o on until you come to a Jewish
settlement, where you will be cared for. Jacob, you must try to stay
with me, whatever may happen."

Long and earnest was the conversation between the boys, all of whom, in
spite of their tender years, realized their perilous position.

Then Mendel arose and recited the old and familiar Hebrew evening
prayers and the little gathering made the responses; then, weary and
homesick, the boys cried themselves to sleep.

At break of day, the Cossacks pounded at the barn-door, and the boys,
after breakfasting on dry bread, again set out upon their tedious
journey. The soldiers who had accompanied the wagons, were replaced by
others; the new men were in a better humor and more graciously inclined
than those of the preceding day. They even condescended to jest with the
young recruits and to civilly answer their many questions. From their
replies, Mendel gleaned that the commander at Kharkov would distribute
them among the various military camps throughout the province, where
constant hard labor, a stern discipline and a not too humane treatment
would eventually toughen their physical fibre and wean them from the
cherished religion of their youth.

The weather was unfriendly, the sky was overcast, and the boys,
shivering with cold and apprehension, at length made their entry into
Kharkov. The commander of the garrison, a grim-visaged, bearded warrior,
received them, heard the story of their capture from one of the guards,
amused himself by pulling the boys' ears and administering sundry blows.
He then divided them into twos, to be escorted to the various barracks
about the district. Mendel and Jacob were permitted to go together, not
because the commander yielded to a feeling of humanity, but because they
happened to be standing together, and it really did not matter to the
Russian authorities how the new recruits were distributed. A soldier was
placed in charge of each couple, and, like cattle to the slaughter, the
boys were led through the town.

Weary and silent, yet filled with wonder and surprise, Mendel and Jacob
preceded their guard through the gay and animated streets of Kharkov. It
was a new life that opened to their vision. With childish curiosity they
gazed at every booth, looked fondly into every gaily decorated shop and
glanced timidly at the many uniformed officers who hurried to and fro.

For a moment, their desolate homes, their sorrowing parents, their
unpromising future were