lose its efficacy.

"Then," continued the messenger, "I said, 'Rabbi, this is Friday noon;
it takes almost a day and a half to reach Kief. How can I get there by
_Shabbes_?' Then he answered, 'Thinkest thou that I possess the power to
cure a dying man and not to send thee home before the Sabbath? Begin thy
journey at once and on foot and thou shalt be in Kief before night.'
Then I gave him the present I had brought and started out upon my
homeward journey. I appeared to fly. It seemed as though I was suspended
in the air, and trees, fields and villages passed me in rapid
succession. This continued until about a half hour ago, when I suddenly
found myself before Kief and at once hastened here with the parchment."

This incredible story produced different effects upon the auditors
present.

"It is wonderful," said one. "The _bal-shem_ knows the mysteries of
God."

"I don't believe a word of it," shouted another; "such things are
impossible."

"But we have proof of it before us," cried a third. "Itzig could not
have returned by natural means."

Then a number of the men related similar occurrences for which they
could vouch, or which had taken place in the experience of their
parents, and the gathering broke up into little groups, each
gesticulating, relating or explaining. The excitement was indescribable.

Bensef laid his hand upon Itzig's shoulder and led him aside.

"Look at me, Itzig," he commanded. "I want to know the truth. Is what
you have just related exactly true."

"To be sure it is. If you doubt it, go to the _bal-shem_ and ask him
yourself."

"Do you swear by----" Then checking himself, Hirsch muttered: "We will
see. If the boy recovers, I will believe you."

When Itzig arrived at the synagogue that evening, he was the cynosure of
all eyes, and it is safe to say that there was not in Kief a Jewish
household in which the wonderful story was not repeated and commented
upon.

Mendel recovered with marvellous rapidity. Whether his improvement was
due to the Peruvian bark which the kind-hearted neighbor had brought,
or to the power of the Cabalistic writing, or to the psychological
influence of faith in the _bal-shem's_ power, it is not for us to
decide, but certain it is that Rabbi Eleazer received full credit for
the cure and his already great reputation spread through Russia.

The fact that Itzig, whose poverty had been notorious, now occasionally
indulged in expenditures requiring the outlay of