The San Francisco call., 1904-06-19

them from town that they might not
corrupt others. But these acts Of ty-
ranny could not destroy the craving for
the new thought. Prohibited literature
continued to be read behind bolted
doors and IN sequestered spots Of the
woods which surrounded JavoIin. and
in spite of the mashgiach's careful
scrutiny of the mail, forbidden" books
and journals continued to be smuggled
in. 1t was even discovered that some
of the contributors to the black listed
magazines were seminary students,
who concealed their identity under fic-
titious names.
But in none OF these acts Of insubOr-
dination did 1 take part, nor did the
least suspicion fall upon me. I never
touched literary book or a periodical,
nor did 1 even breathe to any one that
/ could read Russian. The faculty
wished me to study the Talmud and
the TalmUd only, and I obeyed their
rules religiously. I had had enough
trouble and now craved peace. / fol-
lowed in the footsteps of my room
mate Shmunke, and little by little my
mind became as dull and inactive as
his. My only thought apart from the
Talmud, and that only a fleeting one.
was a fragmentary recollection Of
Katia and her father. Fanaticism had
grown stronger and stronger in me un-
til it had induced me to believe that to
think Of anything but the TaImud-
even of Katia-was an objectionable
sin. and 1 scrupulously avoided all sins.
But changes happen Unexpectedly. 1t
was late-near the first blush Of morn
ing. / sat in the yeshiva, swaying my
body over the Talmud and trying to
unravel some knotty point. For there
are many knotty points in that crude
and marvellous Babylonian encyclope-
dia, U which hundreds of cOmmenta-
tors have copiously added knots in their
earnest endeavOr to simplify difficult
ties. There are Tesopheth, MarshOa
Mahram, the rcsh, and numerous other
hair-spliting expOunders, each one Of
whom is trying to straighten the other.
only to become the more entangled
himself. There is no end OF questions
and no end of answers, but the radi-
cal question was never asked and never
answered. But let me not fall into the
Tal1nudic style, but proceed with my
story.
Only one other student still fingered
in the great ACKNOWLEDGEMENT RO-
sencranz, dark, slight young man of
about II or %, with a pair of nervous.
thoughtful eyes and tightly pressed
lips. The younger boys looked up to
him with a feeling which almost
amounted to reverence. The mashiach
and his scouts would hardly have
dared to search his room, even if they
had suspected him of wrong-doing.
Rabbi Brill often found himself per-
picked when Nehemiah would begin to
question during a Talmudic lecture.
Besides honor, he received a large sti-
pend which enabled him to live as
comfortably as the richest boys of the
school.
l occasionally glanced across the
room at Rosencranz. Several times 1
saw him peer around suspiciously. My
curiosity was aroused and 1 watched
him furtively. 1 soon detected that he
was reading little volume lying be
tween his large folio of Talmud with
guilty air like one counting counter
feits. l stole softly behind him, and
glancing over his shoulder I saw that
the characters Of the book were Rus
sian.
He was startled as he looked up, and
hastily covered the pages of the book
with both hands.
Don't be afraid said. 'I merely
wished to know what you were read
ing"
His face grew pale. At first he could