ilitary garb had been exchanged for a neat suit of Oxford gray.
Moreover, both he and Philip had consumed a hearty meal of coffee and
rolls and were accordingly prepared to take a more cheerful outlook upon
life, especially Philip.

"_Bleib du hier_," he said as he led young Borrochson to a chair in the
cutting room. "_Ich Komm bald zurueck._"

Then mindful of his partner's advice he broke into English. "Shtay
here," he repeated in loud, staccato accents. "I would be right back.
_Verstehst du?_"

"Yess-ss," Yosel replied, uttering his first word of English.

With a delighted grin Philip walked to the showroom, where Polatkin sat
wiping away the crumbs of a belated luncheon of two dozen zwieback and a
can of coffee.

"_Nu_," he said conciliatingly, "what is it now?"

"Marcus," Philip began with a nod of his head in the direction of the
cutting room, "I want to show you something a picture."

"A picture!" Polatkin repeated as he rose to his feet. "What do you mean
a picture?"

"Come," Philip said; "I'll show you."

He led the way to the cutting room, where Yosel sat awaiting his uncle's
return.

"What do you think of him now?" Philip demanded. "Ain't he a
good-looking young feller?"

Marcus shrugged in a non-committal manner.

"Look what a bright eye he got it," Philip insisted. "You could tell by
looking at him only that he comes from a good family."

"He looks a boy like any other boy," said Marcus.

"But even if no one would told you, Marcus, you could see from his
forehead yet--and the big head he's got it--you could see that
somewheres is _Rabonim_ in the family."

"Yow!" Marcus exclaimed. "You could just so much see from his head that
his grandfather is a rabbi as you could see from his hands that his
father is a crook." He turned impatiently away. "So instead you should
be talking a lot of nonsense, Philip, you should set the boy to work
sweeping the floor," he continued. "Also for a beginning we would start
him in at three dollars a week, and if the boy gets worth it pretty soon
we could give him four."

In teaching his nephew the English language Philip Scheikowitz adopted
no particular system of pedagogy, but he combined the methods of
Ollendorf, Chardenal, Ahn and Polatkin so successfully that in a few
days Joseph possessed a fairly extensive vocabulary. To be sure, every
other word was acquired at the cost of a clump over the side of the
head, but beyond a slight ringing of the left ear th