bbish that could by no
means be carried to America. It was agreeable to have my Uncle Moses
stroke my hair and regard me with affectionate eyes, while he told me
that I would soon forget him, and asked me, so coaxingly, to write him
an account of our journey. It was delicious to be notorious through
the length and breadth of Polotzk; to be stopped and questioned at
every shop-door, when I ran out to buy two kopecks' worth of butter;
to be treated with respect by my former playmates, if ever I found
time to mingle with them; to be pointed at by my enemies, as I passed
them importantly on the street. And all my delight and pride and
interest were steeped in a super-feeling, the sense that it was I,
Mashke, _I myself_, that was moving and acting in the midst of unusual
events. Now that I was sure of America, I was in no hurry to depart,
and not impatient to arrive. I was willing to linger over every detail
of our progress, and so cherish the flavor of the adventure.

The last night in Polotzk we slept at my uncle's house, having
disposed of all our belongings, to the last three-legged stool, except
such as we were taking with us. I could go straight to the room where
I slept with my aunt that night, if I were suddenly set down in
Polotzk. But I did not really sleep. Excitement kept me awake, and my
aunt snored hideously. In the morning I was going away from Polotzk,
forever and ever. I was going on a wonderful journey. I was going to
America. How could I sleep?

My uncle gave out a false bulletin, with the last batch that the
gossips carried away in the evening. He told them that we were not
going to start till the second day. This he did in the hope of
smuggling us quietly out, and so saving us the wear and tear of a
public farewell. But his ruse failed of success. Half of Polotzk was
at my uncle's gate in the morning, to conduct us to the railway
station, and the other half was already there before we arrived.

The procession resembled both a funeral and a triumph. The women wept
over us, reminding us eloquently of the perils of the sea, of the
bewilderment of a foreign land, of the torments of homesickness that
awaited us. They bewailed my mother's lot, who had to tear herself
away from blood relations to go among strangers; who had to face
gendarmes, ticket agents, and sailors, unprotected by a masculine
escort; who had to care for four young children in the confusion of
travel, and very likely feed them trefah or s