one morning they climbed into the
attic of the synagogue. There they found the whole treasure--a pile of
candles, several "_poods_" of wax, a score of new "_Tallissim_," a
bundle of prayer-books of different sorts that had never been used. It
may be that to you these things would not have been of great value, but
to a beadle they were worth a great deal. This treasure was taken down
from the attic very ceremoniously. I will let you imagine the picture
for yourself. On the one hand, Isshur with the big nose, terrifying
eyebrows, and the beard of brass that started thick and heavy, and
finished up with a few thin terrifying hairs. On the other hand, the
young heathens, insolent ones, fearless ones, devils and wretches
dragging out his treasure. But you need not imagine Isshur lost himself.
He was not of the people that lose themselves for the least thing. He
stood looking on, pretending to be puzzling himself with the question of
how these things came to be in the attic of the synagogue.

Early next morning, the following announcement was written in chalk on
the door of the synagogue:--

"Memorial candles are sold here at wholesale price."

Next day there was a different inscription. On the third day still
another one. Isshur had something to do. Every morning he rubbed out
with a wet rag the inscriptions that covered the whole of the door of
the synagogue. Every Sabbath morning, on their desks the congregants
found bundles of letters, in which the youngsters accused the beadle and
his bought-over committee-men of many things.

Isshur had a hard time of it. He got the committee-men to issue a
proclamation in big letters, on parchment.

"Hear all! As there have arisen in our midst a band of hooligans,
scamps, good-for-nothings who are making false accusations against the
most respected householders of the village, therefore we, the leaders of
the community, warn these false accusers openly that we most strongly
condemn their falsehoods, and if we catch any of them, we will punish
him with all the severities of the law."

Of course, the boys at once tore down this proclamation. A second was
hung in its place. The boys did not hesitate to hang up a proclamation
of their own in its stead. And the men found on their desks fresh
letters of accusation against the beadle and the committee-men. In a
word, it was a period when the people did nothing else but write. The
committee-men wrote proclamations, and the boys, the sca