+The theological discussions and quarrels, the reformations and schisms,
+which at various times shook the Roman Catholic Church to its centre,
+had no terrors for the church of Russia. Intellectual advancement,
+scientific research, inventive progress left her untouched and
+uninfluenced. Her theology remained precisely as it was in the days of
+Constantine and, like the self-sufficient snail, she withdrew into her
+shell, her convents, and allowed the world to wag as it saw fit.
+
+This apathy is easily explained. The Czar, the autocratic temporal
+ruler, is also the spiritual head of the church. Hence, she has had all
+her thinking done for her and has remained stationary. This trait has
+had its influence over the intellectual character of her priests, who
+are for the most part indolent and ignorant, content to believe whatever
+their religion requires, without question or debate. Theological
+discussions, such as we find in Protestant countries, are hardly known
+in Russia.
+
+To the monks of his convent, Mikail formed a noteworthy contrast. His
+mind, remarkably active for one so young, refused to accept the
+intricate mass of dogmas without endeavoring to analyze them and trace
+them back to their original sources. For years he had accepted the
+stories of miracles and revelations unquestioningly, but after he had
+begun a course of independent reading and reflection he discovered
+discrepancies and contradictions, which sowed the seed of grave doubts
+in his restive brain.
+
+He confided his doubts to Alexei, his superior. This worthy gave the
+matter very little consideration; he shrugged his shoulders, stroked his
+beard, now a venerable white, and answered:
+
+"I, too, had my doubts at your age, but I got bravely over them. The
+miracles of which the Bible speaks are undoubtedly true, for the people
+living in those times beheld them. That such things do not occur
+nowadays is no proof that they could not have happened then. Our duty is
+to believe what our ancient writings tell us, to see that the lamps are
+kept burning before the icons, and that our ceremonials are observed to
+the letter. A priest has no right to question what is sanctioned by
+tradition and belief."
+
+For a time, Mikail was content to accept this explanation and to keep
+his peace. But doubt was not so easily quieted. Ever and again he would
+seek the solitude of his cell and ponder over the grave and perplexing
+questions that disturbed him. He found no solution. He had been
+educated in an atmosphere of bigotry and superstition, had been brought
+up rigorously in the belief that God himself had descended from Heaven
+and adopted the form of man; had been daily taught that blind faith,
+independent of deed, would lead to salvation. These dogmas now appeared
+at variance with his conception of truth. Harassed by doubts, tormented
+by superstitious fears for the safety of his soul, Mikail led a wretched
+existence.
+
+Gradually, the monotonous, inactive life of the monastery began to pall
+upon him. He soon found, too, that many of his brethren believed as
+little as he did; that others were too indolent to reflect and believed
+as a matter of course. The thousand ceremonials, the carelessly recited
+prayers, the perfunctory invocations, the prescribed signs, crosses and
+genuflections before the rudely painted icons, appeared to him as hollow
+mockeries, and soon the place seemed redolent with deceit.
+
+It was a severe struggle for the young man, and the Superior, who
+observed the storm which was surging within the doubter's breast, did
+not hesitate to attribute it to the wiles of Satan.
+
+"Cast yourself at the feet of the Saviour, O thou of little faith!"
+exhorted Alexei. "He will help thee drive out the evil spirit! Fast,
+pray, torture thy body if necessary, but cleanse thy soul of its doubts,
+purge thy heart of the unholy thoughts which the Devil has planted
+there."
+
+Mikail fasted and prayed and scourged himself until his flesh was a mass
+of sores. In vain the torture! The doubts would not be driven out, Satan
+would not be exorcised.
+
+At the age of twenty-three, Mikail could endure it no longer.
+
+"I must go out into the world, father," he said one day to Alexei. "The
+convent is too small, too limited for me. I must work and toil with and
+for humanity. Let me go into the parish for a short time. The Bishop,
+who thinks well of me, may be able to procure me the position of
+_blagotchinny_.[17] I will have an opportunity of learning the world, of
+succoring the needy, of aiding the sick. Perhaps a life of activity will
+dispel the shadows which have darkened my soul."
+
+Alexei was quite willing to grant this request. He was anxious, in fact,
+to send Mikail from the cloister, for his doubts, which he took no pains
+to conceal, were beginning to affect the torpid intellects of the monks.
+A short conference was held with the Bishop, and Mikail obtained the
+coveted position.
+
+A new life of work and constant activity now opened for the young
+priest, but he still found what he had sought to escape, hypocrisy and
+deceit.
+
+The village priests with whom he came in daily contact were a pitiable
+set. He found among them many honest, respectable, well-meaning men,
+conscientiously fulfilling their humble tasks, striving hard to serve
+the religious needs of the community. There were, on the other hand,
+however, fanatics and rogues, men representing the worse elements of
+society. The people shunned the clergy, and held them up to ridicule.
+They formed a class apart, not in sympathy with the parishioners. They
+committed serious transgressions, were irreligious and transformed the
+service of God into a profitable trade.
+
+Could the people respect the clergy when they learned that one priest
+stole money from under the pillow of a dying man at the moment he was
+administering the sacrament, that another was publicly dragged out of a
+house of ill-fame, that a third christened a dog, that a fourth while
+officiating at the Easter service was dragged by the hair from the altar
+by the deacon? Was it possible for the people to venerate priests who
+spent their time in gin shops, wrote fraudulent petitions, fought with
+crosses as weapons and abused each other at the altar? Was it possible
+for them to have an exalted opinion of a God-inspired religion, when
+they saw everywhere about them simony, carelessness in performing
+religious rites, and disorder in administering the sacrament?[18]
+
+Mikail's heart turned sick. Nowhere could he find that truth which he
+sought. Even the better educated priests appeared to have given their
+creed no thought, no reflection.
+
+Still the young priest did valuable service in the field assigned to
+him. Through his indomitable will be corrected many of the abuses which
+existed in his district, and raised the parish clergy to a higher
+standard of efficiency and morality.
+
+So the years passed. The friendship between Mikail and General Drentell
+grew stronger as the nobleman learned to value the brilliant intellect
+of his _protege_. His occasional visits to Lubny continued, and the
+General usually profited by the clear, good sense of the young man, who
+displayed as thorough a knowledge of agriculture as he did of theology.
+Mikail and Loris, on the other hand, could never agree. The priest had
+no patience with the hare-brained, pampered young aristocrat, and
+occasional differences were the result. For the sake of the General's
+friendship, however, as well as for the preservation of his own dignity,
+Mikail restrained his feelings. At the age of twenty, Loris entered the
+army, and for a while the growing animosity of the two was happily
+checked.
+
+The Bishop, greatly admiring his assistant's ability, offered him an
+important position in his consistorium. This Mikail firmly refused. He
+assigned as his reason that he found congenial work among the
+parishioners; but in reality the priest felt in his heart that his
+veneration for the Catholic creed was growing daily less, and that
+vexing doubts and difficulties had gradually crowded out the faith he
+had once possessed. It was at this time that General Drentell's
+influence obtained for him a desirable position with General Melikoff,
+the Minister of War. The priest gladly accepted the honor, happy to
+escape from the continual hypocrisy of his clerical duties.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 17: A _blagotchinny_ is a parish priest who is in direct
+relations with the consistorium of the province, and who is supposed to
+exercise a strict supervision over all the parish priests of his
+district.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Mr. Melnikof, in a secret report to Grand Duke
+Constantine. Wallace's "Russia," p. 58.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+A DAUGHTER OF ISRAEL.
+
+
+Rabbi Mendel Winenki sat in his study, reading. Before him and within
+easy reach stood a massive table covered with books and papers. There
+were strewn upon it in motley confusion ancient folios and modern
+volumes. It was a comprehensive library which the Rabbi had collected.
+There were works on comparative theology, on medicine, on jurisprudence
+and philosophy. The _Shulkan-aruch_ and a treatise on Buddhistic
+Occultism stood side by side. The Talmud and Kant's "Kritik der reinen
+Vernunft" were placed upon the same shelf, and Josephus and Renan's
+"Life of Jesus" were near neighbors.
+
+Time was when the Jew who would have exposed a single work printed in
+any characters but the ancient Hebrew letters would have been ostracized
+by his co-religionists. The Rabbi remembered with a smile how carefully
+he had concealed the precious volumes which Pesach Harretzki had given
+him, how furtively he had carried them into his bed that he might read
+them undetected.
+
+How different now was the condition of things! True, the greater portion
+of the Jews of Kief still held tenaciously to their prejudices,
+absolutely refusing to learn anything not taught at the _cheder_. In the
+eyes of these people Mendel was a renegade and a heretic. The only thing
+which prevented them from hurling the ban of excommunication against him
+was their recollection of the good he had accomplished.
+
+Mendel's greatest achievement was the introduction of secular education.
+Many years elapsed before his ideas took root, but with the spread of
+better instruction in the public schools, which were now open to Jewish
+youth, there came a desire for greater knowledge and the difficult
+problem worked out its own solution. At the time of which we speak many
+Jewish lads were pupils of the gymnasium and quite a number of them
+students at the University of Kief.
+
+Seated by the side of the Rabbi, and sewing, sat his wife and his
+daughter, Kathinka, now a girl of eighteen. Many changes had occurred
+in the interval since we last saw our friends. Mendel was now a man of
+about forty-five and in the full vigor of contented manhood. A wealth of
+coal-black hair shaded his massive forehead and a long but neatly
+trimmed beard set off his handsome face. Recha had become stouter and
+more matronly, but one would scarcely take her for the mother of the
+blooming girl by her side.
+
+Kathinka was a perfect specimen of Hebrew beauty. She had inherited the
+commanding form of her father and the regular features of her mother. To
+this perfection of body she united a sweetness of disposition which made
+her beloved by all who knew her.
+
+Women among the Eastern Jews, as indeed among all oriental nations,
+being considered intellectually inferior to their lords and masters,
+rarely aspire to learning. Occasionally one might find an example of a
+well-directed and thoroughly developed mind among the daughters of
+Israel, even though surrounded by the retarding influences of the
+_ghetto_. We have seen how well Recha had been educated and her daughter
+Kathinka was being brought up in the same way. She was independent in
+thought as well as in action, but never at the cost of maidenly
+sentiment. Piety and purity shone in her lustrous eyes. Superior to her
+position, she possessed the faculty of adapting herself to her
+surroundings. There was no pride in her breast save that which might
+arise from the consciousness of doing right. The poor had a
+commiserating friend in her and the sick a tender nurse. The children
+that played in the squalid lanes of the old quarter ceased their romping
+when she passed and lovingly kissed her hand. She desired no better lot
+than to do good in her own sphere, and to deserve the approbation of
+her own conscience. Such was Kathinka, a girl of many graces and
+sterling worth--in heart and soul a Jewess.
+
+Rabbi Mendel looked up from his books and gazed fondly at his daughter,
+who, seated with the full light of the window falling upon her face,
+appeared the embodiment of loveliness. Then turning to his wife, he
+asked:
+
+"Recha, have you spoken to Kathinka about young Goldheim?"
+
+"No," replied Recha; "I left it for you to tell."
+
+"Briefly then, my dear," said the Rabbi, addressing his daughter, who
+looked up from her work in surprise; "Reb Wolf, the _schadchen_, has
+been here for the third time, to induce us to give him a favorable reply
+for Samuel Goldheim. I told him that I feared my intervention would be
+useless."
+
+Kathinka blushed deeply.
+
+"You did right, father," she answered.
+
+"But, my dear child," said the Rabbi, thoughtfully; "tell me why you
+refuse Goldheim? He is a fine-looking young man, of a rich and respected
+family, and will make you a good husband."
+
+Kathinka arose and, crossing to her father, put her arms lovingly about
+his neck.
+
+"Dear papa," she said, softly and caressingly, "I know you love me too
+well to insist upon my doing a thing which will make me unhappy for
+life. You have often told me how you and mamma first found one another,
+how heart went out to heart, so that there was scarcely any need to tell
+each other that you loved. That is an ideal affection, and the only one
+that my heart could recognize. I abhor the notion of a marriage brought
+about by the efforts of a third party, who has no other interest in the
+matter than the fee he receives for his labors. There is to me something
+repugnant in the idea of uniting two beings to each other for life,
+without consulting their inclinations or their tastes."
+
+"I agree with you, Kathinka," answered the Rabbi, stroking his
+daughter's long curls, "and it is far from my thoughts to see you united
+to any man you do not truly love. In former days the system of marrying
+through the agency of a match-maker undoubtedly possessed great
+advantages. It is incumbent upon every good Israelite to marry, but
+originally the villages were sparsely settled, in many places there was
+a lack of marriageable men, in others the maidens were in the minority,
+and as facilities for travelling were limited, and often entirely
+absent, a _schadchen_, who made it a business to bring eligible couples
+together, was a great convenience. The necessity for such a mediator is
+constantly growing less."
+
+"But there can be no romance, no pleasant anticipation in such a union."
+
+"My dear child, Israel has never had time for romance. Your youth has
+fortunately been spared the dreadful persecutions which have from time
+to time been visited upon our people; but, if you can picture the
+constant dread of outrage and the incessant fear of persecution, which
+have been our portion; if you can conceive the miserable existence in
+wretched hovels and the weary struggle for the barest necessities of
+life, you will understand why the Jews have had little of that spirit of
+chivalry and romance of which modern books give us so fascinating a
+picture. But tell me, Kathinka," continued the Rabbi, looking intently
+at his daughter, "is there not another reason for your refusal of
+Samuel's hand?"
+
+Kathinka became very red, and looked pleadingly at her mother.
+
+"My dear," said Recha, "you had better confess all to your father. He
+has a right to know."
+
+Still the girl remained silent.
+
+"Well, my child; who has stolen your heart?" asked the Rabbi, kindly.
+
+"Father, I love Joseph Kierson," said Kathinka, faintly, hiding her
+blushing face upon the Rabbi's shoulder.
+
+"What, my former pupil?" asked the Rabbi, astonished. "I must have been
+blind not to have observed it. And does he love you?"
+
+"I think he does," she archly answered.
+
+"But Joseph is poor," returned her father. "He has nothing and has as
+yet no profession. He is merely a student at the University."
+
+"But he has a brilliant intellect," retorted Kathinka, proudly. "I have
+heard you say a dozen times that he will achieve renown. It is one of
+your favorite maxims that a man must rise by his own exertions. Joseph
+is destined to rise."
+
+"How long has this understanding existed?" asked Mendel.
+
+"We were fond of each other as children, when he first began his lessons
+at _cheder_," replied the girl, earnestly; "but it was only recently
+that he declared his love."
+
+"He found that you were surrounded by admiring youths and feared that
+you might be taken from him," added her mother.
+
+"And did you promise to be his wife?" asked the Rabbi.
+
+"Oh, no, father. I could not do that without your consent. He did not
+even ask me. He simply told me that he deplored his ignorance and
+poverty and that it was his intention to study medicine and become a
+learned doctor that he might be worthy of obtaining my hand. That was
+all."
+
+"He could not have made it plainer. And what did you answer?"
+
+"I encouraged him in his determination and told him I would wait."
+
+"And that is why he requested me to speak to his parents and obtain
+their consent to his pursuing a course of study, and that is why you
+took such an interest in his welfare and were so pleased when I told you
+that he had been admitted to the University."
+
+"Yes," answered Kathinka, with radiant face.
+
+"Do you know how long it will take before he has finished his course? He
+cannot expect to obtain his diploma in less than six years."
+
+"I know it," replied Kathinka.
+
+"And then it will be some time before his profession will enable him to
+support a wife."
+
+"I know it. I will wait."
+
+"Brave girl," said Mendel, fondly. "You are doing right and may he prove
+worthy of you."
+
+"Will it take so long?" asked the mother. "You will then be twenty-four
+years old, Kathinka, and will be obliged to marry a poor man. Had you
+not better consider before refusing Goldheim? He is wealthy and quite
+learned."
+
+"I do not care for him," replied the girl, quietly but with decision.
+"You married father for love, did you not?"
+
+"Yes," said Mendel, replying for his wife. "She took me although I was
+but a poor Talmud scholar without a kopeck that I could call my own.
+Joseph will succeed. He has ambition and talent."
+
+Kathinka kissed her father, affectionately.
+
+"Then you are satisfied with my choice?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, my dear, I am content. When Reb Wolf, the _schadchen_, comes for
+his answer we will know just what to tell him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+AT THE RABBI'S AND AT THE GOVERNOR'S.
+
+
+Joseph Kierson was a fine manly fellow of twenty-two, not particularly
+handsome, but possessing what in Kathinka's eyes outweighed mere
+personal appearance, a fine mind, great courage and indomitable zeal.
+His youth had been uneventful. His father was a hard-working butcher,
+who in spite of his industry found it difficult to provide food for his
+family of half-a-dozen. Until recently Joseph had assisted his father in
+his business, but felt an irresistible desire to achieve something
+higher than was possible in that humble calling. Recognizing the need of
+skilled physicians in the Jewish community, he conceived the idea of
+taking up the profession of medicine. We have seen that his ambition was
+strengthened by his desire to obtain the hand of Kathinka, in whom all
+his hopes were centred.
+
+Old Jacob Kierson was bitterly opposed to his son's project. His
+objections were in a measure selfish, for he could not reconcile himself
+to the thought of hiring an assistant while Joseph spent his time in
+idleness. Moreover, he belonged to the old school and sincerely abhorred
+all learning that savored of the gentiles. He therefore peremptorily
+forbade his son's entertaining such an impious purpose. In this
+emergency Rabbi Winenki's eloquence was brought into requisition. He
+skilfully argued away the old man's prejudices and painted in such
+glowing colors the possibilities of Joseph's future as a physician, that
+Kierson's scruples were gradually quieted and he gave a reluctant
+consent. Joseph, having passed a brilliant examination and being
+recommended by Rabbi Winenki--a name that still carried great weight
+with it in Kief--was admitted into the University.
+
+It was Friday evening. Without, the snow was falling hard and fast; a
+fierce wind, from the northern steppes, howled through the streets, and
+dismal was the sound of the storm. In the houses of the Jews, however,
+there was peace and comfort. The pious Hebrews, who had toiled
+industriously during six days of the week to provide for the seventh,
+had ceased from their labors, had cast aside their cares and sorrows,
+and rejoiced in the presence of their God.
+
+Around Rabbi Mendel's hospitable board there was assembled a goodly
+company. The table was unusually attractive on this Sabbath eve and the
+company uncommonly joyous, for it was the first family gathering since
+the announcement of Kathinka's betrothal with the young student. There
+was much surprise that this bright maiden should have bestowed her
+affections upon the poorest of her suitors, but Kathinka gazed in happy
+contentment at the man by her side, to whom in her heart she had erected
+a holy altar of love.
+
+The goblets with their sparkling contents, the snow-white linen and the
+dainty dishes spoke a cheery welcome to the merry guests, and the
+seven-armed lamp hanging from the ceiling and the silver candlesticks
+upon the table threw their friendly glow over the scene. Happiness and
+pleasure, contentment and gratitude, beamed in every countenance.
+
+There were present Mendel's father and mother, old and venerable but
+still active, Hirsch Bensef and his wife Miriam, Rabbi Winenki and his
+wife and daughter, (Recha's mother had died some time before,) and
+finally the happy Joseph Kierson with his delighted father and mother.
+
+Their conversation was animated and cheerful. Out in the streets the
+wind might blow and the snow descend; here there was naught but good
+cheer and comfort. The storm served, however, to recall many a dark and
+dreary day in the past, and, like soldiers sitting about a campfire, the
+men related the chief incidents of their eventful lives. There was a
+melancholy pleasure in recalling the trials they had experienced,
+contrasted with which their present security was all the more
+comforting.
+
+Mordecai Winenki related with tears in his eyes how he saved his wife's
+honor by a hasty flight from home, and how he arrived in Kief just in
+time for the _Pesach_ festival. "Yes, it was a marvellous escape from
+the soldiers; _Adonai_ be praised for it!" Old Kierson had a story of
+privation and suffering to relate, events which carried his hearers back
+to the days of Nicholas, the Iron Czar, and they smiled to think that
+those days were gone, never to return. The Rabbi told, for the hundredth
+time, of his memorable trip from Togarog to Kharkov; related how he and
+Jacob had been torn from their mother's fond embrace, how they had
+suffered, how they finally escaped from the guard that accompanied them,
+and how, after enduring the misery of hunger and thirst, Jacob
+disappeared to be seen no more.
+
+"Poor Jacob," sighed the bereaved mother; "nothing has been heard of him
+since. The poor lad must have perished under the rough treatment of the
+soldiers."
+
+"Peace to his soul!" said the Rabbi, reverently, and the company
+responded "Amen."
+
+These bitter-sweet memories were compensated for by the great
+improvement which had taken place in the condition of the Jews during
+the past twenty years. Mendel related how, on arriving in Kief, he found
+his uncle in a weather-beaten hovel, through the neglected roof of which
+the snow leaked in little rivulets. Hirsch Bensef now resided in a
+commodious dwelling in one of the best streets of the city.
+
+Would this state of affairs continue? Would Governor Drentell show the
+same leniency and magnanimity towards the Hebrews as did his
+predecessor? The new ruler had now been in power for nearly a year,
+during which time there had been no hostility, no curtailing of their
+liberties.
+
+"God grant that our condition will not grow worse," said the Rabbi. "The
+mental improvement of our people during these twenty years has been
+marvellous. If it continues at the same pace, there is no telling
+whither our progress will eventually lead us."
+
+Thus passed the Sabbath meal in pleasant conversation, during which
+plans were laid for future improvement. After supper, friends and
+relatives trooped in to congratulate the newly-betrothed couple.
+
+While this homely feast was going on at the Rabbi's house, an
+entertainment of a different nature was in progress in the Petcherskoi
+quarter.
+
+The Governor's palace was ablaze with light. The glare of a thousand
+lamps shone through the windows upon the falling snow, converting icy
+crystals into scintillating gems. Long lines of sleighs and covered
+carriages were drawn up before the entrance, and from them emerged
+richly uniformed officers and handsomely attired ladies. Within,
+liveried lackeys relieved the guests of their furs, and ushered them
+into the presence of the Governor and his wife, who, with smiling
+countenance, greeted each new arrival.
+
+It was a court ball, such as the Governors of the various provinces
+give; miniature reproductions of the magnificent entertainments in which
+the Imperial Court at St. Petersburg delights.
+
+Here all was beauty and refinement. The court circle of Kief was
+composed of officers attached to the provincial government, men who
+remained in the city only so long as their official duties demanded.
+They were accompanied by their wives and daughters, ladies who for the
+most part possessed every advantage of education, who had studied abroad
+and brought into Russia the choicest of French and German fashions.
+There were also many young army officers, always welcome guests at these
+affairs, in which young ladies were apt to predominate. It is not
+strange, therefore, that these balls should present the most fascinating
+aspects of Russian life, and form a charming contrast to the dark scenes
+of ignorance and misery which it has been our duty to depict.
+
+The ball at the Governor's was given to introduce into polite Russian
+society Loris Drentell, the Governor's son. Loris had returned after a
+short absence from Kief. There was no need of his remaining away any
+longer. No one suspected that a Drentell had been even remotely
+connected with the Nihilist plot, and there were none of the
+conspirators left to tell of his connection with it. The trouble in
+Turkey had subsided and there was no longer any necessity for keeping
+Loris' regiment on the frontier. The lieutenant was, therefore, recalled
+and a grand ball was given in his honor.
+
+Court balls in Russia do not differ materially from those of other
+countries, and we will leave the gay cavaliers and pretty women whirling
+through one of Strauss' waltzes, while we enter the Governor's private
+room.
+
+General Dimitri Drentell and his intimate advisers had withdrawn from
+the festivities and had sought the seclusion of the cabinet. Mikail the
+priest had just entered.
+
+"Ah! Mikail," said the Governor; "you are a late caller."
+
+"The train brought me from St. Petersburg but a few minutes ago, and I
+hastened to present myself to your excellency at once. Had I known that
+there was a ball this evening, I should have deferred my visit until
+to-morrow."
+
+"Make no apologies," answered Drentell. "We would have been disappointed
+had you not come to-night. What news do you bring us from the capital?"
+
+"The best, your excellency. I spoke to his imperial majesty in person.
+He desires to be commended to you, and approves of your energetic
+measures in bringing the suspected Nihilists to judgment. He counts your
+excellency among his stanchest supporters."
+
+The Governor flushed with pleasure. Bright visions of future advancement
+passed through his mind.
+
+"And our policy as regards the Jews?" he asked.
+
+"Has his sanction! In fact, any project which will divert the minds of
+the populace from political questions, meets with imperial favor. But
+the animosity towards the Jews must not appear too sudden and
+unwarranted. Convinced that they have in many cases assumed privileges
+not allowed them by law, and rendered themselves punishable by the
+statutes, the Minister of War has decided to appoint a commission of
+inquiry, which shall investigate the following questions." The priest
+took an official paper from his pocket and read:
+
+"_First_--In what trades do the Jews engage which are injurious to the
+well-being of the faithful inhabitants?
+
+"_Second_--Is it impracticable to put into force the ancient laws
+limiting the rights of the Jews in the matter of buying and farming
+land, and in the trade in intoxicants.
+
+"_Third_--How can these laws be strengthened so that they can no longer
+be evaded?
+
+"_Fourth_--To what extent is usury practised by the Jews in their
+dealings with the Christians.
+
+"_Fifth_--What is the number of public houses kept by the Jews, and what
+is the injury resulting to Christians by reason of the sale of
+intoxicants.
+
+"The commission is to report to the Minister of War as soon as
+practicable," continued Mikail, replacing the paper in his pocket. "I
+have the honor to be one of the commissioners, and as soon as we have
+obtained definite information upon these points--information which is
+sure to be damaging--we will be ready to proceed against the accursed
+race."
+
+"But if the reports are not damaging to the Jews?" asked one of the
+officials.
+
+"They will be," answered the priest; "the commission has been appointed
+for that purpose."
+
+"Then woe to the Jews!" answered the official.
+
+"Yes, woe to the Jews!" responded the priest, and the malignant
+expression of his countenance boded ill to his kindred.
+
+"Come! let us return to the ball room," said Drentell, taking the priest
+by the arm.
+
+"Your excellency must pardon me," answered Mikail, "My clothes are
+travel-stained, and I am neither in a condition nor in the humor to
+enjoy the festivities."
+
+"But Loris is here," continued the Governor.
+
+Mikail suppressed a grimace of displeasure.
+
+"There is no haste. I shall see him to-morrow," he answered, and bowed
+himself out of the room.
+
+"Strange man," muttered the Governor, when the door had closed upon the
+priest's retreating form. "I almost fear him when he is attacked by his
+fits of gloomy anger. Poor Jews! You will find Drentell a different man
+from your soft-hearted Pomeroff. Ah, if Mikail but knew; if he but
+knew!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE PRIEST IN THE SYNAGOGUE.
+
+
+Mikail did not allow the grass to grow beneath his feet. Stimulated by
+the approval of the Czar as well as by his own undying hatred, he lost
+no time in collecting the statistics that were required for his
+purpose.
+
+Hitherto he had been content to accept hearsay evidence in his estimate
+of Jewish life and character; he had never knowingly come in contact
+with one of the race. Convinced, however, that public opinion was not
+half severe enough, he determined to personally investigate their manner
+of life. For some days, therefore, he made periodical trips through the
+old Jewish quarter, sounded the Christians with whom the Jews
+occasionally associated, and with an acute but not impartial eye, made
+his observations.
+
+It was Saturday of the week following the events narrated in the last
+chapter. The snow that mantled the earth was frozen solid, and the bells
+tinkled merrily as the sleighs skimmed over the glistening road. A cold
+bracing air sent the blood surging through the veins of the pedestrians
+and brought the ruddy glow of health to their cheeks.
+
+The priest, bent upon new discoveries, walked rapidly in the direction
+of the Jewish quarter. Suddenly he stopped. He had almost run against a
+man who was hurriedly walking in the opposite direction.
+
+"What, Loris! is it you?" he cried, upon recognizing his protector's
+son. "What are you doing in this part of the town?"
+
+"I might repeat the question," answered Loris. "Why is a priest roaming
+about these streets, when he should be counting his beads up in the
+Petcherskoi convent?"
+
+Mikail frowned. Loris' sneering tone grated harshly upon him.
+
+"I owe you no explanation," he said, curtly; "but if it will give you
+any satisfaction to know, I am following up a subject of importance to
+the State."
+
+"And I," said Loris, confidingly, "am following up a far more
+interesting subject. You should see her, Mikail! Such a head, such eyes,
+such a form! To think that I have wasted so many months abroad while
+Kief held such a treasure!"
+
+"What do you mean?" asked the priest, dryly.
+
+"A young girl, of course. She must live about here somewhere. I saw her
+come up this street, but when I turned the corner she had mysteriously
+disappeared. I tell you, Mikail, she is a beauty. I shall not rest until
+I find her!"
+
+"You are seeking perdition," exclaimed the priest, wrathfully. "A pretty
+face is Satan's trap to lure a weak soul into his toils."
+
+"Convent talk!" answered Loris, disdainfully. "Why do I stand here and
+speak to a priest about a woman? When you take your vows of celibacy you
+pretend to dislike anything that wears petticoats. But I doubt whether
+even you could resist the temptation of a handsome face and voluptuous
+form."
+
+Mikail's eyes flashed. He was about to reply to Loris' sneer, but, by a
+severe effort, he checked his rising anger, and without another word
+turned on his heel and walked away.
+
+"Ill-natured cur!" muttered Loris. "They are all alike--hypocritical
+fools! With all their pretended virtue, I would not like to expose the
+best of them to even a moderate temptation."
+
+Mikail walked through a maze of lanes until he came to the street which
+had formed one of the boundaries of the "Jews' town." He now observed,
+for the first time, groups of Jewish men, women and children, dressed in
+their holiday attire, pass him and enter a large building not far away.
+
+"It is their Sabbath, and they are going to their barbarous worship,"
+thought the priest, as he crossed himself.
+
+He went further into the quarter, carefully avoiding the groups that he
+encountered, and finally entered the dwelling of a Christian woman, who
+sublet rooms to Jewish tenants. The information which awaited him here
+must have been important, for it was quite a while before he emerged
+into the street and retraced his steps towards the city. His path led
+directly past Mendel's synagogue. Through the window he heard the chant
+of the _hazan_, and he paused, reflectively.
+
+"After all," he murmured, "what harm can it do if I go in. I am in
+search of facts and where shall I be better able to find them than in
+the Jews' stronghold, their synagogue?"
+
+Crossing himself devoutly, he opened the door and entered.
+
+The _shamas_ (sexton), surprised to see a _gallach_ (priest) in the
+synagogue, stood for some moments in doubt, but finally shuffled up to
+the stranger and showed him a seat in the last row of benches.
+
+Mikail sat down passively. For a moment he seemed dazed and stupefied.
+Perhaps it was only the heat and the glare of the burning candles; but
+gradually a strange spell came over him, which he tried in vain to shake
+off.
+
+He could not remember ever having been in a synagogue, and yet the
+praying-desks, the pulpit and the ark for the holy scrolls seemed
+singularly familiar. He looked up. Yes, there was the latticed gallery
+filled with women, just as he had expected to find it!
+
+The _hazan_ was intoning a prayer. Between the words he interjected a
+number of strange trills and turns. How weird it all sounded, and yet
+how familiar to the wondering priest. Mikail found himself almost
+instinctively supplying the following word before it was uttered by the
+reader. Then the congregation arose and responded to the prayer, and
+Mikail arose, too, and it seemed as though the words of the responses
+were laid upon his tongue.
+
+It was strange, very strange, and yet it was fascinating.
+
+Again the congregation arose. The Rabbi went to the ark at the back of
+the pulpit and took out one of the scrolls, covered with a red velvet
+cloth curiously embroidered with golden letters. Mikail followed his
+every movement with intense interest. He scarcely breathed.
+
+"_Shema Israel,_" sang the Rabbi; "_Adonai Elohenu,_" and then he paused
+a moment to clear his throat of something he must have inhaled.
+
+"Why don't he continue," thought Mikail, impatient at the momentary
+interruption, and then in a voice loud enough to be heard over the
+entire synagogue, he ended the sentence by crying:
+
+"_Adonai Echod!_"
+
+All turned to look at the speaker, and they whispered among themselves
+in surprise at hearing a monk recite the _shema_ in a _schul_. The women
+looked down from the gallery in amazement.
+
+Mikail's face flushed. His first impulse was to flee, to get out of the
+accursed place, to break the spell of enchantment that bound him. With a
+muttered prayer he strode to the door, only to find it locked from
+without. It was customary to bolt the door during certain portions of
+the service, to prevent noise and consequent disturbance.
+
+The priest was therefore obliged to remain. Obeying a natural impulse,
+he made the sign of the cross, set his jaws firmly, and awaited further
+developments.
+
+The _hazan_ opened the Pentateuch and the _parnas_ of the congregation
+was called to the _Torah_. Every movement was anticipated by the priest.
+The parnas reverently lifted the fringes of his _tallis_, and with them
+touched the sacred Scroll; then, kissing them, he recited the customary
+blessing. Mikail repeated it with him. It sounded almost as familiar as
+his own liturgy. Suddenly a reaction came over the stern and haughty
+priest as the services continued. A strange storm broke within his
+bosom; undefined recollections, visions of a once happy home, a tangled
+revery of fanciful memories chased each other through his excited brain.
+Without knowing why, he felt the hot tears coursing down his cheeks,
+tears which not even the harsh treatment he had endured during his early
+years at the monastery could force from their reservoirs. One after
+another, seven men were called to the _Torah_, and their actions and
+prayers were a repetition of those of the _parnas_. The monotonous
+reading at length came to an end, Mikail heard the bolts withdrawn, and
+with hasty strides he cleared the passage into the street. On he sped
+through the city, looking neither to the right nor the left, scarcely
+knowing whither he went, until he finally reached the Petcherskoi
+convent, where he had taken up his temporary quarters. Without returning
+the greetings of the monks, apparently unconscious of his surroundings,
+he went straight to his cell and there gave way to a flood of passion.
+
+An hour afterwards a monk found him upon his knees before an icon, in
+fervent prayer.
+
+"I have been bewitched, Sergeitch," he said, with his wonted calmness.
+"Pray for me that the evil spirit may leave me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+LORIS FALLS IN LOVE.
+
+
+Kathinka, well wrapped in a heavy mantle, walked briskly along the
+darkening street. She had gone to the extreme end of the city to succor
+a sick and needy widow and was now hastening homeward with a light and
+happy heart. The world seemed bright and cheerful to the young girl
+whose every desire was gratified and every wish granted. As she neared
+her home, she became aware of the presence of a man some yards behind
+her, keeping pace with her own steps. Kathinka quickened her gait, but
+the man was evidently determined not to lose sight of her and hurried
+after her. The girl remembered that she had been followed by the same
+person some days before, and, while she attached no importance to the
+incident at that time, she now became frightened and glanced timidly
+about her. The street was deserted and there was no place of refuge in
+sight. With a little cry of alarm, she lifted her skirts and ran at full
+speed in the direction of her dwelling, but she had not proceeded far
+before the stranger caught up with her, and, grasping her by the arm,
+held her as in a vise. Kathinka stopped and, with flushed and angry
+look, faced the stranger.
+
+"Lovely creature," said the man, insinuatingly, when he had recovered
+his breath, "why do you flee from me? Can you not see that I am anxious
+to speak with you?"
+
+"Let me go!" cried the girl, indignantly. "You hurt me."
+
+Loris, for the stranger was no other than the Governor's son, released
+the girl's arm, but he barred her escape by placing himself directly
+before her. Kathinka tried in vain to pass him; then, pausing, with
+heaving bosom, she cried:
+
+"What do you mean, sir? Have you no manhood left, that you molest a
+defenceless woman?"
+
+"Listen to me but a moment," answered Loris, passionately; "and then go
+your way if you will. I have been following your footsteps for the last
+two weeks, desiring, yet fearing, to speak to you. From the day I first
+beheld you, I have thought of nothing else. I have sighed for you and
+dreamed of you. I was happy when I caught a glimpse of you and sad when
+you were out of my sight, sad until I saw your features again. Do not
+now repulse me. Take pity upon me."
+
+These sentences, expressed with all the passionate earnestness of which
+youth is capable, greatly terrified Kathinka.
+
+"Sir, I do not know you," she exclaimed; "and if I did I could have
+nothing in common with you. Let me go, and if you are a gentleman, you
+will in future avoid troubling me."
+
+"By God, you shall not leave me without giving me some encouragement.
+Kathinka, I love you! When you know who I am you will not treat me so
+cruelly."
+
+"If you were the Governor himself I should have but one answer for you,
+and that is that you have outraged every sentiment of honor," cried the
+girl, with growing indignation.
+
+Loris seized her hand.
+
+"No, do not despise me; hear me to the end!" he cried, passionately. "I
+am Loris Drentell, the son of your Governor. I know what I am risking in
+loving a Jewess, but I cannot help it. Kathinka, you have bewitched me.
+I love you! Do you understand me? I love you! I only ask you to think
+kindly of me, to see me of your own free will, and to give me the
+blessed hope that you will in time return my affection. Do not consign
+me to misery!"
+
+Kathinka struggled to free her hand from his grasp. Overcome by terror,
+it was some time before she could gain strength to reply.
+
+"Count Drentell," she said, at length; "you have spoken the truth. I am
+a Jewess, and any contact with me would dishonor you. Moreover, I am
+betrothed to one of my own race, and while I feel the honor you would
+bestow upon me in offering me your love, I have but one reply to make: I
+do not wish to see you again."
+
+"Don't drive me to despair, Kathinka; I cannot live without your
+friendship, without your love. Why should your betrothed stand in the
+way? I am rich and powerful. I can give you whatever your heart desires.
+You shall want for nothing, if you will only look upon me with favor."
+And he again seized her hand and covered it with kisses.
+
+This flattering speech filled Kathinka with loathing. Well she knew that
+it meant not love, but the basest of passions, and that a Jewess could
+never become more than the passing fancy of Count Drentell. With a
+disdainful glance at him, she turned to go.
+
+"Count Drentell," she answered, calmly; "this is disgraceful. You seem
+to forget your position, your birth. You forget that I belong to a
+proscribed race."
+
+"You are right," replied the young man, bitterly; "I forgot everything
+but my love for you."
+
+"Then try and forget that. And now, sir, enough of this farce. Let me
+pass, or I shall call for help."
+
+Loris bit his lips in vexation.
+
+"Do not decide so hastily," he said. "A terrible danger threatens the
+Jews. My father, who detests your people, is even now plotting their
+destruction. I may, perhaps, avert the calamity, may dissuade him from
+his terrible projects. Will you allow me to serve you? One word of
+encouragement and I will be your willing slave."
+
+Kathinka started. Was it true that a new danger menaced her people? She
+could not tell. Perhaps it was but an invention of the Count to further
+his own ends. In her opinion, he was base enough for anything.
+
+"The God of Israel has been our support in the past," she answered,
+firmly; "He will not desert us in the future. Come what will, I shall
+not endeavor to avoid it by the loss of my self-respect. Now, make way,
+sir; let me go."
+
+"And is this the end of all my dreams? Am I to abandon all hope of ever
+seeing you again?" asked Loris, gloomily.
+
+"Count Drentell," replied the girl, with a proud glance. "Do not
+persecute me with your attentions, which are extremely distasteful to
+me. I trust we shall never meet again."
+
+And with a haughty sweep of her beautiful head, she passed the
+astonished Loris and walked rapidly down the street.
+
+The young man looked after her for a moment in silence; then he stamped
+his foot in rage.
+
+"She refuses my attentions, the proud Jewess! But I will conquer her in
+spite of her pride."
+
+It was not until Kathinka reached home that her strong spirit gave way,
+and she threw herself into a chair and wept bitterly. Her mother and
+father, surprised at such an outburst of emotion, hastened to her side,
+but it was some time before the girl attempted an explanation. Then she
+told her parents of her encounter with the Governor's son.
+
+The Rabbi walked up and down the room in great perturbation. The affair
+promised no pleasant conclusion.
+
+"Alas, that your beauty should have attracted the young Count!" he said.
+"It is very unfortunate. Who knows to what extremes he may go to revenge
+himself upon you for having refused his advances."
+
+"Was there any other course for me to take?" asked Kathinka.
+
+"No, my child; you acted honorably. There was nothing else for you to
+do."
+
+"But the calamity which the man predicted would befall Israel?" said
+Recha.
+
+"It may have been an idle threat. There is no need of borrowing trouble.
+Misfortune has ever found the Jews steadfast and ready to bear the
+greatest hardships for their faith. If new troubles come, we will not be
+found wanting. In the meantime there is nothing to do but wait."
+
+"If I should meet him again and he should again force his attentions
+upon me, what could I do?" sighed Kathinka, nervously.
+
+"For the present do not venture out unless with me or Joseph. We must
+inform Kierson of this matter at once. He has doubtless frequent
+opportunities of seeing this young Count and can keep his eyes on him.
+Perhaps Drentell is honorable enough to desist if he sees that his
+advances are repelled."
+
+Kathinka shook her head, despondently.
+
+"I fear not, father. You should have seen his face and heard his words.
+Such passion is not subdued by neglect. I am afraid that he will become
+our implacable enemy and that we will eventually have more to fear from
+his hatred than from his love."
+
+The Rabbi did not reply, but his heart echoed his daughter's
+forebodings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+AN UNFORTUNATE ENCOUNTER.
+
+
+Kathinka now rarely went out, and never alone. On her way to the
+synagogue and upon her little errands of mercy, she was invariably
+attended by her devoted Joseph. The very danger to which the girl had
+been exposed served to cement their hearts more closely.
+
+For a time, nothing was seen of Loris. One day, however, Joseph and
+Kathinka had just left the Rabbi's house.
+
+"Look," whispered Kathinka, pressing Joseph's arm, "he is following us."
+
+Joseph turned rapidly and perceived the form of Loris at some distance
+behind them. The Count, seeing that he was observed, turned a corner and
+disappeared. For several months after, Kathinka saw nothing more of her
+persecutor, and the disagreeable episode gradually faded from her
+memory.
+
+One bright afternoon the girl sat at her window, reading. Her father was
+engaged in his duties at the school, and her mother had gone from home
+to take a bottle of wine to a sick neighbor and would probably remain
+away until evening. Kathinka was not alone, however, for she had the
+companionship of her books, more congenial entertainers than were the
+gossiping maidens of her intimate circle.
+
+Suddenly there was a knock at the door; before she could rise it was
+thrown open, and Loris Drentell stood before her. He deliberately closed
+the door again and placed his hat and coat upon a chair.
+
+Kathinka could not utter a word, so great was her consternation. Loris
+stood facing her for some moments in silence.
+
+"Kathinka," he said, at length, "I have come at the risk of offending
+you, to repeat the declaration I made some time ago; to tell you that I
+love you. Do you still bear me the ill-will that you evinced towards me
+then?"
+
+Kathinka rose from her chair and, drawing herself up to her full height,
+pointed to the door.
+
+"Go!" she said, "or I shall summon help."
+
+Loris smiled cynically.
+
+"Do not excite yourself unnecessarily," he said, coolly. "You are alone
+in the house. I know it, for I have been watching for some time and saw
+both your parents leave. It will be useless for you to call for
+assistance. Sit down and hear me out."
+
+Finding resistance useless, the girl fell back into her chair, and with
+a gesture of despair hid her face in her hands.
+
+"Miss Winenki," said Loris, quietly at first, but gradually becoming
+more passionate in his appeal, "do not judge me harshly for taking this
+means of seeing you. I knew of no other way of gaining your ear. I love
+you sincerely, madly. For the last two months I have been vainly
+struggling with this feeling, have been trying to conquer my
+infatuation, but I am ever haunted by the vision of your beauty. Do not
+turn from me as though I were unworthy of you. Think not of me as a
+cold, selfish man who lives but to satisfy the desires of a moment.
+Never had maiden so devoted a lover as I will be to you. I will grant
+your every wish, I will bestow upon you wealth and luxury. You shall be
+the envied of all the ladies of the land and I will have no other aim
+than to make you happy. Can you still doubt me when I, who might win the
+proudest in the Empire, now kneel at your feet and ask you to smile upon
+me?"
+
+Loris had fallen upon his knees and had seized the girl's hand, which he
+lifted passionately to his lips.
+
+Alone with this singular man, who seemed swayed only by his passions,
+Kathinka was overcome by a terror which robbed her of the power of
+speech. She could only gaze into Loris' upturned face in mute despair.
+
+Drentell interpreted her silence favorably, and with a joyful cry he
+arose and folded the astonished girl in his arms.
+
+"You will be mine, you will not reject my love? Turn your eyes upon me
+and make me happy with your smile. Do not struggle in my embrace, but
+tell me that you love me."
+
+By a violent effort Kathinka succeeded in freeing herself from his
+passionate clasp and now stood with her back to the wall. Her black eyes
+flashed with an angry fire, as she cried:
+
+"Count Drentell, you have taken advantage of my helplessness to intrude
+upon my privacy and have acted, not as befits a gentleman, but in a
+manner that one would scarcely expect from the meanest of your father's
+serfs. Let us understand one another. In spite of my repulses you still
+continue to assert that you love me."
+
+"To desperation," murmured the Count.
+
+"Were I to yield to your entreaties and accept your love, would you make
+me your wife? Would you present me to the world as the Countess
+Drentell? Answer me, sir!"
+
+Loris hesitated before replying.
+
+"I would surround you with all the luxury and pomp that money could
+command. I would make you the happiest of women."
+
+"I demand an unequivocal reply. Would you make me your wife?" insisted
+the girl.
+
+"Before God we would be man and wife."
+
+"Count Drentell, would you brave the anger of your father and the
+opinion of the entire court and present me, the Jewess, as your wife?"
+
+Loris looked for a moment at the flashing eyes of the indignant girl,
+and then his glance sought the floor.
+
+"I do not deny," he said, at length, "that there would be grave
+difficulties in the way of such a step. I fear the court would never
+recognize a Jewess as the Countess Drentell. But what of that? It is but
+an idle formality. Even though the world do not know of our
+relationship, we will be none the less man and wife."
+
+"In other words, you would make of me your puppet, your plaything, to be
+fondled to-day and cast aside to-morrow! You would have me renounce my
+family, my betrothed, my religion, my honor and my reputation, to
+become the creature of your pleasures until you weary of me! Vile
+wretch! you are a greater villain than I thought. Go, and never again
+darken my path with your presence."
+
+Loris uttered a cry of fury. He had counted upon an easy victory over
+the poor Jewess, and he saw his wicked dreams rudely disturbed. With one
+bound he was by the side of Kathinka and wound his arms about her.
+
+"So you think to brave me, poor fool!" he said, savagely. "You think to
+escape me! But I will have you yet; you shall be mine in spite of your
+petty scruples. If you will not come to my arms peaceably, I must use
+force; but come you shall!"
+
+He clasped the frail girl in both his arms, and lifting her up from the
+ground, he bore her towards the door. Anger and despair lent Kathinka
+tenfold strength. With a cry for help, she struggled in his embrace and
+by a mighty effort freed herself.
+
+Again, Loris, blinded by rage, seized her, and Kathinka, overcome by
+terror, uttered a piercing cry and fainted away.
+
+At that moment the door opened and Joseph Kierson entered the room. He
+was on his way to Kathinka's house and her cry of terror had lent wings
+to his feet. He rushed upon the Count and threw him to the floor. In an
+instant the two men were locked in each other's grasp, the hand of each
+upon the other's throat.
+
+The contest was almost equal. They were both of powerful physique and
+equally courageous and for some minutes the battle raged with varying
+success.
+
+Joseph was aware that upon his victory depended the honor of his
+betrothed and his own happiness; he believed that if the Count obtained
+the mastery, he would not scruple to kill him outright. He exerted all
+his strength and freed himself from the powerful clasp of his foe. Then
+he struck the Count so violent a blow as to render him senseless.
+
+Joseph paused for breath and for reflection. His first care was to
+restore Kathinka to consciousness, and he soon had the satisfaction of
+bringing her back to life. With a sigh she opened her eyes and turned
+them in gratitude upon her preserver. Then she gazed about her and, as
+her glance fell upon the prostrate form of the nobleman, she shuddered
+and stretched out her hands to Joseph. The young man helped her to her
+feet and led her to a sofa. In a few words she related all that had
+occurred previous to Joseph's arrival.
+
+A great difficulty now presented itself; how to dispose of the Count. A
+glance showed Kierson that he was not dead, yet it was almost half an
+hour before Loris regained his senses and with difficulty rose to his
+feet. His face was badly bruised and scratched, one eye being entirely
+closed. Kierson humanely went to his assistance, but Loris, with an
+oath, declined the proffered aid and moved slowly to the door.
+
+"You shall hear from me again," were his parting words; "my reckoning
+will come later on!"
+
+Passing out into the street, he entered the _droshka_ which was in
+waiting, and in which he had intended carrying off Kathinka, and was
+driven to his home.
+
+The Rabbi on his return was at once informed of the occurrence. While
+his daughter related her story, he walked up and down with clenched
+fists and heaving breast. He now realized, for the first time, the
+terrible danger which threatened his beloved child, and his indignation
+against the villain who had molested her found vent in vigorous
+language. At the same time he did not close his eyes to the fact that
+the rage of the baffled man would spend itself not only upon Kathinka
+but upon the whole Jewish population.
+
+"It is not likely," he said, after he had heard the end of the
+narrative, "that Drentell will allow the matter to rest. A man who is so
+unscrupulous as is this young tyrant, will go to extremes to carry out
+his purpose or to take vengeance upon those who have thwarted him. It is
+for your safety I fear most, Joseph, and I advise you to absent yourself
+from Kief for some time at least, until this affair has been forgotten."
+
+"Never!" cried Joseph, bravely, "I have but done my duty and I will
+abide the consequences. To leave Kief would be to abandon the promising
+career I have mapped out for myself; besides, Kathinka may again require
+my assistance. I shall remain."
+
+"You incur a great risk," admonished the Rabbi.
+
+"I will not seek to escape it by flight, but will remain here and meet
+the danger."
+
+Joseph returned to his parents' roof, but in spite of his courage he
+felt ill at ease. His parents heard him relate his adventures, and
+lifted their hearts in prayer to God to avert the catastrophe which they
+felt would in all probability follow the encounter between their boy and
+the Governor's son.
+
+Their fears were not unfounded. At eight o'clock that evening there was
+a rap at the door of old Kierson's dwelling, and two uniformed officers
+confronted the terror-stricken family.
+
+"We seek Joseph Kierson," said one of the soldiers.
+
+"I am he," answered the young man, with as much firmness as he could
+command.
+
+"I arrest you in the name of his majesty the Czar," continued the
+officer, placing a heavy hand upon the poor lad's shoulder.
+
+"Of what am I accused?" asked Joseph.
+
+"I do not know. Perhaps the warden of the prison can tell you."
+
+Joseph was well aware that resistance would make the matter worse.
+Kissing his weeping parents and offering them all the consolation in his
+power, he accompanied the officers to the prison, there to await the
+action of the Governor.
+
+Within an hour, the whole Jewish community knew the events of the day,
+and there were lamentations throughout the quarter, for the blow that
+had fallen upon the young man portended disaster to them all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+KIERSON'S ESCAPE.
+
+
+For weeks Joseph languished in prison, in total ignorance of the fate
+that awaited him. At first the Governor was too busy to attend to the
+case and it afterward slipped his memory entirely. For reasons of his
+own, Loris did not interfere. Although he had instigated the arrest of
+the Jew, he was careful not to inform his father of the true cause of
+the trouble. His injured eye and general appearance required some
+explanation and a drinking bout with some of the University students was
+given as the cause. For the preservation of order, however, he advocated
+the arrest of the offender and Kierson was taken into custody. Loris'
+course was not dictated by caprice. If his august father knew that he
+had sought an alliance with a daughter of the despised Hebrew race, he
+would vent his wrath upon Loris' head for compromising the honor of the
+noble family of Drentell.
+
+The punishment usually inflicted upon students for quarrelling among
+themselves was light and limited to a small fine. Kierson's was an
+aggravated offence, however. The dignity of the Governor's son had
+suffered, and as there was no precedent the case was allowed to drag on
+indefinitely. Loris used his influence with the authorities to keep
+Joseph in durance.
+
+Meanwhile, the Israelites were not idle. Convinced that Kierson had done
+nothing but his duty, they drew up a petition to the Governor, pleading
+for mercy. Rabbi Mendel himself carried the document to the palace,
+trusting to supplement the petition with his own eloquence.
+
+Alas! the time when Mendel Winenki was a power in the Governor's house
+had long since passed. There was a ruler now who knew not of the Rabbi
+and his deeds, and Mendel had not even the satisfaction of speaking to
+his excellency in person. He and his petition were referred to the Chief
+of Police, the official who was supposed to have the entire matter in
+charge.
+
+Sick at heart, Mendel sought that worthy functionary. He carefully read
+the petition, put it in his pocket and promised to look up the case and
+report it to the Governor as soon as possible.
+
+It was poor consolation that the Rabbi took to his people. Their
+petition had accomplished nothing. It was not even possible to discover
+where Joseph was concealed and whether he had already been sentenced or
+not. Kathinka was heart-broken. She knew not what to do. A praiseworthy
+impulse to go to the palace and throw herself at the Governor's feet was
+checked by the thought that Loris might be there to delight in her
+humiliation and to use his power to defeat her prayer.
+
+After several weeks of suspense, the poor girl received a letter. It was
+in a strange handwriting and she opened it with trembling hands. She
+glanced hastily at the signature and with a cry allowed the missive to
+fall to the ground.
+
+"What is it, Kathinka?" asked the Rabbi, who had been sitting near-by.
+
+"Read it, father; it is from Drentell!" cried his daughter.
+
+The Rabbi took the letter up anxiously and his eyes ran eagerly over its
+contents. Kathinka saw the deadly pallor that spread over his
+countenance, watched his quivering lip and darkening brow. He read to
+the end, and crumpling the letter in his hand, he threw himself upon the
+sofa in a paroxysm of grief. The girl who had never before seen her
+father so affected became seriously alarmed.
+
+"What is it, father? What does he write?" she asked.
+
+"Read it, my child; it is for you," sobbed the poor man. "Read it and
+decide," and he handed the letter to his daughter, while the tears ran
+down his cheeks.
+
+Kathinka, with varied emotions, opened out the paper and read the
+contents. The note was as follows:
+
+
+     BELOVED KATHINKA:--You will justly reproach me for having
+     remained silent so long, but do not attribute it to a waning of my
+     affection. I love you more devotedly, more tenderly than ever. Your
+     cruelty to me at our last interview has but served to fan the flame
+     of my passion. I have since thought only of you. I know your heart
+     is set against me on account of the arrest of your betrothed. Do
+     not blame me for having a hand in his incarceration. The law of the
+     land is severe, and although I exerted my influence, I was
+     powerless to stay its hand in the matter. Your friend is condemned
+     to a life-long exile in Siberia. It is a terrible fate, worse than
+     death itself. You alone can save him from it. Consent to come to
+     me, to share my heart, to make me the happiest of men, and I myself
+     will plead with the Governor and obtain his pardon. The day that
+     sees you at my side will restore your friend to liberty. Do not
+     deem me cruel. I would serve you if you but gave me the right to do
+     so. I await your reply. LORIS.
+
+
+When Kathinka had ceased reading, she dropped the letter and hid her
+burning head in her hands, while her body rocked with grief and despair.
+
+Her father gazed at her in silence, with a look of intense commiseration
+on his face.
+
+"What can I do?" she moaned, at length. "What would Joseph have me do?
+He would rather die a thousand deaths than owe his liberty to my
+degradation. Father, my duty is clear! Joseph is innocent of any crime
+and the God of Israel will protect him."
+
+"God bless you, my daughter," replied the Rabbi. "You have spoken well.
+Will you answer this letter?"
+
+"No, father; I shall treat it with contempt. The writer can draw his own
+conclusions from my silence."
+
+It was a sad day for both the Rabbi's and Kierson's families. The
+latter, much as they loved their only son, sincerely approved of
+Kathinka's decision.
+
+"If he must go to Siberia," they sobbed; "he will go without a sin upon
+his soul. We are all in the hands of the Almighty."
+
+Old Kierson thenceforth went daily to the police headquarters,
+endeavoring in vain to obtain information about his son. He found no
+one that could enlighten him as to his present condition or future fate,
+and he trudged homeward, feeling daily more sick at heart, more
+depressed in spirit.
+
+At the end of a week, Kathinka received a second letter from her
+persecutor. It was more offensive than the first. It stated that Joseph
+was still a prisoner; that owing to his (Loris') influence the sentence
+had not yet been carried out. There was still time to save him from
+ignominious exile. He hinted, moreover, at a movement to drive the Jews
+out of Kief and promised to avert the catastrophe if Kathinka yielded to
+his persuasions. There were passion and insult in every line.
+
+The poor girl was almost distracted with grief and mortification, the
+more so as it became necessary to take the entire Jewish community into
+the secret.
+
+Rabbi Mendel hastily summoned a meeting of the influential men of his
+congregation and laid the matter before them. There was great
+consternation when it was learned that a new danger threatened the race,
+but there was not one among them who would not have suffered the
+cruelest persecution rather than allow the Rabbi's daughter to sacrifice
+her honor for their salvation. It was impossible to form a plan of
+action, for as yet the peril that menaced them was too indefinite, but
+Mendel exhorted them to do nothing that might throw the slightest
+reproach upon Israel.
+
+The Governor's animosity towards the Jews now became manifest. The acts
+of intolerance were in themselves insignificant, but they were like the
+distant rumblings of thunder that precede the storm and were not easily
+mistaken by the poor Hebrews.
+
+Because of Kierson's thrashing the ruler's son, an edict was issued
+expelling Jewish students from the University of Kief. Some time after,
+a Jew who, through Mendel's influence during Pomeroff's palmy days had
+obtained the office of under-secretary to a police magistrate, was
+summarily dismissed "because he was a Hebrew." Then followed an edict
+restricting the attendance of Jewish children at the public schools, and
+expelling all children whose parents had not resided in the city for at
+least ten years, retaining the others only upon the payment of an
+exorbitant tax which none but the wealthy could afford. These and many
+other petty acts of intolerance caused the Jews no little uneasiness.
+
+One day Rabbi Winenki was sitting in his study. It was raining in
+torrents without, and the landscape appeared deluged and desolate. The
+Rabbi gazed out at the dismal scene and sighed regretfully as he thought
+of those whose occupations compelled them to remain out of doors in such
+miserable weather.
+
+Suddenly the door was thrown open and Joseph came, or rather rushed,
+into the room. His face was pale as death; his garments, torn and
+tattered, were soaked with rain. He had become thin through long
+confinement and every line of his features betokened abject misery.
+
+The Rabbi started as though he beheld a spectre, but seeing that the
+young man was about to sink to the floor exhausted, he sprang to his
+feet and helped him to a chair.
+
+"What, Joseph! God be praised! Kathinka, Recha, come quickly," he cried,
+running to the door leading to an adjoining apartment. "Bring some
+brandy."
+
+Kathinka was not long in coming, and unmindful of his appearance, with a
+cry of joy, she fell upon Joseph's bosom and kissed him rapturously.
+
+"Oh, Joseph, I am so happy!" murmured the girl. "Are you free, entirely
+free?"
+
+Joseph gasped for breath. He could not speak. The Rabbi hastily poured
+some liquor into a glass which Recha had brought and held it to the
+young man's lips. The draught seemed to revive him.
+
+"Hurry," he whispered, looking about him, anxiously; "hide me somewhere
+before the officers come after me."
+
+A look of disappointment passed over the Rabbi's face.
+
+"Then you are not acquitted?" he asked.
+
+"No! I escaped. I'll tell you all about it, but not here. They might
+come and find me. Let us go upstairs, anywhere out of sight. Send for my
+parents! It would be dangerous for me to visit them, but I must see them
+before I leave."
+
+"You are not going away again!" cried Kathinka.
+
+"I must. It is death to remain here!"
+
+The Rabbi supported the young man while he went to an upper floor, and
+leaving him to the ministrations of his wife and daughter, he despatched
+a messenger to the Kiersons to inform them of the arrival of the
+unexpected guest.
+
+By the time they were all assembled, Joseph had, in a measure revived
+and recovered his cheerful spirits.
+
+"But where have you been and what have you been doing?" asked the Rabbi,
+after the first loving greetings had been exchanged.
+
+"I have been in a terrible place," sighed the student, shuddering at the
+mere recollection of his experience. "When I was taken from home I was
+led to the jail near the barracks, up in the Petcherskoi quarter, and
+without a trial, without a hearing of any kind, I was thrown into a
+cell about five feet square. After my eyes had become accustomed to the
+darkness, I looked about me. In one corner I found a bed of straw with a
+cover as thin as paper. A broken chair and a rough wooden basin
+completed the furniture. The place reeked with corruption and filth, and
+the stench was almost unbearable. Of the vile food they placed before
+me, I could eat nothing except the bread. It was _trefa_, but had it
+been prepared according to our rites, its nauseating appearance would
+have caused me to reject it.
+
+"There I lay for weeks, perhaps months, for I lost all reckoning of
+time, without knowing what was to be done with me. I almost wished they
+would send me to Siberia, so that I might escape that foul atmosphere.
+If their jails are so terrible, what must be the condition of their
+Troubetzkoi prison?"
+
+"Poor boy," sobbed his father, "what a terrible experience you have had.
+But tell us, how did you escape?"
+
+"By the merest accident. They recently changed the warden of the prison,
+and the new incumbent, a kind-hearted man, at once visited the cells and
+inquired into the charges upon which each prisoner was detained. When he
+heard my story, he evinced the greatest surprise, and on investigating
+the matter, he came to the conclusion that I had been forgotten by the
+authorities, as it was not customary to detain a prisoner so long upon
+so slight an offence. The charge against me was simply participating in
+a student's quarrel, and the warden was inclined to be lenient with me.
+He at once made inquiries concerning my future fate, and learned that I
+was to be kept a prisoner until my punishment had been definitely
+decided upon. As there was no order to keep me in a cell, the warden
+allowed me to roam about the prison at will, and I made myself generally
+useful about the place. I tried to write to you, to inform you of my
+condition, but it was forbidden. To-day, the warden sent his assistant
+to town upon an errand, and he himself went down into one of the lower
+corridors to dispose of some new prisoners. He had left his keys upon
+his table. At last I saw liberty within reach! There was nobody about. I
+seized the keys, unlocked the outer gates and ran for my life. I feared
+I would be seen and recognized if I came directly through Kief, so I ran
+to the outskirts of the town and came here by a roundabout road. I have
+walked and run for the last two hours, through mud and rain, through
+swamps and ditches, until my feet would support me no longer. I thought
+I would never get here."
+
+"And if you should be discovered?" asked the Rabbi.
+
+"Then I will be taken back and treated more harshly than before. I would
+rather die than go back to that dreary cell. It is dangerous for you to
+harbor me. I must leave here at once, this very night."
+
+"Where will you go?" asked Kathinka, who was seated at the sufferer's
+side, and wiped the perspiration from his fevered brow.
+
+"I do not know. Anywhere! Wherever I can find friends to succor me, and
+where I can occasionally hear from you and see you."
+
+Mendel reflected a moment.
+
+"The Rabbi of Berditchef is my friend," he said, at length. "Go to him.
+I will give you a letter of introduction, and he will do all in his
+power to assist you. It is not far from here. If you start on foot
+to-night you can reach the place by morning."
+
+"Oh, you surely are not going to-night, and in such weather," cried the
+girl. "Don't leave us yet, Joseph; stay with us. We will conceal you."
+
+"Don't make my departure harder than I can bear, Kathinka. I must
+go--for your sake as well as for mine. I tremble even now, lest they
+should discover me. I will go to Berditchef for the present."
+
+"And your aspirations for a physician's career--what will become of
+them?" asked his father.
+
+Joseph sighed, and his eyes were dimmed with tears.
+
+"It will be hard to give up my plans, but I see no alternative."
+
+"Don't worry, my boy," said the Rabbi, consolingly. "There are more ways
+than one to make an honorable living. Honesty, thrift and energy will
+enable you to succeed in any undertaking. Whether you be a doctor or a
+cobbler, we will not think the less of you, and I am sure Kathinka will
+love you none the less."
+
+Kathinka threw her arms about her lover's neck and clung to him
+affectionately. Joseph's face brightened.
+
+"Get me something to eat," sighed the young man, "for I am famished and
+the way is long."
+
+A meal was hastily brought, and a substantial lunch was prepared by
+Kathinka's hands, to cheer the wanderer upon his lonely path.
+
+Night came. The storm had not abated, the wind still moaned and the rain
+fell in torrents. It was a wretched night for a foot-journey to
+Berditchef, and Joseph's mother and his affianced endeavored to persuade
+the young man to postpone his journey until morning.
+
+Joseph shook his head, sorrowfully.
+
+"I would be recaptured if I waited. No, I have no time to lose; every
+moment is precious. Think of me, my dear ones, and pray for me. When I
+can do so in safety, I shall return to Kief; until then, God bless you
+all."
+
+Kissing his weeping friends farewell, he wrapped himself in a stout
+mantle which the Rabbi had procured for him, and stepped out into the
+inhospitable night.
+
+For a time the sorrow-stricken families wept silently; then Mendel
+advised the Kiersons to return to their home at once.
+
+"If the police follow him," he said, "they will naturally search your
+dwelling first. It will be unfortunate if they find you absent, and
+might lead to inquiries which would give them a clue to his whereabouts.
+As it is, you can truthfully say that he has not shown himself in your
+house."
+
+The old people acted upon the suggestion and reached their house not a
+moment too soon. They had scarcely entered before a number of officers
+demanded admittance and began a thorough search of the premises.
+Satisfied by the replies of the lad's parents that he had not visited
+the house, they withdrew in no very amiable humor to continue their
+investigations at the house of the Rabbi, where they were equally
+unsuccessful. Failing to trace him in the Jewish quarter, the officers
+returned to the fortress and reported their lack of success to the
+warden. This worthy was at first inclined to lose his temper, but he
+finally shrugged his shoulders and muttered:
+
+"Let him go, poor fellow! He has been here nearly two months, and that
+is punishment enough for having thrashed a man, were that man the
+Governor himself."
+
+A few days later, Kathinka received two letters. The first she opened
+was from Joseph. It announced his safe arrival in Berditchef and his
+kind reception by the Rabbi's friend, who had at once found him
+congenial employment. It abounded in expressions of affection and
+undying love. Kathinka pressed it to her lips and, with an overflowing
+heart, thanked the Almighty that her lover was safe.
+
+The second letter was from Loris. It, too, was full of passionate
+yearning, but its flowery phrases created a feeling of intense disgust.
+The Count, evidently ignorant of Joseph's escape, ended his missive with
+the assurance that unless Kathinka acceded to his demands, her friend
+would be sent to Siberia on the morrow.
+
+Kathinka threw the paper into the fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+AN ATTEMPT UPON THE CZAR.
+
+
+Kathinka remained unmolested for some time, not because Loris had ceased
+to admire her, but because the young Count was condemned to a
+twelve-months' absence from Kief. This unsuspected stroke of good
+fortune for the girl happened in this wise:
+
+Towards the end of the year 1879, it became very evident that Nihilism
+was spreading to an alarming extent in the army. Four officers of Loris'
+regiment were arrested on a charge of disseminating revolutionary
+pamphlets and were summarily exiled. Another officer had assisted eight
+political offenders to escape and was kept in close confinement. General
+Drentell, in consequence, declared Kief, Kharkov and other districts
+under martial law.
+
+A stormy scene took place between the Governor and his son Loris, in
+which the former, mindful of the latter's past escapades, expressed his
+belief that his son was implicated in the plots of his comrades, while
+Loris indignantly denied all knowledge of the matter.
+
+"Listen to me, Loris!" said the General, purple with rage. "I saved your
+life once, at the risk of losing my own. As true as St. Nicholas hears
+us, if ever you repeat your plottings, I shall be as inexorable as
+though you were the meanest of the Czar's subjects."
+
+Loris saw that his father was in earnest and recoiled before the wrath
+of the stern old soldier. He again asserted his ignorance of any
+conspiracy.
+
+Not knowing how many more officers of the regiment were implicated,
+Drentell decided to transfer the entire division to another district, in
+the hope of severing any connection which might exist between the men
+and the Revolutionary Committee.
+
+Loris had to obey the order and accompany his regiment to the steppes of
+Central Russia, where he remained until the active disorders in Kief a
+year later recalled him.
+
+Nihilism was not to be rooted out by the removal of any particular set
+of men. It had spread its branches among all classes and conditions of
+society, and the number of its adherents was increasing with alarming
+rapidity.
+
+The martyr who unflinchingly faces death for the sake of his faith, the
+Nihilist who exposes himself to imprisonment or death in the hope of
+attaining constitutional liberty, are examples of the heroic endurance
+of minds exalted by principle. The Jew's devotion to his religion has
+always been most intense when intolerance and persecution were at their
+height. In like manner the love of liberty is developed to its greatest
+extent when despotism seeks to stifle it.
+
+
+  "Brightest in dungeons, liberty thou art,
+  For there the habitation is the heart."
+
+
+Twenty-one persons were arrested in Kief, and almost as many in Kharkov,
+and still Nihilism was not stamped out. Phoenix-like it arose from the
+ashes of its martyrs.
+
+On February the 17th, 1880, just as the imperial family were about to
+dine, a mine was exploded beneath the winter palace, the guard-room was
+demolished, ten soldiers were killed and forty-five wounded; but, the
+divinity which sometimes hedges a king preserved the royal family from
+harm.
+
+Excitement was intense. A commission of public safety, with authority to
+preserve order at any cost, was at once appointed, with General Melikoff
+at the head.
+
+On the second day of March, during the festival, General Melikoff was
+shot at as he alighted from his carriage. The would-be assassin was so
+close that the General struck him in the face, and the man was arrested.
+
+At the trial it was discovered that the malefactor was a baptized Jew,
+by the name of Wadetsky Minsk. The trial excited universal interest. The
+culprit was asked by the judge why he had deserted his faith.
+
+"Because I found it impossible to live as a Jew," he replied, bitterly.
+"You took from me my children to send them to the army; you deprived me
+of the lands I had cultivated and left me penniless; you despised and
+degraded me, and when I had suffered until the fibres of my heart were
+torn, you showed me a glowing picture of the happiness that awaited me
+here and in heaven if I became a Christian. I allowed myself to be
+baptized."
+
+Minsk paused, and the expression of his face showed the mental anguish
+he was at that moment enduring. Suddenly, he continued, with great
+vehemence:
+
+"Yes, I became a Christian, or rather a godless hypocrite, who had
+bartered away the sympathy of his co-religionists as well as his
+self-respect. How did you treat me after I had embraced your faith?
+Humiliations, worse than any I had experienced as a Jew, were showered
+upon me. I was regarded as something impure, shunned and execrated. It
+was too late to turn back, and in spite of your treatment, I remained a
+Christian, I adhered to the glorious faith which teaches 'Peace on earth
+and good-will to men.' In sheer desperation, I joined the band of
+unfortunates as reckless as myself, whose self-imposed mission it is to
+pave the way to liberty."
+
+Minsk preserved a defiant demeanor throughout the trial. He made no
+defence, nor did he endeavor to have his punishment mitigated. His
+condemnation followed, as a matter of course.
+
+The scaffold found him unsubdued.
+
+"My attempt has failed," he cried, "but think not that General Melikoff
+is safe! After me will come a second, and after him a third. Melikoff
+must fall, and the Czar will not long survive him."
+
+The fifth of March witnessed his death struggles upon the scaffold.
+
+Darker and darker it grew in Israel. The sun of its brief prosperity was
+gradually becoming obscured by heavy clouds of intolerance and
+fanaticism, clouds which did not display the proverbial silver lining of
+hope and comfort. This was a period of great activity for Mikail; never
+before had he found such congenial employment. After making a series of
+one-sided investigations, in which he interrogated principally those who
+had real or imaginary cause for complaint against the Hebrews, the
+priest embodied his conclusions in a book, entitled "The Annihilation of
+the Jews." Unquenchable hatred breathed in every page. With a cunning
+hand, he subverted facts to suit his fancy. He drew a vivid picture of
+the great dissatisfaction existing because the Hebrews were achieving
+success in various branches of enterprise to the exclusion of the
+gentiles. With peculiar logic he argued that sooner or later quarrels
+must ensue between the races, that if there were no Jews there could be
+no trouble, and that they should therefore be driven out of the country.
+His work accused the Jews of thriving almost entirely upon usury and
+gross dishonesty, in spite of the fact that many of the chief industries
+of Russia were in the hands of thrifty and honorable Israelites. It
+purposed to forbid the Jews from keeping inns, on the ground that they
+fostered intemperance, in the face of statistics which showed
+drunkenness to be most prevalent in provinces where no Jews are allowed
+to reside. It finally advised the confiscation of all property belonging
+to the Jews and the summary expulsion of the despised race from the
+Empire.
+
+Such a book, at a time when rulers and people were alike eager for
+sensation, acted like a firebrand. The newspapers, knowing that the
+author was a member of the commission appointed by the Czar to
+investigate the conduct of the Jews and that his work would receive the
+imperial sanction, published extracts from its pages and commented
+editorially upon its arguments. Mikail's conclusions were accepted, and
+the cry rang throughout Russia, "Down with the Jews!" In all the land
+there was not a man who dared raise his voice in defence of the
+unfortunate people.
+
+That Minsk, the would-be slayer of Melikoff, had once been a Jew, served
+to increase the outcry against the race. Of the scores of Nihilists who
+had already been executed not one was alluded to as a Catholic, although
+that church claimed them as her own; but the newspapers added the word
+"Jew" every time they had occasion to mention his name.
+
+There were as yet no open hostilities in Russia. The great majority of
+laborers and _moujiks_ knew nothing of this agitation. They lived in
+peace with their Jewish neighbors, on whom many were dependent for work
+and wages. For the best of reasons, they did not read the newspapers and
+they cared little for the vague rumors of discontent that now and then
+assailed their ears. Occasionally there were quarrels, but these were
+unimportant and of rare occurrence.
+
+A dispute arose one day in the shop of a man named Itikoff. A thief
+entered his place and having requested the proprietor to get him a
+certain article he rifled the money-box the moment the Jew's back was
+turned. Itikoff saw the act in a mirror, and turning suddenly he seized
+the man by the neck and beat him severely. The man's cries brought a
+crowd to the door who, seeing a fellow-gentile maltreated by a Jew, at
+once set upon the unfortunate shopkeeper and brutally assaulted him.
+They then sacked his shop and threw his merchandise into the street,
+whence it was quickly removed by the assembled mob. A number of
+policemen arrived and arrested Itikoff for instigating a riot. Despite
+his pleading he was carried to jail, and only released upon the payment
+of a fine of two hundred roubles.[19]
+
+Such occasional incidents, while they were characteristic of Russian
+justice, were not of a nature to foster good feeling between the Jews
+and the gentiles.
+
+Then came the event of March 3, 1881. Through the mighty Empire flashed
+the awful news, "The Czar has been assassinated!" For a time all other
+affairs were left in the background. Before that dire catastrophe the
+petty quarrels of the races faded into insignificance. Jew and gentile
+alike met to mourn over their ruler and looked forward with pleasant
+anticipation to the accession of the new Czar, Alexander III., to the
+throne. The Nihilists, satisfied with their work, rested upon their arms
+and waited to see if the new Emperor would yield to their demands. The
+agitators who had conceived the crusade against the Jews as a means of
+diverting public attention from St. Petersburg had been unsuccessful and
+for the time being found their occupation gone. The Jew-haters,
+Drentell, Mikail and others, were busy at the capital, currying favor
+with the new government, and the poor Jews breathed more freely and
+enjoyed a brief respite from danger.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 19: See report of "Russian Outrages," in _London Times_.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+THE RIOTS AT ELIZABETHGRAD.
+
+
+Terrible is the havoc wrought by the elements, the devastating flash,
+the furious wind; appalling is the destruction of the roaring flames,
+the all-devouring flood; but what elements can measure their forces with
+the fury of man, once he has torn asunder the bonds of reason and rushes
+madly and irresistibly onwards toward the accomplishment of his
+passionate desires.
+
+
+  "Gefaehrlich ist's den Leu zu wecken,
+  Verderblich ist des Tigers Zahn;
+  Jedoch das schrecklichste der Schrecken,
+  Das ist der Mensch in seinem Wahn."
+
+
+The animosity of the Russians towards the Jews had not ceased, it had
+only been held in check for a final onslaught. The unfortunate year 1881
+dawned upon the Hebrews. Its beginning found them hopeful, and confident
+that for the future trouble would be averted; its close left them the
+victims of a cruel and relentless persecution. We would gladly spare the
+reader the harrowing details of this most atrocious of outbreaks, but we
+must follow the fortunes of our friends to the end.
+
+The meagre statements which found their way into our newspapers merely
+announced that riots against the Jews had occurred here and there, but
+were of so general a nature that they failed to impress the imagination.
+They never evoked pictures of the terrible scenes which actually
+occurred: men murdered, women outraged, infants butchered--arson,
+pillage, slaughter and lust combined.
+
+The ceaseless workings and writings of Mikail and other members of his
+commission, had gradually aroused the fury of the masses. Their
+utterances were not only repeated in every _kretschma_, but were grossly
+exaggerated. Professional agitators, who had nothing to lose and
+everything to gain by promoting a race quarrel, were actively at work
+among the people, keeping alive the flame of hatred which they had taken
+such pains to kindle.
+
+Elizabethgrad, a large city to the south of Kief, containing ten
+thousand Jews, was their first point of attack. Weeks before the event,
+proclamations were posted throughout the district, calling upon the
+inhabitants to throw off the yoke of the Jews and fixing Wednesday,
+April 27th, as the day for the general uprising. Copies of a fictitious
+_ukase_, commanding that the property of the Jews be confiscated and
+handed over to the Christians, were freely circulated and universally
+accepted as emanating from the Czar. Every lying accusation which had
+ever been employed against the Jews since the rise of Christianity was
+unearthed and used with telling effect. The atrocious calumny that the
+Jews required the blood of Christian children for their Passover rites
+was poured into eager ears. For a similar accusation the early
+Christians were tortured by the Romans, and in their days of prosperity
+they in their turn employed it against the Jews.
+
+The Israelites were paralyzed with terror at the fate which hung over
+them. The most influential of their number waited upon the Governor, who
+after much deliberation received them. He listened with well-feigned
+attention, while the Jews proved that they were law-abiding and that the
+accusations against them were unjust. He smiled pityingly when they had
+finished, and, reminding them that they were in God's hands, dismissed
+them. No further notice was taken of their appeal.
+
+On the twenty-seventh day of April came the crisis.
+
+In a _cabaret_, kept by a Jew named Kirsanoff, a religious dispute
+arose. The matter was of small importance, but it led to a scuffle by
+which a large crowd of idlers was attracted. The mob grew in numbers and
+in lawlessness, and having ejected the proprietor of the shop, they
+proceeded to despoil the place of its liquors. Inflamed by their copious
+libations, the rioters were ripe for any excess. At this moment there
+arose a ringleader, a man whom no one knew, but who had been active for
+some weeks past in stirring up the neighborhood. He mounted a cask and
+addressed the maddened crowd:
+
+"My friends," he cried, "your time has come! On to the Jewish quarter!
+Kill, destroy, take what you can! The Czar gives you their property."
+
+With a rallying shout he left the inn, the crowd following close upon
+his heels.
+
+"Down with the Jews!" arose the cry, and, as the mob increased, it was
+repeated by a thousand intoxicated wretches.
+
+Then began a wild destruction of property. Shops and warehouses were
+attacked and their contents carried out into the street, to be destroyed
+or carried away. Costly linens and works of art, fine furniture and
+articles of apparel were served alike. What was too bulky to be stolen
+was carried into the street and burned. A dozen bonfires roared and
+blazed in the Jewish quarter.
+
+The Jews could no longer look passively upon this wanton destruction.
+Hastily conferring, they placed themselves under the leadership of one
+of their merchants, one Zoletwenski, a powerful and courageous man.
+Armed with clubs and such rude weapons as were within their reach, they
+hurried to the scene and attempted to defend their own. Alas! the little
+group was soon routed by the infuriated mob. Their resistance served
+only to increase the anger of their assailants, who now left the shops
+and turned their attention to the dwellings of the Hebrews.
+
+Zolotwenski's house was the first to be attacked. Down crashed the door
+and a hundred excited brutes forced their way through the house. They
+seized his wife, whom they found in bed sick and helpless, and choked
+her into insensibility. They followed his two daughters to a room in the
+upper story in which they had locked themselves, and with threats of
+vengeance worse than death they broke open the door. The poor girls
+threw themselves from the window to the ground below.
+
+In the meantime, the Rabbi, accompanied by a number of his congregation,
+again hastened to the Governor's palace and besought him to protect the
+innocent women and children. This time the appeal bore fruit. The
+Governor promised to call out the military, and an hour afterwards a
+detachment of soldiers appeared upon the scene. At first they stood by,
+amused spectators, cheering the mob whenever it broke into a dwelling,
+taunting the poor women who ran hither and thither in frantic endeavors
+to escape the wretches who pursued them; but later in the day the
+temptation to join the plunderers proved irresistible, and the soldiers
+became active participants in the outrages which continually increased
+in brutality. Indeed, the leaders of the soldiers soon assumed command
+of the mob, and, with a refinement of cruelty, incited the people to
+lust rather than to pillage.
+
+A number of rioters and soldiers broke into the dwelling of an old man
+named Pelikoff. The poor fellow had carried his sixteen-year-old
+daughter to the attic and barricaded the door. In vain his resistance.
+The rusty lock yielded to the onslaught from without; twenty men
+precipitated themselves into the apartment, and twenty men threw
+themselves upon the trembling child.
+
+"Kill me," cried Pelikoff, "but spare my innocent daughter!"
+
+"To the devil with them both!" laughed the leader.
+
+Pelikoff fought with desperation. With his bare fists he felled two of
+the stalwart soldiers to the ground, but he was no match against the
+overpowering numbers. They seized him in their arms, carried him to the
+roof, and hurled him over into the street below, while a dozen of the
+ruffians attacked the unfortunate girl. When sympathizing friends
+visited the house next day, they found the child dead, and Pelikoff a
+hopeless maniac.
+
+Night brought a cessation of hostilities, but not a glimmer of hope.
+
+With early dawn, the outrages recommenced. The synagogue now became the
+point of attack. Thither many of the women and children had fled for
+refuge, and the mob, actuated rather by lust than by love of plunder,
+proceeded to demolish the building, which they set on fire. The poor
+women, as they fled from the burning pile, were set upon and cruelly
+assaulted by the rioters. All that day and the next, the Hebrew quarter
+was at the mercy of the savages. What the ax did not crush, fire
+destroyed. Five hundred houses and over one hundred stores and shops
+were ransacked; whole streets were demolished; property to the value of
+two million roubles was destroyed, and upwards of twenty people lost
+their lives while defending their possessions or their honor.
+
+Thus ended the first anti-semitic riot. The plans for General Drentell's
+vengeance, through Mikail the priest, were in a fair way of being
+realized.[20]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+RABBI AND PRIEST MEET.
+
+
+The enemies of the Jews persisted in their attacks. Ignorant greed,
+commercial rivalry, religious intolerance, all played their part in
+shaping coming events. The mobs soon had ringleaders; unscrupulous
+agitators who counted on the gain they could derive from a general
+pillage of the property of the wealthy Israelites.
+
+The greatest terror reigned in Kief. But for the example of a few
+energetic men, prominent among whom was Rabbi Winenki, the Hebrew
+population would have been in despair.
+
+Thousands of Jews, driven out of Elizabethgrad by the atrocities
+committed at that place, fled to Kief and implored shelter of their
+hospitable co-religionists. They were for the greater part destitute of
+the commonest necessities of life. Their appeal was not in vain. The
+charitable Jews opened their houses, and there was scarcely a home that
+did not entertain one or more refugees.
+
+Rabbi Winenki hastily called a conference of his friends to devise means
+of assisting these unfortunates to emigrate. The project met with
+immediate approval, and an association was formed to aid all those who
+desired to find a home in distant America.
+
+General Drentell heard of this benevolent undertaking, and while he was
+not unwilling to drive the Jews out of the Empire, he deemed it the duty
+of the Israelites to consult with him before engaging in any project
+which would deprive the Czar of his subjects. He therefore sent a
+communication to the Rabbi, stating that he had no objection to such a
+committee as had been formed, provided it was created under the auspices
+of the Government. It was customary, he said, for the ruling family to
+be identified with all movements of this sort, and as an evidence of
+good-will towards the Jews, his wife, Countess Louise, desired to be
+elected Honorary President of the newly-organized society.
+
+The Israelites received this communication with undisguised contempt.
+The Rabbi denounced the inconsistency of the Governor, who had hitherto
+never denied his animosity towards the Jews, but who now desired to pose
+as their benefactor. A resolution was adopted declining to honor the
+Countess Drentell with the office she coveted.
+
+The Governor seized upon this as a pretext for the wickedest measures
+against the unfortunate people. The following day, placards were issued
+from a secret printing-press in Kief, and distributed throughout the
+town and surrounding country, declaring that the Czar had confiscated
+the property of the Jews and had presented it to his loyal subjects.
+Wherever the commiserating face of a Madonna gazed down from her icon,
+there hung one of these placards, which was destined to let loose the
+worst passions of which man is capable. As if this were not potent
+enough, Mikail the priest travelled in person through the province,
+denouncing the Jews, and exhorting the orthodox Russians to wreak
+vengeance upon them for real or fictitious crimes.
+
+On came the flood which, once started, threatened to engulf the entire
+Jewish population of Russia.
+
+On May 6th, the mob attacked the Hebrew quarter at Smielo, and thirteen
+men were killed, twenty wounded and sixteen hundred left without homes.
+
+It was authoritatively announced that a riot would begin in Kief on
+Sunday, the eighth of May. On weekdays the _moujiks_ were for the
+greater part in the fields hard at work, while on Sunday they were free
+to take part in the plunder and destruction.
+
+The seventh was a sad day for our friends. It was the Sabbath, the last
+that many of them would live to celebrate. The synagogues were filled to
+overflowing with weeping women and terror-stricken men. There was no
+hope, no consolation anywhere. Sadly and sorrowfully the services
+proceeded, each worshipper praying as though his end were close at hand.
+Not even the inspiring words of Rabbi Winenki could cheer them. In vain
+he recalled the many miraculous deliverances of their forefathers, and
+exhorted his hearers to place their faith in Jehovah. His sermon but
+increased the gloom which hung over the congregation.
+
+During the afternoon a delegation, headed by Mendel, proceeded to the
+Governor's palace and begged for an interview. They were admitted into
+the cabinet, where Governor Drentell, his wife and the Catholic priest
+Mikail awaited them. Mikail was sitting at a table, writing.
+
+"You wish to see me," said the Governor, curtly. "What is it you want?"
+
+"Your excellency," began Mendel, with some hesitation, "we need scarcely
+remind you of the fact that we have always been loyal subjects; that we
+have never knowingly committed a wrong against the State, and that we
+have through our thrift and industry sought to add to the wealth of the
+country. We are now threatened with a serious calamity, one which will
+rob us of our hard-earned possessions and may possibly deprive us of our
+lives. Your excellency will surely not permit this outrage to be visited
+upon us. It lies in your power to prevent it and we beseech you, in the
+name of twenty thousand of the Czar's faithful subjects, who are now
+crowded in Kief, to vouchsafe us your gracious protection."
+
+The Governor listened impatiently. When Mendel had finished speaking, he
+said:
+
+"I do not see how I can help you. The Czar himself has declared your
+property forfeited, and I am afraid the people will insist upon their
+rights."
+
+"But the pretended _ukase_ confiscating our property is false!" cried
+Mendel, with great indignation. "Your excellency knows it is but an
+invention of a body of men who wish to enrich themselves at the cost of
+our people. Your excellency surely cannot allow such outrages to be
+perpetrated!"
+
+"Moderate your language, man," cried the Governor, angrily, rising from
+his chair, "or you will find yourself outside the palace doors."
+
+"I beg your excellency's pardon," answered Mendel, meekly, "if grief has
+made me disrespectful. In the name of my co-religionists, I desire to
+offer a proposition. If our property falls to the Czar's subjects, it is
+certainly better to preserve it intact than to expose it to the savage
+attacks of the rioters. If your excellency permits, we will bring you
+the keys of our houses and submit to any measures you may see fit to
+take. If the _ukase_ is true, the property will revert to the State
+uninjured; if it is not true, your excellency will have the humanity to
+restore us to our rights."
+
+The Governor, surprised at this unexpected and unique proposition, found
+himself without a reply. He glanced significantly at the priest.
+
+"What do you say, Mikail?" he asked.
+
+Mikail, who had been apparently absorbed in writing, but who had not
+lost a word of the discussion, now arose, and in his deep, sonorous
+voice, answered:
+
+"The _ukase_ is true, your excellency, and we have no right to render it
+nugatory. For twenty years the Jews have enjoyed equal rights with the
+Christians, and every endeavor has been made to assimilate them with the
+other inhabitants. In vain. The Jews constantly abused their new
+liberties, and by their acts brought upon themselves the ill-will of the
+entire nation. They form a state within the State, governing themselves
+by their own code of laws, which are often antagonistic to those of the
+land. I need not recapitulate the acts of cruelty they have perpetrated
+upon defenceless Christians, the wiles they have employed to defraud
+their creditors, or the usury for which they are notorious. I need not
+allude to the fact that they have driven the Catholic Russians from
+profitable fields of labor, and have appropriated to themselves every
+branch of trade. These acts and many others have now called forth the
+protests of the people, and the result is violence and robbery. It would
+be useless to control the mob, your excellency, for the wrongs under
+which they smart have driven them to desperation."
+
+While Mikail was speaking, Mendel gazed at him as though fascinated. He
+could not take his eyes from the handsome features and commanding form
+of the monk. He must have seen him before, he thought--but where?
+Suddenly the priest's resemblance to his own father struck him as
+remarkable.
+
+Ordinarily, the priest's unjust accusations would have called forth a
+vigorous protest from the Rabbi, but now he suddenly found himself
+bereft of reasoning power; he could but look upon his adversary in awe
+and wonder. The priest turned, and by the movement exposed his mutilated
+ear. The lobe had been torn completely off. Where could he have seen
+that ear before? Mendel stared as though in a dream. He struggled with
+his memory, but it failed him; all appeared a perfect blank. Then the
+priest, in the course of his denunciations, became more vehement than
+before, and made a movement with his left hand. The arm was stiff at the
+elbow, and the gesture appeared unnatural and restrained. Still Mendel
+looked and tried to reflect. That arm awoke a strange train of thoughts.
+His mind appeared sluggish to-day; he could remember nothing.
+
+Suddenly the Rabbi uttered a piercing cry. Yes, it all came back to him
+now.
+
+"Jacob!" he cried, advancing towards the priest. "My brother Jacob
+arrayed against his own people!"
+
+The monk recoiled a step and looked at the Jew in surprise.
+
+"Is the man mad?" he asked, addressing the Governor.
+
+"No; I am not mad," cried Mendel, excitedly. "As true as there is a God
+above us, you are my brother Jacob!"
+
+The priest, fully believing that the Rabbi had suddenly become insane,
+recoiled a step and drew his garments about him. The Governor glanced
+significantly at his wife, who had become as pale as death.
+
+The Rabbi was unable to control his excitement.
+
+"Jacob, my brother," he cried again; "do you not remember me, Mendel? Do
+you not remember our home in Togarog? Do you not recollect how we were
+both stolen away from home on the night of my _bar-mitzvah_; how we were
+taken to Kharkov by the soldiers, and how we escaped and fled into the
+country? Do you not remember how we travelled along, weary and
+foot-sore, until you could no longer walk, and I ran to a neighboring
+village for assistance? When I returned, you had disappeared. Jacob, do
+you remember nothing?"
+
+Mikail stood with his head buried in his hands, drinking in every word
+of the gesticulating Rabbi.
+
+Yes; he did remember something; indistinctly, of course, but as each
+event was recalled it evoked a corresponding picture in his brain. Many
+things suddenly became clear which had been hitherto shrouded in
+mystery. The secret of his birth, concerning which he had so often
+questioned Countess Drentell without receiving a satisfactory reply, the
+indistinct recollection of strange events, and, finally, the familiarity
+of the ritual in the synagogue. When Mendel had ceased speaking, he
+turned abruptly to the Countess, who, pale and agitated, was standing by
+the side of her husband. Surprise, anger, passion were portrayed in the
+priest's flashing eye and contracted features, and Louise shrank from
+him as he approached her.
+
+"Madam," he said, hoarsely, "what can I say in reply to this charge? You
+have been my protectress from childhood. Tell this man that he lies,
+that I am not the brother of a Jew."
+
+The Countess' lips parted, but neither she nor the Count found a reply.
+
+"See, their silence speaks for me!" cried Mendel, almost joyfully.
+"Jacob, it is true! I could not be mistaken. Your image has never left
+me since we parted on the highway, and I recognized you at once by your
+resemblance to our father, and by your torn ear and crippled arm."
+
+"Marks which I received at the hands of the accursed Jews," cried the
+priest, fiercely.
+
+"Not so, Jacob! Whoever told you that did not tell the truth. It was not
+the Jews, but a Christian, who tortured you because you were a Jew."
+
+Again Mikail confronted the Countess.
+
+"Madam, I demand to know whether this man speaks the truth or not?" he
+exclaimed, wildly.
+
+"He does, Mikail," replied Louise, nervously. "For the sake of your own
+happiness, we endeavored to keep you in ignorance of the facts. You were
+a Jew when we found you insensible on the road near Poltava. I took you
+to my home, and to save you from the misery and degradation of being a
+Jew, and also to bring a new soul into our holy church, I had you
+brought up in a convent as a Catholic priest."
+
+"And these injuries," asked Mikail, pale and trembling, "the marks of
+which I shall carry to the grave, were they not the work of the Jews?"
+
+"Of that I know nothing," answered the Countess, carelessly. "This man,"
+pointing to Mendel; "can tell you more about that than I."
+
+The face of the priest became livid. "I am a Jew," he cried; "I, a Jew!
+Oh God," he moaned, convulsively, "why did you send me this agony? My
+life has been one living falsehood, my whole existence a lie. My tongue
+has been taught to execrate my religion, my mind to plan the destruction
+of my father's people. Ha! ha! ha! you are right; the Jews are an
+accursed race, and I am accursed with them!" The priest broke into a
+wild laugh which sent a chill through the blood of his hearers.
+
+Mendel endeavored to speak to him, to grasp his hand; but Mikail looked
+at him with a meaningless stare, and turning, without another word, he
+fled like a maniac from the apartment.
+
+General Drentell turned furiously upon the Israelites.
+
+"Go!" he cried; "leave the palace! You have done mischief enough!"
+
+Mendel's strong form shook with emotion; he was weeping. He collected
+himself for a final appeal.
+
+"If your excellency would send us a regiment of soldiers," he said,
+preparing to leave; "our lives and our property might still be saved."
+
+"What care I for your property or your wretched lives?" shouted the
+Governor, in a frenzy. "I shall not trouble my soldiers for a pack of
+miserable Jews."[21]
+
+The Rabbi and his fellows found themselves outside of the palace walls,
+sad and disheartened.
+
+"Friends," he said, in a broken voice, "you have been witnesses of this
+terrible scene. Oh, God! to think that my brother, whom we mourned as
+dead, should have become a Catholic priest and be plotting the
+destruction of his people." Here Mendel's grief overcame him and he
+remained silent for some moments. Recovering his composure with an
+effort, he continued, in a subdued voice: "I have a favor to ask of you,
+my friends. Speak to no one of this unfortunate meeting. If the news
+came to my father's ears it would kill him."
+
+The men promised and the little band walked silently back to their
+homes.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 20: In the description of the outrages and acts of lawlessness
+in this and succeeding chapters, the author has not drawn upon his
+imagination, but has followed as closely as possible the narration of
+the Russian refugees on their arrival in America, and the graphic
+account sent by a special correspondent to the _London Times_, and
+republished in pamphlet form in this country in 1883.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Historical.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN.
+
+
+During that memorable Sabbath day, hundreds of refugees came in from the
+surrounding villages where the outrages had already begun. They fled to
+Kief as a place of refuge, vainly believing that a city with such
+important mercantile interests centred in the Jewish population would be
+exempt from serious danger. The poor Israelites feared to stir from
+their homes; they sat in prayer during the entire day and fasted as on
+the Day of Atonement.
+
+Towards night, the door of Rabbi Winenki's house was suddenly thrown
+open, and Joseph Kierson, haggard and travel-stained, entered.
+
+"What are you doing here?" ejaculated both the Rabbi and Kathinka, in a
+breath.
+
+"Has there been a riot in Berditchef?" queried Mendel.
+
+"No," answered Joseph, sinking into a chair; "not yet; but I heard that
+there would be danger here, and I hurried back to share it with you."
+
+"Unhappy man," said Kathinka. "Think of the peril of remaining here. If
+you are recognized they will take you back to prison."
+
+"I do not care," answered the young man. "I could not remain in
+Berditchef, when I knew that you and my family were exposed to danger.
+My place is at your side; come what may, I will live or die with you."
+
+"You are a noble boy," exclaimed the Rabbi, grasping his hand,
+affectionately. "Kathinka, get Joseph some supper; he must be hungry."
+
+"You are right, Rabbi," returned Joseph. "I am hungry and tired, and yet
+since I have seen Kathinka I am supremely happy."
+
+It was a sad and fearful night. Sleep was out of the question for the
+threatened Israelites. All night long the noise of hammering could be
+heard; the Christians were attaching little wooden crosses to their
+houses that they might be spared by the mob. The Jews gathered their
+portable treasures and trinkets and conveyed them to places of safety.
+
+The morning of the eighth of May dawned; a quiet serene Sunday morning,
+the day on which is proclaimed throughout Christendom the golden rule:
+"Love your enemies."
+
+At an early hour armed gangs appeared on the streets, wandering hither
+and thither, without any definite plan or object. Ringleaders, however,
+were not long in making their appearance.
+
+As in Elizabethgrad, the first act of the mob was to storm the
+dram-shops; it needed the inspiration of _vodki_. Having broken in the
+doors and windows, they rolled the barrels out into the street. _Vodki_
+flowed in streams; the rioters waded, they bathed, they wallowed in
+whiskey. The women carried it away by the pailful. From shop to shop
+they went, becoming more hilarious, more boisterous as they proceeded.
+Through the uproar could be heard their shouts: "The Jews have lorded it
+over us long enough; it is our turn now! Down with the Jews!"
+
+They came to the inn of a man named Rykelmann and here they met their
+first resistance. Rykelmann refused to admit them. He had barricaded
+himself and his family behind stout doors and stood guard over his
+premises with a pistol. The mob besieged the place from all sides and
+finally succeeded in forcing an entrance in the rear. The poor
+proprietor was forced to accompany the rioters to his wine cellar, where
+they amused themselves staving in the barrels and breaking the bottles,
+while some of the drunken ruffians in the rooms above cut the throats of
+his wife and six children. It was the first blood shed in Kief and it
+served to stimulate the appetites of the vampires.
+
+Onward sped the rioters. They divided into groups, each, under a
+self-appointed leader, attacking a different quarter. Here and there
+houses were burning fiercely, and to the crackling of the flames was
+added the piteous cries of women and children consigned to a fiery
+death.
+
+At this stage several companies of soldiers, headed by Loris Drentell,
+appeared upon the scene. The Governor fearing that Christians might
+suffer in the general massacre, had at length yielded to the
+importunities of his counsellors and sent his son with a detachment of
+men as a protection, not to the Jews, but to the Christians. Loris had
+returned to Kief shortly after the assassination of the Czar.
+
+For an hour the soldiers allowed the work of destruction to go on
+unhindered, and then, no longer able to control their appetites, they
+joined the mob.
+
+The rioters came to the house of Hirsch Bensef.
+
+"He is the richest of them all," shouted a Russian, who had once been
+employed by him. "His house is a regular mine of wealth. I've been in
+it."
+
+"Down with the house!" shouted the mob. "His wealth belongs to us. Show
+him no mercy!"
+
+They battered down the door, and regardless of the piteous pleadings of
+the aged man and his wife they pillaged and plundered from cellar to
+attic. Nothing was left intact. What could not be carried away was
+destroyed. Loris himself, stimulated by reports of the fabulous wealth
+which Bensef was said to possess, led the charge and took an active part
+in the attack. When he left the house it was because he could conceal no
+more of the booty about his person. Valuable property was scattered upon
+the ground by the rioters and lay in mud-bespattered heaps, to be picked
+up by the crowds of women and children that followed in their wake.
+Bensef and his wife escaped assault at the hands of the ruffians by
+fleeing precipitately through a rear door and taking refuge in the house
+of a Christian friend.
+
+Haim Goldheim's dwelling, not far from that of Bensef, was next
+attacked. Father, mother and children had fled at the approach of the
+rioters, but the rich furniture and works of art which the well-to-do
+banker had accumulated fell into the destroying hands of the mob. An
+hour afterwards, hungry flames devoured all that remained of the once
+luxurious home.
+
+At the further end of the street was the house of one David Wienarski.
+
+"He, too, is rich!" shouted a Russian, and the rabble attacked the place
+without delay. A search failed to discover the wealth they expected to
+find, for the poor man had buried his meagre possessions in the garden,
+the night before. Disappointed in their search for plunder, they caught
+up his three-year-old child and threw it out of the window. It fell dead
+upon the pavement at the feet of Loris and his soldiers, and the poor
+corpse was mercilessly thrust into the gutter, to be out of the way.
+
+Still on they went! When their ardor slackened, the ringleaders
+harangued them and stimulated their flagging energies.
+
+"Leave nothing untouched!" they shouted. "The Czar has given it all to
+you! Take what belongs to you! Let not a Jew escape!"
+
+There were many among the ferocious gathering who really liked the Jews,
+who had for years lived side by side with them in peace and amity. They
+arose against their former friends, because the Czar, in a _ukase_,
+desired it; and his imperial will must be fulfilled. In the heat of the
+turmoil, the example set them by their leaders spurred them on; and on
+they went, thoroughly regardless of consequences.
+
+It would be impossible to describe all the outrages of that bloody day;
+the pen refuses to depict the appalling scenes, the dire calamities,
+the nameless atrocities that were visited upon the helpless Israelites.
+
+The Jews performed prodigies of valor. Though unarmed, many made a
+heroic resistance to the onslaught of the rioters.
+
+Down near the Dnieper stood the house of David Kierson. It was one of
+the earliest attacked during the day, and the rioters were crazed with
+drink and passion. David and his son Joseph, without any other weapons
+than their hands, kept the horde from entering their home. Joseph
+engaged three of the rabble at one time, while his father disabled man
+after man, until the drunken wretches desisted and turned their
+attention to houses where they would find less resistance.
+
+Suddenly there was a shout of terror, and the attention of the attacking
+party was directed towards the river.
+
+"A man overboard!" was the cry.
+
+"Let him drown," answered the mob, derisively; "it is only a Jew!"
+
+Joseph, who was still guarding the door of his father's house, saw the
+struggling creature in the waves of the muddy river. In an instant he
+had divested himself of his coat and shoes, and, edging his way through
+the crowd that lined the banks, he sprang into the water. A few powerful
+strokes brought him to the drowning man, whom he seized by the collar of
+his coat and held above the surface of the water. Then he swam slowly
+and laboriously to the shore, and, amid the silence of the spectators,
+he landed the man upon the banks. It was a Russian he had saved; one of
+the ringleaders of the men who had so recently besieged his home.
+
+For a moment the crowd was hushed in admiration of the heroic deed, but
+it was only for a moment.
+
+"Forwards, we are losing time!" shouted one of the principals, and the
+rioters rushed down the streets to continue their work of destruction.
+
+Suddenly a priest, laboring under powerful excitement, appeared before
+them. His features were deadly pale and a strange fire gleamed in his
+eyes.
+
+"Stop!" he cried; "in the name of the Madonna, I command you to stop!"
+
+The mob, overawed by his aspect as well as by his words, paused in their
+mad career. The ringleaders fell back for a moment in surprise.
+
+"Hush!" said one; "it is Mikail the priest who appointed us to our posts
+and gave us our instructions. Let us hear what he has to say."
+
+"You have been deceived," cried the priest, wildly. "Stop your mad
+slaughter. The Jews are innocent of the wrongs that have been imputed to
+them. Do you hear me? The Jews must not be persecuted! The _ukase_
+giving you their property does not exist; it was but an invention!"
+
+"Nonsense," answered one of the leaders; "I saw it with my own eyes. On,
+friends! We want the wealth of the Jews; we want their blood! Down with
+them!"
+
+Mikail endeavored to bar the way.
+
+"You shall not do further harm, I tell you! Hear me! In the name of the
+Czar, I command you to halt!"
+
+The monk's incoherent sentences fell upon deaf ears. Like an avalanche,
+the mighty mob swept down upon him, carrying him along upon the
+resistless tide.
+
+When Joseph found his street deserted, he uttered a fervent prayer of
+gratitude.
+
+"We are safe for the moment, father," he said; "it will be some time
+before the rabble returns this way. I shall change my wet clothing, and
+while you guard the house, I will go to Rabbi Winenki's. Perhaps he
+needs my assistance."
+
+"Go, my boy," answered the old man; "and God be with you."
+
+A frightful scene had in the meantime been enacted at the Rabbi's
+dwelling, whither many an unprotected woman and child had hastened in
+the belief that it would be safe from the mob. The detachment of rioters
+under the leadership of Loris had already attacked it and the crying and
+pleading of the inmates could be heard above the confusion of the mob.
+But they pleaded in vain. Had anyone but Loris been in command, the
+house of the beloved and honored Rabbi might have been spared, for his
+many acts of kindness had endeared him to the _moujiks_ as well as to
+his own people. When Loris arrived before the humble dwelling, however,
+there was but one sentiment in his heart--revenge. Too well he
+remembered the ignominious defeat he had experienced within those walls,
+and at the recollection of Kathinka, the base passion which absence had
+not subdued broke forth again and transformed the man into a savage.
+There was no pity, no mercy to be expected from him.
+
+At the windows of Winenki's house stood the women, their faces blanched
+with fear as they looked upon the blood-thirsty army without.
+
+"Down with the door!" shouted Loris, and a dozen ready hands shook the
+door upon its fastenings.
+
+Suddenly the men stopped in their mad work. Mikail the monk had rushed
+into their midst. His priestly robes were torn and covered with mud, his
+eyes were bloodshot, his face the picture of wild despair; his bosom
+heaved and his clenched hands gyrated madly in an effort to command
+silence.
+
+"Men of Kief!" he cried, hoarsely, "this bloody work must cease. In the
+name of the Czar I command you to go to your homes and molest the Jews
+no further! They are innocent of the charges brought against them."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Loris. "Since when has Mikail turned protector of
+the Jews?"
+
+"They are innocent, I tell you!" cried the priest. "Leave them in
+peace!"
+
+"Down with the Jews!" cried one of the band. "The Czar has given us
+their property and we will have it!"
+
+"It is false!" shouted Mikail. "The _ukase_ is a forgery. I myself wrote
+it and had it circulated. It never had the Czar's sanction."
+
+"The priest is mad!" cried Loris. "For three years he has incited us to
+enmity against the Jews and now he pleads their cause. On with the work!
+We have much to do before night."
+
+"In the name of his majesty, I command you to cease!" yelled the priest,
+in a hoarse voice.
+
+"In the name of the Governor of Kief, I command you to go on!" shouted
+Loris. "Down with Rabbi Winenki and his family! Down with the miserable
+race that killed our Saviour!"
+
+The battering at the door was resumed with renewed vigor. A cry of
+triumph announced to the crowd that the barrier was down, and a portion
+of the infuriated mob rushed into the house.
+
+In vain did Mikail circulate among the men, by turns commanding and
+pleading, to induce them to desist from their work of destruction.
+
+They looked at him askance and then at each other, significantly. But
+yesterday this same priest spurred them on to vengeance, filling them
+with passion against the people whose cause he now espoused.
+
+"He is mad," they whispered, and turning their backs upon him, they
+continued their excesses.
+
+Loris had in the meantime entered the room in which he had kneeled to
+the beautiful Kathinka.
+
+The Rabbi with his aged father and a number of beardless youths, pupils
+of his school, guarded the door leading to the inner room, in which the
+women and girls had taken refuge. They had armed themselves with chairs
+and whatever happened to be within reach, and with these primitive
+weapons they expected to hold the enemy in check. As well endeavor to
+stay the flood of the mighty Dnieper with a net drawn across its stream!
+The mob charged upon them with an impetus that could not be resisted.
+The Rabbi, single-handed, felled two powerful _moujiks_; then he himself
+fell bleeding to the floor. His gray-bearded father was dealt a blow on
+the head from a stout cudgel, and he lay upon the ground in the agonies
+of death. The young men seeing that resistance but increased their
+peril, threw down their weapons and fled, leaving the inner room with
+its helpless inmates in the hands of the rioters.
+
+Loris was the first to enter, and his companions were not slow in
+following his example. A number of maidens, crazed with horror, sprang
+from the windows, only to fall into the arms of the rabble without.
+Three of the women were killed in the heroic struggle for their honor
+and not less than twenty suffered indignities worse than death.
+
+The Rabbi's wife, Recha, succeeding in escaping the vigilance of the
+invading party and hurried into the outer room. Suddenly her eyes
+encountered the form of her husband lying upon the floor, bathed in
+blood and apparently dead. With a shriek she threw herself upon his
+prostrate body. When her friends attempted to move her after the danger
+had passed, they found that terror and grief had done their work. Recha
+had lost her reason.
+
+On his entrance into the room, Loris gazed about him, and soon singled
+out Kathinka, standing among her friends, silently praying. With a cry
+of mingled joy and rage, he threw himself upon her and put his arms
+firmly around her.
+
+"Ha! beautiful Kathinka!" he said, ironically; "so we meet again. How
+happy you must be to see me! Yes, I love you still, and you shall be
+mine, all mine! Don't struggle, sweet one; I shall remove you to my
+dwelling, far from all this noise and tumult. Ho, there! make room there
+for me and my prize!"
+
+Lifting the struggling maiden in his arms, he pressed through the crowd,
+out into the street. There he set down his precious burden and paused to
+regain his breath.
+
+Kathinka looked hastily about her. There were many in the crowd who had
+known her since her childhood, many whom her father had befriended, but
+they stood passively by and abstained from offering her either
+assistance or sympathy. Then, as Loris again wound his arms about her;
+she cried loudly for help:
+
+"Come to my aid," she cried, imploringly. "Do none of you know me; will
+none lend me a helping hand? I am Kathinka, the daughter of Rabbi
+Winenki! Will no one raise his arm in my defence?"
+
+There was no reply to her appeal; the rioters had no mercy for the
+despised Jewess.
+
+Of a sudden the crowd parted. Thank God, there was a champion for
+Kathinka. Mikail the priest elbowed his way through the dense mass of
+maddened humanity and with eyes wilder and face more haggard than
+before, he approached the shrieking girl. With a cry of fury, he fell
+upon Loris and endeavored to tear him from his victim. Loris was for a
+moment too astonished to offer any resistance.
+
+"What do you want with me, priest?" he cried, angrily, when he
+recognized his assailant.
+
+"I am here to remind you of your honor, of your manhood; to plead with
+you in behalf of that poor maiden. You shall not harm a hair of her head
+while I have strength to defend her."
+
+"This is, indeed, wonderful!" laughed Loris, mockingly. "The arch
+Jew-hater has become the champion of innocence! Go to your monastery,
+priest, and leave the battle-field to soldiers!" and pushing Mikail
+contemptuously aside, he renewed his hold upon the girl, who,
+overpowered by her terror and despair, had become insensible.
+
+At that moment another form pushed its way through the crowd. It was
+Joseph, who after great difficulties, had at length succeeded in
+reaching the spot. He, too, had heard Kathinka's despairing cry, and had
+hastened to protect her. A rapid glance made the situation clear to him
+and he at once prepared to attack the Governor's son. But the priest had
+forestalled him. With a yell of rage, Mikail threw himself upon the
+young ruffian and the two were instantly engaged in a desperate combat.
+Loris was inspired by passion and revenge; the priest was moved by a
+feeling which he could not himself analyze. The hatred which he bore
+Loris broke out in unreasoning fury; he had heard Kathinka's cry of
+distress, had heard her assert that she was the daughter of his own
+brother, and in the strange revulsion of feeling which had overcome him
+since yesterday, he determined to effect her release at all hazards.
+
+The men twined and twisted about each other, swayed to and fro in their
+endeavor to gain the mastery, while the crowd, forgetting its own
+passions, formed a circle about them, applauding now the one, now the
+other.
+
+Meanwhile Joseph had raised the helpless form of his betrothed from the
+ground and endeavored to carry her through the mob. A score of brawny
+arms barred the way.
+
+Fear for his beloved gave the young man almost superhuman strength.
+Seizing in his right hand a cudgel which was lying on the ground, while
+his left arm still supported Kathinka, he hewed a passage through the
+ranks. Eight men lay sprawling upon the ground and their companions
+retreated before the telling blows of Joseph's club. When he found
+himself unembarrassed by the rioters, he lifted Kathinka in both his
+arms and ran as fast as his feet would bear him to his father's house,
+which, having already been attacked, he hoped would escape a second
+visit.
+
+The combat between Loris and Mikail was short. The priest labored under
+a manifest disadvantage in being crippled in one arm, while Loris,
+driven to desperation by seeing Kathinka carried off, gathered all his
+strength and with a mighty blow hurled the monk to the ground. There was
+a dull crash. The priest's head had struck the pavement with such force
+that his skull was crushed and a crimson stream of blood gushed from his
+lips and nostrils, his body quivered, his maimed arm fell heavily at
+his side. Mikail, the Jew-hater, had ceased to exist.
+
+For a moment Loris was dazed and conscience-stricken. To kill a priest
+was a serious crime. Moreover, that priest had been his father's friend
+and favorite adviser, and Loris had much to fear from parental wrath.
+The mischief was done, however, and bestowing upon the dead body a
+parting glance of ineffable hatred, he set to work to reunite his
+scattered band.
+
+The outrages in the Jewish quarter had been duly reported to the
+Governor, who shrugged his shoulders, rubbed his palms and smiled with
+secret satisfaction.
+
+"Revenge is sweet," he muttered, and he placed himself at the window,
+where he could witness the burning of the houses.
+
+About noon the body of Mikail was carried past the palace to the
+Petcherskoi convent, and at the same time exaggerated accounts reached
+Drentell's ears of the dangers to which his beloved son had been
+exposed.
+
+"It is time to put an end to the attack," thought the Governor, and
+another detachment of soldiers was sent out to assist the first in
+quelling the riot and to arrest all disorderly persons found upon the
+streets. This order was vigorously enforced. About two thousand people
+were made prisoners, nearly half of them Jews, arrested for protecting
+their lives and property.
+
+The scenes in the Jewish quarter at the close of the riot, beggar
+description. Dust and feathers filled the air, for one of the mob's
+chief amusements consisted in tearing open feather-beds and pillows and
+scattering their contents. Broken furniture, dishes and stoves strewed
+the pavements. Not a pane of glass or door was left entire. It was as
+though an army had invaded the place. Nearly three thousand Israelites
+were without shelter, their houses having been burned or otherwise
+demolished. Many hundreds more were reduced to poverty, having been
+despoiled of everything. The destruction of human life was appalling,
+many corpses being recovered from the river, days after the occurrence;
+and the number of people who were driven to insanity by the atrocities
+committed will probably never be known.[22]
+
+Rabbi Winenki, who had received a dangerous wound, recovered slowly. His
+grief at the apparently hopeless insanity of his wife and the death of
+his father were indescribable; they were in a slight measure mitigated
+by the knowledge that his daughter had been spared the barbarous fate
+that had befallen so many of Israel's women.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+WHAT THE PRIEST HAD ACCOMPLISHED.
+
+
+The horrible crimes which have been described in preceding chapters were
+insignificant compared with those to be committed. Mikail the priest,
+the Jew-hater, was dead, but the evil of which he had been the author,
+lived after him. His ghost stalked through the Empire, converting it
+into one vast charnel-house.
+
+Simultaneously with the riots in Kief, there were outbreaks in every
+town and village throughout the province. At Browary, the synagogue in
+which the terrified people had congregated was attacked and destroyed.
+The mob attacked the Jewesses, and assaulted many of them. Three of the
+poor victims died and a number of others found their only escape in the
+river.
+
+Scenes like these occurred daily throughout Southern Russia. Whole towns
+and districts were ablaze with riot and violence. The story that the
+Czar had handed Jewish property over to his Catholic subjects spread
+upon the breath of the wind, and the populace was not slow to
+appropriate its new possessions. The Governors of the various provinces
+looked on with folded arms at the barbarities enacted under their eyes.
+Occasionally the pleadings of the poor Jews appeared to prevail and the
+military was called out; but it was not to protect the Hebrews, but to
+prevent them from defending themselves.
+
+The riots were invariably announced for days, often weeks, beforehand,
+the police frequently stimulating the people to hatred and violence.
+
+The municipalities, with the consent of the provincial government, had
+taken every means to add to the misery of the situation. Mikail's book,
+"The Annihilation of the Jews," became the bible of the fanatical
+masses. Its sentences were distorted and exaggerated and then read to
+the intoxicated wretches at the village _kretschmas_. Petitions were
+circulated in the provinces to devise means to drive the Jews out of the
+towns in which they had no legal right to live. In other places where no
+such restrictions existed, petitions were sent to the authorities
+requesting the adoption of measures to prevent the increase of Jewish
+residents.
+
+At Kief, the day after the riot, Governor Drentell called an assembly of
+his counsellors to form a plan for expelling the Jews. Old documents
+were unearthed and a rigid scrutiny instituted to discover what were
+the restrictions upon the Jewish population of the city. The laws
+enacted under the tyrannical reign of Nicholas were examined and the
+discovery was made that nine thousand of the Jews in Kief had no legal
+right to live there. For twenty years these laws had slumbered
+unenforced. With a cruelty without parallel in the history of the world,
+Drentell determined to enforce these ancient edicts and to expel all
+Jews in excess of the legal number.
+
+The Jews were accordingly notified that before August the number in
+excess of the lawful population would be expected to seek another
+domicile.
+
+Wailing and lamentations broke out afresh in Israel. Many families did
+not possess the means of departing, having lost everything in the recent
+attacks. Others did not know in what direction to turn their weary
+steps, for persecutions were reported all through Russia and in Germany
+as well. Others again mourned at the thought of leaving behind them aged
+relatives, beloved friends, the graves of their cherished dead and the
+thousand memories that hallowed their old homes.
+
+In their extremity, the Jews again petitioned the Governor to temper his
+authority with mercy, and one of Drentell's counsellors, moved by the
+piteous appeal, recommended leniency in dealing with the stricken race.
+
+"Gentlemen," replied Drentell, rising in anger; "either I or the Jews
+must go! Russia is not large enough for both. I insist upon a strict
+enforcement of these regulations."
+
+The Governor's word prevailed. By the beginning of July, over eight
+thousand Jews had been expelled from Kief alone.
+
+It was a sultry day towards the end of June. The air was unusually
+oppressive, the reapers in the fields moved listlessly under the
+scorching sun, the leaves on the trees were motionless and the birds had
+ceased their warbling.
+
+The Jewish quarter was quiet, almost deserted. A pall hung over the
+dismal homes; there were no children in the streets to stir the air with
+their merry voices. As men passed each other their greetings were short
+and formal; they scarcely stopped to bid each other good-day. The entire
+Jewish population was in mourning. Hearts were bleeding for some
+departed soul cut off in the midst of life by the lawless mob, or
+throbbing with suppressed sorrow at the enforced departure of relatives
+or friends for the distant shores of America.
+
+One by one a number of our old acquaintances and some of their friends
+entered the dwelling of Rabbi Winenki, glancing furtively behind them as
+though in fear of being watched. In the Rabbi's house there was some
+show of festivity, although the attempt was half-hearted and conveyed an
+impression far from joyous.
+
+It was the long anticipated wedding day of Kathinka and Joseph. All
+their bright prospects and pleasant anticipations of a professional life
+at home were at an end. Their one desire was to be married before
+seeking a new existence in America. The guests spoke in subdued voices,
+as though fearful of exciting the animosity of their gentile neighbors.
+
+Rabbi Mendel, who had but recently risen from a bed of pain, was wan and
+pale; his tall and stately form had shrunk, his massive head was bowed,
+his raven locks had become gray.
+
+Quietly and without ostentation, the good man performed the ceremony
+according to the Jewish rites. The ring was given, the glass broken, the
+blessings pronounced, and the couple stood hand in hand to receive the
+congratulations of their assembled friends. Smiles and merry laughter
+gave way to tears and sobs. It was a touching spectacle! The young
+couple were to remain in Kief until the following Sunday, and then, with
+two thousand other unfortunates, to leave the place in which they had
+lived and loved, prospered and suffered.
+
+On the Sabbath, the synagogue was crowded; for many of the worshippers
+it would be the last service they would attend in their native land.
+Tearful and heartfelt were the prayers that ascended to Jehovah's
+throne. The service for the dead was as impressive as scalding tears and
+broken hearts could make it. Mendel ascended the pulpit, that place from
+which he had so often instructed his people in wisdom and godliness, and
+with streaming eyes bid the wanderers farewell.
+
+He spoke briefly but impressively, concluding by giving them much good
+advice as to their conduct in their new homes in America.
+
+"Lead irreproachable lives," he said. "And remember one thing more:
+stoop not to deceit or to crime. In America, as in Russia, every evil
+act of the individual Jew will rebound upon the entire race. If the
+gentile sins, he alone bears the brunt of the punishment. If a Jew
+transgresses the law of the land, his religion is heralded to the world
+and the wrong he has committed brings odium upon the entire household of
+Israel. It has been so in the past, it will continue so for generations
+to come. Does not this admonish you to avoid evil, to make your conduct
+exemplary, and to be models of virtue and righteousness?"
+
+While the Rabbi was speaking, it seemed as though an angel of comfort
+and hope had entered the holy place. Tears were dried and the
+unfortunates whose destiny was hurrying them far from all that earth
+held dear, no longer dreaded the approaching journey.
+
+The rest of that memorable Sabbath was spent in bidding farewell to
+friends and relatives. There was grief in every household.
+
+We have seen how Mordecai Winenki perished, a victim of the infuriated
+mob. His wife, Leah, died a short time afterward, broken-hearted at the
+separation from her life-long companion. Hirsch Bensef and his wife
+declared they were too old to brave the rigors of a journey to America,
+and, though broken in spirit as well as in fortune, they preferred to
+remain in Kief. The Rabbi would have gladly accompanied his daughter to
+the New World, but devotion to duty bound him to his old home. The
+Kiersons accompanied their son and his bride upon their long voyage. The
+refugees who left Kief consisted chiefly of the poorer classes, who,
+being without means, were assisted by their more fortunate
+co-religionists to emigrate. There were many sturdy young people among
+the group, who, like Joseph Kierson and his wife, hoped for better
+opportunities than were possible in their own intolerant land. The
+wealthier classes, those who still had important mercantile interests in
+Russia, as a rule, remained at home, in expectation of a speedy end of
+the persecutions.
+
+On the next day a sad and sorrowful procession moved slowly out of Kief.
+They were accompanied part of the way by grieving friends, and trudged
+bravely along on foot to Brody, on the Austrian frontier, where they
+arrived after many days, foot-sore and weary. A pitiful state of affairs
+confronted them here. Nearly six thousand refugees from Russian villages
+had assembled in Brody and were in a completely helpless state. Huddled
+in cellars, stowed away in sheds, in boxes, under lumber, lay the
+unfortunate people, many of whom but a few weeks before had been rich
+and prosperous. The travellers from Kief did what they could to mitigate
+the horrible condition of these wretches, but the trouble was of such
+magnitude that they could do little to relieve it.
+
+On to Hamburg went our friends, on foot, in wagons, or by rail, as their
+means warranted; on to Hamburg, there to take ship for the haven of
+their hopes, the free and hospitable shores of America.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 22: For the corroboration of these facts, see the account of
+the _London Times_ special correspondent; also, Mr. Evarts' speech
+delivered in Chickering Hall, New York, in March, 1882.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+THE LAND OF THE FREE.
+
+
+A letter from Kathinka Kierson to her father:
+
+                                                         JULY 1, 1887.
+
+DEAR FATHER:--We grieved and rejoiced on the receipt of your
+last letter: grieved that the Jews of Russia are still smarting under
+the lash of persecution, that outbreaks of intolerance still continue;
+and we rejoice to learn that dear mother has almost entirely recovered
+her reason. We trust that her cure will be permanent, and that the
+evening of your life will be as happy as you so richly deserve. It is
+truly as you so often said: "Sorrow is essential in bringing out the
+best there is in man." As a severe storm in nature purifies the elements
+and the earth, reviving the plants, clarifying the air, causing the sun
+to shine more gloriously, so, too, do the storms which beset the soul
+and wring from it its groans and sighs, purify the spiritual man and
+place him nearer to the throne of his Maker. I cannot but thank the
+Lord, when I contrast our present position with what would have been our
+lot had we remained in Kief. I know we have been favored by a kind
+Providence above many of our fellow-refugees, and we do not forget to
+thank God for his blessings.
+
+After the trials we experienced on coming to America, the desperate
+struggle with poverty, the difficulties Joseph experienced in securing
+work, the drifting from city to city in hopes of bettering our
+condition, and the reverses which almost drove us to despair, the sun of
+prosperity is at length beginning to shine for us. Our experience is but
+another illustration of the adage, that "opportunities come to him who
+seeks them."
+
+It is now nearly a year since a combination of circumstances brought us
+to Chicago. I have already written how Joseph obtained employment in a
+large furniture factory, and by indomitable energy and close attention
+to business, worked his way up from a simple laborer to be the overseer
+of the entire works. I now have more good news for you, news which your
+kind heart will be glad to hear.
+
+About six months ago we met an old gentleman, named Pesach Harretzki,
+or, as he calls himself, Philip Harris. He is a large manufacturer of
+cloth, and had business transactions with the factory in which Joseph
+was employed. When he heard that my husband was from Kief, he evinced
+the liveliest interest and eagerly inquired after the welfare of a man
+whom he remembered as a boy of fourteen, one Mendel Winenki. When Joseph
+told him that he had married the daughter of Rabbi Winenki, Mr. Harris
+could scarcely restrain his impatience until he saw me. He called at our
+home that same evening and whiled away the time with anecdotes of you,
+dear father. He told us how ambitious you were to study, and that he
+gave you the first German books you ever possessed. He said that his
+conscience frequently smote him when he thought of the terrible risk to
+which he had exposed you in giving you those books. Altogether, he is a
+most agreeable man, and, having known you as a boy, he naturally took a
+paternal interest in me. One day he made Joseph a tempting offer to take
+a position in his factory. He was getting old, he said, and needed a
+young assistant upon whom he could rely. Joseph at once accepted and
+entered Mr. Harris' employ. My husband has a wonderful mind. I would not
+tell him so to his face, for fear of making him vain, but he is
+undoubtedly a genius. He had been in his new position scarcely a month
+before he had so revolutionized and improved upon the hitherto neglected
+establishment that the business of the house increased materially.
+Yesterday, Mr. Harris offered to take him into partnership with him,
+and, as he is getting old and is very wealthy, the probabilities are
+that he will eventually retire and leave the business entirely in
+Joseph's hands. We are, therefore, on the high road to prosperity.
+
+And now, dear father, we have but one desire, namely, to have you with
+us. Leave your onerous duties in Kief, take passage in a good vessel for
+mother and yourself, and spend the remainder of your life with us in
+contentment and peace. You need not pass your time in idleness. There
+are many of our countrymen here and your talents will be appreciated in
+America as well as in Kief. Joseph unites with me in hoping that you
+will not decline our invitation.
+
+It will interest you to learn that David Kierson and his wife are
+prominent members of the Hebrew colony at Vineland, New Jersey, founded
+by a number of benevolent Jews of Philadelphia. They are prospering and
+happy. Both the children are well and send their kisses to you and
+mother. Little Mordecai (we call him Morris, as it sounds more American)
+is a very bright little fellow, with more questions in an hour than I
+can answer in a day. Will he ever resemble his grandfather?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+
+Letter from Rabbi Mendel Winenki to his daughter:
+
+                                                KIEF, August 16, 1887.
+
+I cannot attempt, my dear children, to describe the feelings of joy and
+gratitude with which I read your letter. God be praised for his love and
+goodness. I will write to Pesach Harretzki at once. Whatever I am or
+have been I owe to the inspiration of those two books he gave me.
+
+I am sorry to disappoint you, my dear ones, by not accepting your
+invitation to come to America.
+
+I have a great and holy duty to perform in my native land. The misery
+here is acute, active persecution still continues, the poverty of our
+people increases every day, and with such misfortunes they would fast
+fall into mental and moral stupor were there not some one constantly
+with them to cheer and instruct them. My mission, while difficult, is a
+glorious one. I have not an idle moment. I must visit the sick, console
+the bereaved, assist the poor, instruct the ignorant and sympathize with
+the unfortunate. By my own example I must seek to inculcate such moral
+lessons as will tend to elevate them above the condition into which
+their misfortunes might degrade them. To desert my post at such a time
+would be cowardly.
+
+Moreover, your mother, while sufficiently well to resume her household
+duties, is still suffering, is often melancholy and requires constant
+attention. In the company of her old friends and associates she may
+entirely recover, but removed to a strange land, among a strange people,
+she might suffer a relapse. No, believe me, my children, I am happier
+here than I could be in America.
+
+Over a thousand of our towns-people will emigrate this week. Under the
+new laws, which deprive us of every right and liberty, these
+unfortunates find it impossible to live at home and are bound for the
+promising land of America. Should any of them find their way to your
+city, receive them cordially, for "all Israel is one family." In your
+prosperity forget not those who are less fortunate than you, and give
+praise to the Lord for the blessings he has bestowed upon you.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RABBI AND PRIEST***
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