who were so anxious for news from home,
whose eyes burned, and whose hearts beat so fast, so loud, but the
carriers were very busy; they came charged with a thousand messages from
the Dalissovke shopkeepers and traders, and they carried more letters
than the post, but with infinitely less method. Letters were lost, and
parcels were heard of no more, and the distracted carriers scratched the
nape of their neck, and replied to every question:

"Directly, directly, I shall find it directly--no, I don't seem to have
anything for you--"

That is how they answered the grown people who came to them; but our two
little brothers stood and looked at Lezer the carrier--a man in a wadded
caftan, summer and winter--with thirsty eyes and aching hearts; stood
and waited, hoping he would notice them and say something, if only one
word. But Lezer was always busy: now he had gone into the yard to feed
the horse, now he had run into the inn, and entered into a conversation
with the clerk of a great store, who had brought a list of goods wanted
from a shop in Dalissovke.

And the brothers used to stand and stand, till the elder one, Berele,
lost patience. Biting his lips, and all but crying with vexation, he
would just articulate: "Reb Lezer, is there a letter from father?"

But Reb Lezer would either suddenly cease to exist, run out into the
street with somebody or other, or be absorbed in a conversation, and
Berele hardly expected the answer which Reb Lezer would give over his
shoulder:

"There isn't one--there isn't one."

"There isn't one!" Berele would say with a deep sigh, and sadly call to
Yainkele to come away. Mournfully, and with a broken spirit, they went
to where the day's meal awaited them.

"I am sure he loses the letters!" Yainkele would say a few minutes
later, as they walked along.

"He is a bad man!" Berele would mutter with vexation.

But one day Lezer handed them a letter and a small parcel.

The letter ran thus:

"Dear Children,

Be good, boys, and learn with diligence. We send you herewith half
a cheese and a quarter of a pound of sugar, and a little
berry-juice in a bottle.

Eat it in health, and do not quarrel over it.

From me, your father,

CHAYYIM HECHT."

That day Lezer the carrier was the best man in the world in their eyes,
they would not have been ashamed to eat him up with horse and cart for
very love. They wr