fficulty, "I am
about to leave this world. My soul will take flight from this frail
body when the sun has sunk behind the horizon. I have lived long and
have amassed great wealth which will soon be thine. Use it well, as I
have taught thee, for thou, my son, art a man of learning, as befits
our noble Jewish faith. One thing I must ask thee to promise me."

[Illustration: A strange crowd of demons of all shapes and
sizes poured into the synagogue with threatening gestures.
(_Page 40_).]

"I will, my father," returned Bar Shalmon, sobbing.

"Nay, weep not, my son," said the old man. "My day is ended; my life
has not been ill-spent. I would spare thee the pain that was mine in
my early days, when, as a merchant, I garnered my fortune. The sea out
there that will soon swallow up the sun is calm now. But beware of it,
my son, for it is treacherous. Promise me--nay, swear unto me--that
never wilt thou cross it to foreign lands."

Bar Shalmon placed his hands on those of his father.

"Solemnly I swear," he said, in a broken voice, "to do thy wish--never
to journey on the sea, but to remain here in this, my native land.
'Tis a vow before thee, my father."

"'Tis an oath before heaven," said the old man. "Guard it, keep it,
and heaven will bless thee. Remember! See, the sun is sinking."

Mar Shalmon fell back upon his pillows and spoke no more. Bar Shalmon
stood gazing out of the window until the sun had disappeared, and
then, silently sobbing, he left the chamber of death.

The whole city wept when the sad news was made known, for Mar Shalmon
was a man of great charity, and almost all the inhabitants followed
the remains to the grave. Then Bar Shalmon, his son, took his father's
place of honor in the city, and in him, too, the poor and needy found
a friend whose purse was ever open and whose counsel was ever wisdom.

Thus years passed away.

One day there arrived in the harbor of the city a strange ship from a
distant land. Its captain spoke a tongue unknown, and Bar Shalmon,
being a man of profound knowledge, was sent for. He alone in the city
could understand the language of the captain. To his astonishment, he
learned that the cargo of the vessel was for Mar Shalmon, his father.

"I am the son of Mar Shalmon," he said. "My father is dead, and all
his possessions he left to me."

"Then, verily, art thou the most fortunate mortal, and the richest, on
earth," answered the captain. "My good ship is filled