WHEREIN IS TOLD THE STORY OF NATHAN'S LIBERATION.
"The winds, as at their hour of birth,
Leaning upon the ridged sea,
Breathed low around the rolling earth
With mellow preludes, 'We are free.'"
--_Tennyson._
During all this time, there was no news of release for poor Nathan. In
his close cell, ventilated by one little window, and, in the fetid odor
of its air, he pined away. A low fever had rendered him exceedingly
weak; he could not eat the wretched food of the prison; his face grew
haggard, and his bones shone through the flesh with almost skeleton-like
distinctness. Yet no murmur passed his lips.
From his window, set high in the wall, he could see the sun as it rose
over Abu Kubays; he could catch the occasional glint of a bright wing as
a dove or a swallow flitted past beneath the white sky; and he said,
"God is still good, blessed be his name!"
Yet the grief of being separated from his loved ones, and the
uncertainty of their welfare, preyed upon his mind, almost shaking the
trust which had upheld him so long. It was a time of trial for poor
Nathan, yet his faith came forth from the trial untarnished.
Yusuf sought in vain to gain admission to the poor prisoner: the utmost
that he could accomplish was to pay the attendant for carrying one
brief message to him, assuring him that his wife and children were well,
and cared for.
The mystery of the gold cup was still unsolved. One day, however, when
going down one of the busiest streets, Yusuf saw, at some distance, a
little man walking along with a pack on his back. The peculiar hopping
motion of his gait proclaimed him at once to be Abraham, the little Jew.
"The very man!" thought Yusuf. "If any one between Syria and Yemen can
ferret out a mystery, it is Abraham the peddler. If I can once set him
in earnest upon the track, deliverance may be speedy for poor Nathan."
The peddler was walking very rapidly, but Yusuf strode after him, now
losing sight of him in the crowd, now catching a glimpse of his little
bobbing figure, until, out of breath, he finally reached him and caught
his arm.
The Jew started in surprise. "Defend us, friend!" he exclaimed. "You
come on a man like the poison-wind, as quickly if not as deadly. So you
are still in Mecca! What are you doing now?"
He was as inquisitive as ever, but Yusuf did not resent the trait in him
now.
"I am on important business just at present, my friend," he said, in his
kindliest tone, "on business in which I am sure Abraham the Jew can help
me, better than any other man in Mecca."
"Ha!" exclaimed the peddler, "and what may that be?"
"Can you keep a still tongue when it is necessary, Jew?"
The peddler placed his fingers on his lips, rolled up his eyes, and
nodded assent.
"Then come with me to the house of Amzi the benevolent,--my Meccan
home,--and I shall explain."
When seated comfortably on divans in the coolest part of the house,
Yusuf told the story of the gold cup, and intimated that Abraham's
wandering life and the numberless throngs of people with whom his trade
threw him in contact, gave him facilities, impossible to others, of
doing a little detective work in a quiet way.
The Jew listened, silent and motionless, with his eyes fixed on a
lotus-bud carved on the cornice. Only once did he turn and fix his
little round eyes sharply on the priest's face.
"There is just one more thing--" continued Yusuf, then he stopped. He
was about to tell of the little carnelian stone, when his eye fell upon
one of the numerous rings upon the Jew's fat fingers. There, in the
center of it, was a small cavity from which, apparently, a jewel of some
sort had fallen from its setting.
Yusuf almost sprang to his feet in the excitement of the discovery.
"Well?" asked the Jew, noting the pause.
"I will tell you later," said Yusuf. "For the present--have some dates,
will you not?"
A servant entered with a tray on which were fruits and small cakes.
The peddler besought Yusuf, for friendship's sake, to eat with him; but
the Persian made a gesture of disgust.
"I have already eaten," he said. "Overeating in Mecca in the hot season
is not wise. Abraham, do you always wear so many rings on your fingers?"
"Oh, no," returned the Jew, "sometimes I wear them; sometimes I carry
them for months in my belt. This"--pointing to a huge band of ancient
workmanship--"is the most curious one of the lot. I got it for carrying
a bundle of manuscript from a man at Oman to your friend Amzi, here. It
seems that Amzi had once lived with him at Oman, but the man--I forget
his name--went inland to Teheran, or some other place in Persia, and
Amzi, after traveling about for two or three years, settled in Mecca.
This one"--and he pointed out the ring on which Yusuf's eyes were
fixed--"is the most expensive of the lot, but a stone fell out of it
once when I was carrying it in my belt."
"Did you not look in your belt for it?"
"No use; it had worked out between the stitches. I had no idea where I
lost it."
"Have you had that ring long?"
"Long! Why, that ring has not been off my person for fifteen years."
"I suppose you would not sell it?"
The peddler shrugged his shoulders, and looked up with a shrewd glance.
"That depends on how much money it would bring."
"I have little idea of the value of such rings," said the Persian, "but
I have a friend who, I am convinced, would appreciate that one. I should
like to present it to him. Will you take this for it?"
He drew forth a coin worth three times the value of the ring. The
peddler immediately closed the bargain and handed the ring over, then
devoted his attention again to the table.
The priest went to the window. He drew the little stone from his bosom
and slipped it into the cavity. It fitted exactly. He then walked back
to the table, and held it before the astonished Jew.
"How now, Jew?" he said with a smile. "Saw you such a gem before?"
"My very own carnelian!" exclaimed the peddler. "Where did you find it?"
"You are sure it is yours?"
"Sure! On my oath, it is mine. There is not another such stone in
Arabia, with that streak across the top."
The priest laid his hand on the Jew's shoulder and bent close to him.
"That stone," he said, "was found in the house of Nathan the Jew, beside
the stolen cup. How came it there?"
The little Jew turned pale. His guilt showed in his face. He knew that
he was undone.
With a quick, serpent-like movement, he attempted to escape, but the
priest's grasp was firm as a vise.
"No, peddler!" he said, "you may go, but it must be with me. To the
magistrate you must go, and that right speedily. The innocent must no
longer suffer in your rightful place. Come, Aza,"--to an attendant who
had been in the room--"your tongue may be needed to supplement mine."
The Jew's little eyes rolled around restlessly. He was a thorough
coward, and his teeth chattered with fear as he was half-dragged into
the blinding glare of the street, and down the long, crooked way, with a
crowd of beggars and saucy boys following in the wake of the trio. Once
or twice again he made a quick and sudden movement to elude the grasp of
his captors, but the priest's grip was firm and his muscle like steel.
Justice was in Yusuf's heart, and his anxiety to procure Nathan's
release was so great that he strode on, almost forgetting the poor
little Jew, who was obliged to keep up a constant hobbling run to save
himself from being dragged to the ground.
In the hall of justice the usual amount of questioning went on, but the
evidence afforded by the ring was so conclusive that the order for
Nathan's release and the peddler's imprisonment was soon given.
Yusuf accompanied the guards to Nathan's cell. The poor prisoner was
sitting on the bare clay with his head buried on his knee. An unusual
clamor sounded outside of the door. The heavy bolt was withdrawn, and
the next moment Yusuf rushed in, crying, "Free, Nathan, free!"
Nathan fell on the other's bosom. The sudden joy was too much for him,
and he could only lie, like a little child, sobbing on the breast of the
stalwart priest.
The warden rattled the bolts impatiently. "Come, there's room outside!"
he said. "I have not time to stand here all day!"
"Pardon us," said the priest, gently. "We go; yet, warden, ere we
depart, may I ask you to deal leniently with that poor wretch?" and he
pointed to the Jew, who was now crouched shivering in his chains.
"We but do as we are ordered," returned the warden unfeelingly. "The
officers will be here presently with the scourge; we can not prevent
that."
The peddler winced, and Nathan raised a face full of pity. "Warden," he
said, "if you have a drop of mercy in your heart, if you hope for mercy
for yourself, treat him as a man. Let him not die for want of a pittance
of water."
He turned the sleeve of his loose garment back to expose the emaciated
arm with the bones showing through the loose skin. "There," he said,
"let that touch your heart, if heart you have, and spare him. Poor
Abraham!"--turning to the peddler--"did I not see you here, the joy of
my release would be unspeakable."
But Abraham only turned to bestow a look of hate and malice upon the
priest.
Then Yusuf and Nathan passed out into the pure, fresh air, now growing
cool with the approach of evening. Never did air seem so pure and sweet;
never did swallows twitter so gladly; never did the peak of Abu Kubays
shine so gloriously in the sun; never did the voices of people sound so
joyous or their faces beam so brightly.
"Come," said Nathan, "to my wife and children, that we may all return
thanks together. Verily 'Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but
the Lord delivereth him out of them all.' 'Blessed be God, which hath
not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.' 'I had fainted unless
I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living.' 'My flesh faileth, but God is the strength of my heart, and my
portion forever.'"
So, uttering exclamations from the pages of Scripture, did the devout
Jew pass onward to his home, which was once more filled with "joy and
gladness, thanksgiving and the voice of melody." Before leaving, Yusuf
presented him with the ring containing the little stone, as a memento of
his deliverance.
And Abraham? He received the full weight of the scourge; and may we be
pardoned in anticipating, and say that for two days he lay nursing his
wrath and his wounds; but, on the third day after his imprisonment, his
agility suddenly returned. He managed in some inexplicable way known
only to himself to work free of his fetters, and when the keeper came
with food in the evening, blinded by the dim light of the cell, he did
not perceive the little peddler crouched in a heap in the middle of the
floor.
Scarcely was the door opened when the Jew bounced like a ball past the
keeper's feet, almost upsetting him; then, darting like an arrow between
the astonished guards without, he was off. A hue and cry was raised, but
the little peddler had disappeared as completely as if the earth had
opened up and swallowed him.