I had through him, and
shall have still--"

"Oh, that's it!" said the lord. "He is a kind, of half-witted
mischief-maker, who does not know what he wants, and gets in
everybody's way?"

"The noble lord has guessed it," said Eli, but he added at once. "He
is very young, and will yet be a decent man."

"Which means that he is not a decent man at present? I see."

"This way, please," said Jankiel, showing the gates of the synagogue
court.

"And where does your Rabbi live?"

Kamionker pointed to the little black hut close to the synagogue.

"What, in that little cottage?"

And he went towards it with Jankiel alone, as Witebski, guessing that
some unpleasant business had brought them hither, directly took his
leave, and, bowing politely, left them.

The door of the hut was already closed, but a little group of
worshippers still lingered at the open window. It was very silent
within; but the Rabbi did not rest, he never rested, as the few hours
spent in broken sleep could scarcely be called by that name. He was
bending over his books, which he knew by heart, but still pondered
over, and of which he strove with his whole mind and soul to
penetrate the mystery.

Reb Moshe rested, but not altogether. He sat in the corner of the
fireplace, his knees drawn up to his chin, and his hands buried in
his beard. He looked fixedly at the Master, not unlike a fanatic
savage worshipping his fetish, or as a scientist watches the
universe. The eyes of Reb Moshe expressed deep veneration, wonder,
and utter devotion.

Suddenly the door opened, and upon the threshold stood the lord of
Kamionka who, turning to Jankiel, said:

"Remain outside; I will speak alone with the Rabbi."

Saying this, he stooped in order to enter the low doorway, and then
looked around.

Opposite him, near the wall, sat a man with a mass of coal-black hair,
slightly tinged with gray, about him a worn-out garment, and with a
yellow, wrinkled face, who, looked at the intruder with amazed and
piercing eyes. In a far corner squatted another man, only dimly visible;
upon him the young gentleman bestowed only a passing glance.
It did not even enter his mind that the man in the tattered clothes and
with the piercing eyes could be the celebrated Rabbi, whose fame,
spreading over the Jewish communities, had sent a faint echo into the
Christian world.

He approached the man very politely. "Could I see the Rabbi of Szybow
for a few minutes?"

There was no ans