m his merriment.

'But _you_ don't sell clocks,' said the _Parnass_.

'That's just it; he gets hold of our customers on pretence of selling
them something else. The Talmudical prohibition cited by Mendel
applies to that too.'

'So I wasn't so silly,' put in the _Parnass's_ wife, feeling vaguely
vindicated.

'Well, you saw his wife,' said the _Parnass_ to Mendel's wife,
disregarding his own. 'More than I've done, for she wasn't in
synagogue. Perhaps _she_ is the Christian partner.' His suggestion
brought a new and holier horror over the card-table.

'No, no,' replied Mrs. Mendel reassuringly. 'I caught sight of her
frying fish in the kitchen.'

This proof of her Jewishness passed unquestioned, and the new-born
horror subsided.

'But in spite of the fish,' said Mr. Mendel, 'she served in the shop
while he was at synagogue.'

'Yes,' hissed Barzinsky; 'and in spite of the synagogue _he_ served
in the shop. A greater mockery was never known!'

'Not at all, not at all,' said the _Parnass_ judicially. 'If a man
breaks one commandment, that's no reason he should break two.'

'But he does break two,' Solomon thundered, smiting the green cloth
with his fist; 'for he steals my custom by opening when I'm closed.'

'Take care--you will break my plates,' said the _Parnass_. 'Take a
sandwich.'

'Thank you--you've taken away my appetite.'

'I'm sorry--but the sandwiches would have done the same. I really
can't expel a respectable seat-holder before I know that he is truly a
sinner in Israel. As it is written, "Thou shalt inquire and make
search and ask diligently." He may have only opened this once by way
of a send-off. Every dog is allowed one bite.'

'At that rate, it would be permitted to eat a ham-sandwich--just for
once,' said Solomon scathingly.

'Don't say _I_ called you a dog,' the _Parnass_ laughed.

'A mezaire!' announced the hostess hurriedly. 'After all, it's the
Almighty's business, not ours.'

'No, it's our business,' Solomon insisted.

'Yes,' agreed the _Parnass_ drily; 'it _is_ your business.'

III

The week went by, with no lull in the storm, though the plate-glass
window was unshaken by the gusts. It maintained its flaunting
seductiveness, assisted, people observed, by Simeon Samuels' habit of
lounging at his shop-door and sucking in the hesitating spectator. And
it did not shutter itself on the Sabbath that succeeded.

The horror was tinged with consternation. The strange apathy of the