ads lay
down to sleep.

The dawn found the wanderers astir, and after a hasty ablution at a
neighboring brook and a recital of their morning prayers, they bravely
started out upon their cheerless journey.

The day had dawned brightly, but before long threatening clouds obscured
the sun. The wind veered to the North and howled dismally.

Sadly and silently the boys trudged onward, buffeting the wind and
stifling their growing hunger.

"Mendel," finally sobbed Jacob, "I am so hungry. If I only had a piece
of bread I would feel much stronger."

"Let us walk faster," replied the other. "Perhaps we will reach some
village."

Manfully they pushed onward for another hour, Mendel endeavoring to
entertain his brother by relating stories he had heard when a child.

Jacob stopped again, exhausted.

"It is no use, Mendel," he cried. "I am too hungry to walk any further."

"Courage, brother," answered Mendel, cheerfully. "See, there are houses
ahead of us. We can surely find something to eat."

The waifs dragged their way to a weather-beaten hut and knocked at the
door. A mild-visaged woman responded and surveyed the travel-stained
children with something like compassion.

"We are hungry," pleaded Mendel. "Please give us a bite of food."

"Who are you and where do you come from?" queried the woman.

"We are trying to reach Kief, where we have friends," answered Mendel.
"Please do not let us starve on the road."

"Jews, eh?" asked the woman, suspiciously. "Well, no matter; you don't
look any too happy. Come in and warm yourselves."

The boys were soon sitting before a roaring kitchen-fire, while the
woman busied herself with providing them with a meal. Tempting, indeed,
did it appear to the famished lads; but could they eat it? Was it
prepared according to the Jewish ritual? It was a momentous question to
Mendel, and only his little brother's pinched and miserable countenance
could have induced him to violate the law which to his conception was as
sacred as life itself. While Mendel debated, Jacob solved the knotty
problem by attacking the savory dishes before him, and his brother
reluctantly followed his example.

"It may be a sin, but God will forgive us," was his mental reflection as
he greedily swallowed the food.

The woman looked on in admiration at the huge appetites of the lads. She
plied them with questions, to which she received vague replies, and
finally contented herself with the thought that these we