d.

"He might rise even higher--to be the Pope himself," replied the
priest.

"It would be a great thing to give a bishop to the Church, would it
not?" said the woman.

"It is a great thing to give anyone to the Church of Rome," the priest
assured her.

Then they spoke in whispers. The woman appeared a little troubled, but
the priest promised her that all would be well, that she would be
rewarded, and that nobody would dare to accuse her of doing anything
wrong.

Convinced that she was performing a righteous action, she agreed to do
what the priest suggested.

Accordingly, the following Friday night when the household of Simon
ben Isaac was wrapped in slumber, she crept stealthily and silently
into the boy's bedroom. Taking him gently in her arms, she stole
silently out of the house and carried him to the priest who was
waiting. Elkanan was well wrapped up in blankets, and so cautiously
did the woman move that he did not waken.

The priest said not a word. He just nodded to the woman, and then
placed Elkanan in a carriage which he had in waiting.

Elkanan slept peacefully, totally unaware of his adventure, and when
he opened his eyes he thought he must be dreaming. He was not in his
own room, but a much smaller one which seemed to be jolting and
moving, like a carriage, and opposite to him was a priest.

"Where am I?" he asked in alarm.

"Lie still, Andreas," was the reply.

"But my name is not Andreas," he answered. "That is not a Jewish name.
I am Elkanan, the son of Simon."

To his amazement, however, the priest looked at him pityingly and
shook his head.

"You have had a nasty accident," he said, "and it has affected your
head. You must not speak."

Not another word would he say in response to all the boy's eager
queries. He simply ignored Elkanan who puzzled his head over the
matter until he really began to feel ill and to wonder whether he was
Elkanan after all. Tired out, he fell asleep again, and next time he
awoke he was lying on a bed in a bare room. A bell was tolling, and he
heard a chanting chorus. By his side stood a priest.

Elkanan looked at the priest like one dazed. Before he could utter a
word, the priest said: "Rise, Andreas, and follow me."

The boy had no alternative but to obey. To his horror he was taken
into a chapel and made to kneel. The priests sprinkled water on him.
He did not understand what the service meant, and when it was over he
began to cry for his father and m