ut any
reference to the other, but Aunt Yente talked more than anyone.

"Hush!" cried out Aunt Yente, "listen, because not long ago a still
better thing happened. Not far from Yampele, about three versts away,
some robbers fell upon a Jewish tavern, killed a whole houseful of
people, down to a baby in a cradle. The only person left alive was a
servant-girl, who was sleeping on the kitchen stove. She heard people
screeching, and jumped down, this servant-girl, off the stove, peeped
through a chink in the door, and saw, this servant-girl I'm telling you
of, saw the master of the house and the mistress lying on the floor,
murdered, in a pool of blood, and she went back, this girl, and sprang
through a window, and ran into the town screaming: Jews, to the rescue,
help, help, help!"

Suddenly, just as Aunt Yente was shouting, "Help, help, help!" we heard
_trrraach!--tarrrach!--bom--dzin--dzin--dzin, bomm!!_ We were so deep in
the story, we only thought at first that robbers had descended upon our
house, and were firing guns, and we could not move for terror. For one
minute we looked at one another, and then with one accord we began to
call out, "Help! help! help!" and my mother was so carried away that she
clasped me in her arms and cried:

"My child, my life for yours, woe is me!"

"Ha? What? What is the matter with him? What has happened?" exclaimed my
father.

"Nothing! nothing! hush! hush!" cried Aunt Yente, gesticulating wildly,
and the maid came running in from the kitchen, more dead than alive.

"Who screamed? What is it? Is there a fire? What is on fire? Where?"

"Fire? fire? Where is the fire?" we all shrieked. "Help! help! Gewalt,
Jews, to the rescue, fire, fire!"

"Which fire? what fire? where fire?! Fire take _you_, you foolish girl,
and make cinders of you!" scolded Aunt Yente at the maid. "Now _she_
must come, as though we weren't enough before! Fire, indeed, says she!
Into the earth with you, to all black years! Did you ever hear of such a
thing? What are you all yelling for? Do you know what it was that
frightened you? The best joke in the world, and there's nobody to laugh
with! God be with you, it was the clock falling onto the floor--now you
know! You hung every sort of thing onto it, and now it is fallen,
weighing at least three pud. And no wonder! A man wouldn't have fared
better. Did you ever?!"

It was only then we came to our senses, rose one by one from the table,
went to the clock, and sa