into Constantinople;
but when it was unloaded at Hippo, to be taken at once, with the rest
of the treasure, to Carthage, the oldest of the Jews in Hippo went to
him and said: "Let me warn you, mighty warrior! Do not convey these
treasures to Constantinople. Listen to a tale from the lips of your
humble servant.

"The eagle stole from the sacrifice burning on the altar a piece of
meat and bore it to his eyrie. But a few glimmering coals clung to the
offering which had been consecrated to God. And these glimmering coals
set fire to the nest of the great bird of prey, and burned the young,
which were not yet able to fly, and the eagle mother. The male eagle,
trying to save the young brood, dashed into the flames and scorched his
wings. So perished miserably the strong robber that had borne to his
own abode what belonged to God. Indeed, indeed, I tell you, the capitol
of Rome fell into the hands of the foe because it contained the sacred
vessels of Jehovah; the citadel of the Vandals fell into the hands of
the foe because it concealed these treasures. Must the stronghold of
the Emperor--God bless the protector of justice--at Constantinople
become the third eyrie which is destroyed for their sake? In truth I
say unto you, thus saith the Lord: This gold, this silver, will wander
over the earth, will destroy all the cities to which the stolen
treasure is dragged, until the gold and the silver again lie in the
holy city, Jerusalem."

And, lo, Belisarius was startled.

He wrote to the Emperor Justinian the story of the old Jew, and--really
and truly--the patriarch Moses can work still greater miracles than
Saint Cyprian. Justinian, more greedy and avaricious than the whole
race of Jews put together, ordered these treasures to be taken, not to
Constantinople, but Jerusalem, where they are to be divided among the
Christian churches and the Jewish synagogues.

So the old Jew has recovered a portion of the treasures of his
people,--without a single sword-stroke,--while Romans, Vandals,
Byzantines, gained them only after fierce battles and much bloodshed.
Does the old man believe in the curse that rests upon the treasure? I
think he does. He does not lie, and it is useful for his purpose to
believe it; so he credits it easily and seriously. The German says:
"Gain by blood rather than by sweat." The Jew says: "Gain by sweat
rather than by blood, and far, far rather by money than by sweat!" It
may be said in praise of the Jews tha