thy impudence. The gaol is handy."

With a trembling voice Moses the usurer read the letter, purporting to
have been written by an intimate friend in Mogador, and implying
by its contents that Moses had, when in that town some years ago,
embraced the faith of Islam, from which he was therefore now a
pervert, and consequently under pain of death. He was already crouched
upon the ground, as is the custom before a great man, but as he
spelled out slowly the damnatory words, he had to stretch forth his
hands to keep from falling over. He knew that there was nothing to be
gained by denial, by assurances that the letter was a forgery; the
kaid's manner indicated plainly enough that _he_ meant to be satisfied
with it, and there was no appeal.

"Moses," said the kaid, in a mock confidential tone, as he took back
the letter, "thou'rt in my power. All that thou hast is mine. With
such evidence against thee as this thy very head is in my hands. If
thou art wise, and wilt share thy fortune with me, all shall go well;
if not, thou knowest what to expect. I am to-day in need of a hundred
dollars. Now go!"

An hour had not elapsed before, with a heart still heavier than the
bag he carried, Moses crossed the courtyard again, and deposited the
sum required in the hands of the kaid, with fresh assurances of his
innocence, imploring the destruction of that fatal document, which
was readily promised, though with no intention of complying with the
request, notwithstanding that to procure another as that had been
procured would cost but a trifle.

These are only instances which could be multiplied of how the Jews
of Morocco suffer at the hands of brutal officials. As metal which
attracts the electricity from a thunder-cloud, so they invariably
suffer first when a newly appointed, conscienceless governor comes to
rule.

With all his faults the previous kaid had recognized how closely bound
up with that of the Moors under his jurisdiction was the welfare of
Jews similarly situated, so that, favoured by his wise administration,
their numbers and their wealth had increased till, though in outward
appearance beggarly, they formed an important section of the
community. The new kaid, however, saw in them but a possible mine, a
goose that laid golden eggs, so, like the fool of the story, he set
about destroying it when the supply of eggs fell off, for there was of
necessity a limit to the repeated offerings which, on one pretext or
another, h