ir chief rabbi, and only escaped the
torture by a sum that ten years of labour and the sweat of my brow
cannot replace. Ximen! the bitterest thought of all is, that the frenzy
of one of our own tribe has brought this desolation upon Israel."

"My lord speaks riddles," said Ximen, with well-feigned astonishment in
his glassy eyes.

"Why dost thou wind and turn, good Ximen?" said the Jew, shaking his
head; "thou knowest well what my words drive at. Thy master is the
pretended Almamen; and that recreant Israelite (if Israelite, indeed,
still be one who hath forsaken the customs and the forms of his
forefathers) is he who hath stirred up the Jews of Cordova and Guadix,
and whose folly hath brought upon us these dread things. Holy Abraham!
this Jew hath cost me more than fifty Nazarenes and a hundred Moors."

Ximen remained silent; and, the tongue of Elias being loosed by the
recollection of his sad loss, the latter continued: "At the first, when
the son of Issachar reappeared, and became a counsellor in the king's
court, I indeed, who had led him, then a child, to the synagogue--for
old Issachar was to me dear as a brother--recognised him by his eyes and
voice: but I exulted in his craft and concealment; I believed he would
work mighty things for his poor brethren, and would obtain, for his
father's friend, the supplying of the king's wives and concubines with
raiment and cloth of price. But years have passed: he hath not lightened
our burthens; and, by the madness that hath of late come over him,
heading the heathen armies, and drawing our brethren into danger and
death, he hath deserved the curse of the synagogue, and the wrath of our
whole race. I find, from our brethren who escaped the Inquisition by
the surrender of their substance, that his unskilful and frantic schemes
were the main pretext for the sufferings of the righteous under the
Nazarene; and, again, the same schemes bring on us the same oppression
from the Moor. Accursed be he, and may his name perish!"

Ximen sighed, but remained silent, conjecturing to what end the Jew
would bring his invectives. He was not long in suspense. After a pause,
Elias recommenced, in an altered and more careless tone, "He is rich,
this son of Issachar--wondrous rich."

"He has treasures scattered over half the cities of Africa and the
Orient," said Ximen.

"Thou seest, then, my friend, that thy master hath doomed me to a heavy
loss. I possess his secret; I could give him up