Part 18 (1/2)
”Give us something to eat!” cried one of the men, boisterously, as he relieved himself of his gun and knapsack. His example was followed by his comrades.
”We are hungry,” said another of the men. ”We have had nothing to eat since five o'clock this morning. Get us our supper!”
”We have nothing to give you,” replied Mordecai, trembling. ”Why do you come to us?”
”Not from choice, I can tell you,” said a soldier, angrily. ”Lots were cast and we were unlucky enough to be sent here. As we are here, however, let us make the best of it and see what your larder contains.”
”Bah!” said another, as Mordecai did not move; ”you can't expect these people to wait upon us! We must help ourselves,” and suiting the action to the word, he strode to the cupboard and pulled it open.
The harvest was more plentiful than they had antic.i.p.ated. Cooking, like all other work, being forbidden on the Sabbath, provisions sufficient for the holy day were prepared on Friday, and stood temptingly upon the shelves. In a twinkling the succulent viands were placed upon the table and quickly devoured by the half-famished soldiers. The repast, however, failed to satisfy the hunger of these st.u.r.dy warriors.
”Come,” cried one of them, ”what else have you to eat?”
”Nothing,” answered Mordecai, sullenly.
”You lie, Jew. Tell us where we may find something to eat.”
”You have just eaten all there was in the house,” said Mordecai, gulping down a rising lump in his throat, as he thought of the fast he would have to endure on the morrow.
”Then give us money that we may buy our own food!” shouted one of the soldiers.
”I have no money; it is all gone, all gone,” said the poor man, sadly.
”Ha! ha! ha! that is a good joke!” retorted the soldier, while his companions laughed immoderately. ”A Jew without money! I'll wager there is gold and silver in every closet. I know you Jews; you are sly dogs.”
”Look for yourselves,” cried Mordecai, driven to desperation. ”You are welcome to all the gold and silver you can find.”
The soldiers took him at his word and began to ransack the house, while Mordecai and Leah, paralyzed with fear, great beads of perspiration starting from their foreheads, sat idly by and watched the work of destruction. Not an article of furniture was left entire in the wild search for treasure, which, according to popular belief, every Jew was supposed to possess. Finding nothing, they bestowed a few resounding curses upon the inmates of the house, and in sheer desperation wended their way to the village inn and sought the solace of Basilivitch's vodka.
Poor Mordecai! Poor Leah! For hours they sat just as the soldiers had left them, great tears streaming down their pale and haggard faces, viewing the destruction of their few earthly possessions, the loss of all they could still call their own. They knew not what course to pursue, whether to remain or to flee. The unexpected blow appeared to have robbed them of their faculties; all power of reflection seemed to have left them, and trembling and groaning they remained where they were, in fearful expectancy of what might follow.
Towards midnight the soldiers returned. The liberal potations in which they had indulged had washed away the last semblance of humanity. Food and money had been the motives of their previous excesses, but on their return, hunger and cupidity had made way for l.u.s.t. Mordecai's wife became the object of their insults, and in the resistance which she and her husband offered, both were beaten unmercifully. Finally, the soldiers, overpowered by the close quarters and by the fumes of the wretched liquor they had imbibed, dropped off, one by one, into a drunken sleep.
”Let us take what we can, Leah,” said the wretched man, after a.s.suring himself that the soldiers were all fast asleep, ”and let us flee.”
”We dare carry nothing--we dare not even travel, for this is the Sabbath,” answered Leah, sadly.
Poor Jews! In the midst of sorrow, as in the midst of joy, the behests of their holy religion are never forgotten.
”Yes, we may travel,” replied Mordecai. ”It is a matter of more importance than life and death, and the Talmud authorizes the desecration of the Sabbath in time of great danger.”
”Then let us go at once,” whispered Leah.
Hand in hand they left the miserable hut, the place they had for so many years called home, and wandered out into the world, without a prospect to cheer them on their desolate way.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 10: Wallace.]