Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto

ment house where she lodged. As he came rushing up to

! I got to shpeak to yo

e demanded, startled

in Yiddish. "Let us go to the Grand Street dock or to Sevent

o herself; and in her feverish impatience to hear him out she proposed t

concealing and now exposing to view a pallid crescent of new moon. Coming from the street below there was a muffled, mysterious hum ever and anon drowned in the clatter and jingle of a passing horse car. A lurid, exceedingly uncanny sort of

a tall chimney pot. Jake, in a medley of superstitious terror, infatuation, and bashfulness, was at a loss how to begin and, indeed, w

Speak out!" she said,

he still knew not what; but his sobs on

added softly, after a slight pause, he

s tears with his handkerchief. "My life has become so dark a

she ea

tations! Somebody told h

nding downstairs. You had better not come here, then. When you have some money, you will

I don't sleep nights. Since she came I began to understand how dear yo

or me!" she declared, labouring to disguise

drop from this roof and brea

gleamed with a kind of unearthly lustre. Jake stood enravished. He took her by the hand, but she instantly withdrew it, edging

are a married man it is all gone. Yes, Jake, it is all gone! You should have cared for me when she was st

"I will get a divorce, anyhoy. And if you don't t

?" she retorted, w

laugh. But if you could enter

abruptly assuming a grave tone, she pursued vehemently: "But I don't

apers instead of a passage ticket, and that it had been his old mother who had

you go to Fanny, or Beckie, or Beilké the "Black Cat"? You used t

him to a rigid cross-examination as to his past conduct toward herself and her rivals; and although he managed to explain matters to her inward satisfaction, owin

to give herself credit for magnanimity and pious self-denial. She would have regretted her exhortation, however, had she been aware of its effect on her listener; for her mention of the boy and appeal to Jake as a father aroused in him a lively sen

, you be shorry," he said ha

dly. "How are you going to fix it? A

ry!" he exclaimed, in tremulous accents. "Say that you are shatichfied; my heart will become lighter." Saying which, he strained her to his bosom, and fell to raining ferve

loud, ever more sternly,

ed by a spell of benumbing terror. He had an impulse to withdraw his arms from the girl;

in a queer hollow voice. "Now it is all settled. Maybe you are making fun of me? If

reassure her, but his tongue s

should sooner have thrown myself into the river than taken away somebody else's husband. You say yourself that you would not live with he

n a voice quivering with tenderness he murmured: "Don't be uneasy, my dear, my gold, my pear

how are you going to get rid of her? You von't

away from this spot. Can it

we

e shall

ther, peace

said, with a show of alacrity, his mind fixed on the

f-fact way, and as if only half satisfie

have

ou have. But would sh

ke it; she would have to, for wha

you s

cu

tell me you liked me before she came

e exclaime

ight;

cted an additional oath of allegiance. After which she went to the other s

yourself be talk

swo

m the other world-if he came to you in a

he s

lly don't ca

ain he

for B

chafing under inexorable cross-examinations, he had to swear again and again t

she re

all. Vell, you could make out figures, couldn't you? There are three hundred and forty dollars," she proceeded, pointing to the balance line, which represented the savings, for a mar

s as to the magnitude of the sum to her credit. His most liberal estimate, however, had been a hundred and fifty dollars; so that th

know what? Let

nder her jacket. "I have a better plan. But tell me the truth, did

eclare his love to her and not to Fanny, or Beckie, or the "Black Cat"? No, may he be thunderstruck if it was. What does she take him for? On his part she is free to give the money

practice. Jake was to take refuge with her married sister in Philadelphia until Gitl was brought to terms. In the meantime some chum of his, nominated by Mamie and acting under her orders, would carry on negotiations. The State divorce, as she had already taken pains to ascertain, would cost fifty dollars; the rabbinical divorce would tak

ike him and be a mother to him; for had she not herself found him a bright and nice fellow? His heart bled at the thought of having to part with Joey. But somehow the courage failed him to touch upon the question. He saw himself helplessly entangled in something foreboding no good. He felt between the devil and

ropos of the prospective dancing school; "do you know that Joe has bee

vanted?" Jake

f his ear, she added: "Only he is a great lump of hog, Jakie is. But a heart is a clock: it told me I would have you some day. I could have got lots of

If I don't take away every shcholar from Jaw, my name won't b

t foist min' dot you

of the little window in the ferryhouse of the Pennsylvania Rai

ticket. "This is as good as a marriage certificate, do you understand?"