k
no more, I must think no more."

Israel had little heart for such visions, so he turned to the casket of
the jewels where it stood by the wall. With trembling hands he took it
and opened it, and here within were necklaces and bracelets, and rings
and earrings, glistening of gold and rubies under their covering of
dust. He lifted them one by one over his wrinkled fingers, and looked at
them while his eyes grew wet.

"Not for myself," he murmured, "not for myself would I have sold them,
not for bread to eat or water to drink; no, not for a wilderness of
worlds!"

All this time he had given little thought to Naomi, where she stood
by his side, but in her darkness and silence she touched the silks and
looked serious, and the slippers and looked perplexed, and now at the
jingling of the jewels she stretched out her hand and took one of
them from her father's fingers, and feeling it, and finding it to be a
necklace, she clasped it about her neck and laughed.

At the sound of her laughter Israel shook like a reed. It brought back
the memory of the day when she danced to her mother's death, decked in
that same necklace and those same ornaments. More on this head Israel
could not think and hold to his purpose, so he took the jewels from
Naomi's neck and returned them to the casket, and hastened away with it
to a man to whom he designed to sell it.

This was no other than Reuben Maliki, keeper of the poor box of the
Jews; for as well as a usurer he was a silversmith, and kept his shop
in the Sok el Foki. Israel was moved to go to this person by the
remembrance of two things, of which either seemed enough for his
preference--first, that he had bought the jewels of Reuben in the
beginning, and next, the Reuben had never since ceased to speak of
them in Tetuan as priceless beyond the gems of Ethiopia and the gold of
Ophir.

But when Israel came to him now with the casket that he might buy, he
eyed both with looks of indifference, though it was more dear to his
covetous and revengeful heart that Israel should humble himself in his
need, and bring these jewels, than almost any other satisfaction that
could come to it.

"And what is this that you bring me?" said Reuben languidly.

"A case of jewels," said Israel, with a downward look.

"Jewels? umph! what jewels?"

"My poor wife's. You know them, Reuben See!"

Israel opened the casket.

"Ah, your wife's. Umph! yes, I suppose I must have seen them somewhere."

"You h