eople's wrath.

The members of the family stood motionless, as if turned to stone
with terror and shame.

Saul took his hands from his face, drew himself up proudly, and went
quickly towards the door.

"Father, where are you going?" cried the men and women in terror.

He pointed his shaking hand at the window, and said:

"I will stand in the porch of my house, and tell the foolish rabble
to be quiet, and take itself off."

They barred his way. The women clung around his shoulders and knees.

"They will kill you, father!" they moaned.

Suddenly the raging tumult ceased. Instead yells, a low murmur passed
from mouth to mouth.

"The shamos! the shamos! the shamos!" It was indeed the same man who,
silent and motionless, had sat on the steps of the Be-ha-Kahol
waiting for orders, and who now approached the house of Ezofowich to
proclaim the sentence of the tribunal before the family of the
accused. The crowd, stirred by ardent curiosity to hear the sentence,
pressed close to the windows, in which not a single pane of glass
remained. Others, scattered over the square and in the neighbouring
streets, drew nearer, and surrounded the house like a dark, living wall.
The door of the house was opened and shut again, and the shamos
entered the sitting-room.

He looked anxiously, almost suspiciously around, and bowed very low
before Saul.

"Peace be with you," he said in a low voice, as if he himself felt
the bitter irony of the greeting.

"Reb Saul," he began, in a somewhat more assured voice, "do not be
angry with your servant if he brings shame and misfortune into your
house. I obey the commands of the Rabbi, the elders, and the judges
who sat in judgment upon your grandson Meir, and whose sentence I am
ordered to read out to him and you all."

A deep silence followed upon his words. At last Saul, who stood
leaning upon the shoulder of his son Raphael said in a low voice:

"Read."

The messenger unrolled the paper he was holding in his hand, and
read:

"Isaak Todros, the son of Baruch, Rabbi of Szybow, together with the
judges and elders of the Kahal, who constitute the tribunal of the
community of Szybow, heard the following accusations, confirmed by
many witnesses, against Meir Ezofowich, son of Benjamin:"

"Meir Ezofowich, son of Benjamin, is accused, and found guilty,
of the crime of breaking the Sabbath. Instead of giving himself up to
the study of holy books, he watched and defended the dwelling of the