ything,' said the lanky Mendel, gloomily
sweeping in his winnings.

The _Parnass_ took snuff judicially. 'Besides, he may have a Christian
partner who keeps all the Saturday profits,' he suggested.

'That would be just as forbidden,' said Barzinsky, as he dealt the
cards.

'But your cousin David,' his wife reminded him, 'sells his groceries
to a Christian at Passover.'

'That is permitted. It would not be reasonable to destroy hundreds of
pounds of leaven. But Sabbath partnerships are not permitted.'

'Perhaps the question has never been raised,' said the _Parnass_.

'I am enough of a _Lamdan_ (pundit) to answer it,' retorted Barzinsky.

'I prefer going to a specialist,' rejoined the _Parnass_.

Barzinsky threw down his cards. 'You can go to the devil!' he cried.

'For shame, Solomon!' said his wife. 'Don't disturb the game.'

'To Gehenna with the game! The shame is on a _Parnass_ to talk like an
_Epikouros_ (Epicurean).'

The _Parnass_ blew his nose elaborately. 'It stands in the Talmud:
"For vain swearing noxious beasts came into the world." And if----'

'It stands in the Psalmist,' Barzinsky interrupted: '"The Law of Thy
mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver."'

'It stands in the Perek,' the _Parnass_ rejoined severely, 'that the
wise man does not break in upon the speech of his fellow.'

'It stands in the Shulchan Aruch,' Barzinsky shrieked, 'that for the
sanctification of the Sabbath----'

'It stands in the Talmud,' interposed Mendel, with unwonted animation
in his long figure, 'that one must not even offer a nut to allure
customers. From light to heavy, therefore, it may be deduced that----'

A still small voice broke in upon the storm. 'But Simeon Samuels
hasn't a Christian partner,' said Mrs. Mendel.

There was an embarrassed pause.

'He has only his wife to help him,' she went on. 'I know, because I
went to the shop Friday morning on pretence of asking for a
cuckoo-clock.'

'But a marine-dealer doesn't sell clocks,' put in the _Parnass's_ wife
timidly. It was her first contribution to the conversation, for she
was overpowered by her husband's greatness.

'Don't be silly, Hannah!' said the _Parnass_. 'That was just why Mrs.
Mendel asked for it.'

'Yes, but unfortunately Simeon Samuels did have one,' Mrs. Mendel
confessed; 'and I couldn't get out of buying it.'

There was a general laugh.

'Cut-throat competition, I call it,' snarled Solomon Barzinsky,
recovering fro