sive forehead and a long but neatly
trimmed beard set off his handsome face. Recha had become stouter and
more matronly, but one would scarcely take her for the mother of the
blooming girl by her side.

Kathinka was a perfect specimen of Hebrew beauty. She had inherited the
commanding form of her father and the regular features of her mother. To
this perfection of body she united a sweetness of disposition which made
her beloved by all who knew her.

Women among the Eastern Jews, as indeed among all oriental nations,
being considered intellectually inferior to their lords and masters,
rarely aspire to learning. Occasionally one might find an example of a
well-directed and thoroughly developed mind among the daughters of
Israel, even though surrounded by the retarding influences of the
_ghetto_. We have seen how well Recha had been educated and her daughter
Kathinka was being brought up in the same way. She was independent in
thought as well as in action, but never at the cost of maidenly
sentiment. Piety and purity shone in her lustrous eyes. Superior to her
position, she possessed the faculty of adapting herself to her
surroundings. There was no pride in her breast save that which might
arise from the consciousness of doing right. The poor had a
commiserating friend in her and the sick a tender nurse. The children
that played in the squalid lanes of the old quarter ceased their romping
when she passed and lovingly kissed her hand. She desired no better lot
than to do good in her own sphere, and to deserve the approbation of
her own conscience. Such was Kathinka, a girl of many graces and
sterling worth--in heart and soul a Jewess.

Rabbi Mendel looked up from his books and gazed fondly at his daughter,
who, seated with the full light of the window falling upon her face,
appeared the embodiment of loveliness. Then turning to his wife, he
asked:

"Recha, have you spoken to Kathinka about young Goldheim?"

"No," replied Recha; "I left it for you to tell."

"Briefly then, my dear," said the Rabbi, addressing his daughter, who
looked up from her work in surprise; "Reb Wolf, the _schadchen_, has
been here for the third time, to induce us to give him a favorable reply
for Samuel Goldheim. I told him that I feared my intervention would be
useless."

Kathinka blushed deeply.

"You did right, father," she answered.

"But, my dear child," said the Rabbi, thoughtfully; "tell me why you
refuse Goldheim? He is a fine-loo