as a lamb to the slaughter.' Yes,
Israel was the Man of Sorrows. And in this view the German Professor,
I found, was only re-echoing Rabbinic opinion. My model proved a mine
of lore upon this as upon so many other points. Even the Jewish
expectation of the Messiah, he had never shared, he said--that the
_Messhiach_ would come riding upon a white ass. Israel would be
redeemed by itself, though his neighbours would have called the
sentiment 'epicurean.'

'Whoever saves me is my _Messhiach_,' he declared suddenly, and
plucked at my hand to kiss it.

'Now, you shock _me_,' I said, pushing him away.

'No, no,' he said; 'I agree with the word of the moujik: "the good
people _are_ God."'

'Then I suppose you are what is called a Zionist,' I said.

'Yes,' he replied; 'now that you have saved me, I see that God works
only through men. As for the _Messhiach_ on the white ass, they do not
really believe it, but they won't let another believe otherwise. For
my own part, when I say the prayer, "Blessed be Thou who restorest the
dead to life," I always mean it of _you_.'

Such Oriental hyperbolic gratitude would have satisfied the greediest
benefactor, and was infinitely in excess of what he owed me. He seemed
unconscious that he was doing work, journeying punctually long miles
to my studio in any and every weather. It is true that I early helped
him to redeem his household gods, but could I do less for a man who
had still no bed to sleep in?

My recovery of the Rotterdam bundle served to unveil further
complications. The agents at the East End charged him three shillings
and sixpence per letter, and conducted the business with a fine legal
delay. But it was not till Kazelia was eulogized by one of these
gentry as a very fine man that both the model and I grew suspicious
that the long chain of roguery reached even unto London, and that the
confederates on this side were playing for time, so that the option
should expire, and the railway sell the unredeemed luggage, which they
would doubtless buy in cheap, making another profit.

Ultimately Quarriar told me his second daughter--for the eldest was
blind of one eye--was prepared to journey alone to Rotterdam, as the
safest way of redeeming the goods. Admiring her pluck, I added her
fare to the expenses.

One fine morning Israel appeared, transfigured with happiness.

'When does man rejoice most?' he cried. 'When he loses and finds
again.'

'Ah, then you have got your bedd