, whose face looked very yellow, and whose eyes
had the hunted look of a criminal. The last, but not least of them,
was Isaak Todros, who glided in so swiftly and silently that scarcely
anybody in the crowd noticed him.

At the same time, from the depth of Bet-ha-Midrash, a clear, resonant
voice reached the ears of the surging crowd without:

"In the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, hear, O
Israel!"

The murmur of the crowd within and without increased, and almost rose
to a tumult. For a few moments the voice of the speaker was drowned
in the general hubbub, and his few sentences sounded indistinct and
broken.

Suddenly somebody from the crowd shouted:

"Silence and listen, for it is said: 'You shall listen to whosoever
speaketh in the name of Jehovah!'"

"That is true," murmured voices. "He began in the name of the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Then everything became quiet, except for the rustle of those near the
door, who tried to get a better view of the speaker. They did not see
anything unusual. Behind the white table, pale and grave, stood Meir
Ezofowich. He was much paler than usual, and his eyes burned
feverishly. His emotion was not the outcome of fear or doubt, but of
a powerful conviction and radiant hope. In his hands he held a few
sheets of old yellow paper, which he raised now and then, to show
whence he took his words.

"O Israel!" he read out, in a clear and thrilling voice, "you are a
great people! You were the first among nations who recognised one God
in heaven, and heard on earth, amid the roar of thunder and flashes
of lightning, those ten great commandments, which, like ten rocks,
helped you and other nations to climb towards the sun of perfection.
Israel! blind from his birth, or blinded by malice, must be the man
who fails to recognise the greatness of your mission. Dry from its
birth, or dried by the searching breath that comes from the nether
world, must be the eye that does not shed a tear at the sight of your
sufferings. Ill-fated he who, looking at you, calls you contemptible.
May the Lord pity him and forgive him, as he possesses not the
balance in which are weighed a nation's virtues and crimes, possesses
not the wisdom which shows how pain and degradation produce sin.
Israel! of you were born Moses, whose love was like the flaming bush,
David with the golden harp, the beautiful Esther, weeping over the
misery of her people. The Maccabees with their mighty swo