-in the best manner of Isaiah the Scribe--and the sentiments
therein expressed were entirely noble. I was supposed to be a
high-school pupil away on my vacation; and I was writing to my
"Respected Parents," to assure them of my welfare, and to tell them
how, in the midst of my pleasures, I still longed for my friends, and
looked forward with eagerness to the renewal of my studies. All this,
in phrases half Yiddish, half German, and altogether foreign to the
ears of Polotzk. At least, I never heard such talk in the market, when
I went to buy a kopeck's worth of sunflower seeds.

This was all the schooling I had in Russia. My father's plans fell to
the ground, on account of the protracted illness of both my parents.
All his hopes of leading his children beyond the intellectual limits
of Polotzk were trampled down by the monster poverty who showed his
evil visage just as my sister and I were fairly started on a broader
path.

One chance we had, and that was quickly snatched away, of continuing
our education in spite of family difficulties. Lozhe the Rav, hearing
from various sources that Pinchus, son-in-law of Raphael the Russian,
had two bright little girls, whose talents were going to waste for
want of training, became much interested, and sent for the children,
to see for himself what the gossip was worth. By a strange trick of
memory I recall nothing of this important interview, nor indeed of the
whole matter, although a thousand trifles of that period recur to me
on the instant; so I report this anecdote on the authority of my
parents.

They tell me how the rav lifted me up on a table in front of him, and
asked me many questions, and encouraged me to ask questions in my
turn. Reb' Lozhe came to the conclusion, as a result of this
interview, that I ought by all means to be put to school. There was no
public school for girls, as we know, but a few pupils were maintained
in a certain private school by irregular contributions from city
funds. Reb' Lozhe enlisted in my cause the influence of his son, who,
by virtue of some municipal office which he held, had a vote in fixing
this appropriation. But although he pleaded eloquently for my
admission as a city pupil, the rav's son failed to win the consent of
his colleagues, and my one little crack of opportunity was tightly
stopped.

My father does not remember on what technicality my application was
dismissed. My mother is under the impression that it was plainly
refuse