The San Francisco call., 1904-06-12
CHAPTER VII.
FALL AMONG GENTILEs.

i FALL AmONO Gh1N 1Lt-O.
was IN a stupor. half-waking. half
doing. when my ear caught the sound
OF a voice wished to open my eyes,
but I felt 90 fatigued and rested so
pleasantly that did not care to open
them, az we often feel on . cool morn
ing when the alarm-clock strikes to
waken US. The faint sound became
clearer and clearer-it seemed 10 me
that the owner OF the voice was draw
ing nearer TO me until 1 could hear dis
tinctly words.
He is stirring"
This was not in a peasants dialect,
but in pure Russian, which 1 was not
accustomed to hear.
"Sh-sh!" another voice cautioned.
I opened my eyes, turning them one
way, then another, and stared about
me IN amazement. Il must be dream
ing" I said to myself incredulously, as
I glanced at the fine bed on which 1
lay and at the soft pillows and snow
white sheets. the like Of which / had
rubbed my eyes again and surveyed
he room. 1t was spacious, with large
windows on two sides, and it's walls
were hung with paintings and etchings.
How did I come here?" I asked my
self I recalled my adventure with the
swineherds, and realized. though
half-consciously, that a long period had
interviewed between that incident and
the present, but I could not remember
anything that took place during the
lapse.
How DO you feel?" was asked Of me
in a soft feminine voice.
/ only smiled in reply. I could not
understand the meaning OF all this; it
recurred to my mind that perhaps 1
was dreaming, after ALL
said something in Yiddish, my
mother tongue, but the people about
me seemed not to understand it. Then
a sickly looking woman asked me in
Russian whether 1 wished for any
thing.
Il should like to know what hap
pened TO me and where ! am. I re-
sponded in the peasants dialect.
She smoothed my forehead and said
gently: Lie still The doctor says you
must have rest"
I closed my eyes again. Gradually
my memory strengthened, and 1 began
10 trace back step by step 70 the time
when lost consciousness. I had a dim
recollection OF being taken In a car
riage, OF giving my name. and having
suffered great pain, but the rest was a
mist
A few days later was strong enough
to sit up in bed propped up with pill
lows. How ! had come here was now
clear to me, thanks to the information
Of my good nurse.
Morovoyf Sudya (Justice Of the
Peace) Alexis Bialnick, the owner of
the big forest in which / spent the
night after the fire, found me lying in
the outskirts Of the woods, half-naked
and unconscious. Finding his own ef-
forts to revive me OF no avail he or
dered me TO be taken to his home. AS
feeble as I was I had q strong inclina-
ton to rise and leave the house. My
benefactor was a gentle, his food was
trief (r1tuaIly unclean), and feared
lest he should force me to baptism in
compensation for his kindness. 1 had
heard of such crafty proselytism, and
besides, who had ever heard OF a gen.
tile showing disinterested kindness to
a Jew? I remembered the warning
written by my grandfather on the n.y.
leaf OF the Testament my mother had
left me. that we should shun gentle
favors. because they would be inva<ia-
bly, followed by loss or injury.
However. these prejudices weakened
the longer 1 stayed In the house OF the
sudya. He appeared TO me like an
angel coming to my rescue; and who
could tell but that he was Elijah met
amorphosed to the form OF e boy (gen-
tile)? My brain, always full of super
stitions and trusting in miracles, easily
credited the thought. and for q moment
! held my breath.
One morning, after had become
able to move about the room, was
asked 10 step into the sudya's study
Ee was seated in a large armchair
dnd was in the act OF tossing rubber