Children of the Ghetto | Page 8

then all the
little girls rose and curtseyed, and the best of them, passing as average
members of the class, astonished the semi-divine persons by their
intimate acquaintance with the topography of the Pyrenees and the
disagreements of Saul and David, the intercourse of the two species
ending in effusive smiles and general satisfaction. But the dullest of the
girls was alive to the comedy, and had a good-humored contempt for
the unworldliness of the semi-divine persons who spoke to them as if

they were not going to recommence squabbling, and pulling one
another's hair, and copying one another's sums, and stealing one
another's needles, the moment the semi-celestial backs were turned.
To-night, semi-divine persons were to be seen in a galaxy of splendor,
for in the reserved standing-places, behind the white deal counter, was
gathered a group of philanthropists. The room was an odd-shaped
polygon, partially lined with eight boilers, whose great wooden lids
were raised by pulleys and balanced by red-painted iron balls. In the
corner stood the cooking-engine. Cooks in white caps and blouses
stirred the steaming soup with long wooden paddles. A tradesman
besought the attention of the Jewish reporters to the improved boiler he
had manufactured, and the superintendent adjured the newspaper men
not to omit his name; while amid the soberly-clad clergymen flitted,
like gorgeous humming-birds through a flock of crows, the
marriageable daughters of an east-end minister.
When a sufficient number of semi-divinities was gathered together, the
President addressed the meeting at considerable length, striving to
impress upon the clergymen and other philanthropists present that
charity was a virtue, and appealing to the Bible, the Koran, and even
the Vedas, for confirmation of his proposition. Early in his speech the
sliding door that separated the cattle-pen from the kitchen proper had to
be closed, because the jostling crowd jabbered so much and
inconsiderate infants squalled, and there did not seem to be any general
desire to hear the President's ethical views. They were a low material
lot, who thought only of their bellies, and did but chatter the louder
when the speech was shut out. They had overflowed their barriers by
this time, and were surging cruelly to and fro, and Esther had to keep
her elbows close to her sides lest her arms should be dislocated.
Outside the stable doors a shifting array of boys and girls hovered
hungrily and curiously. When the President had finished, the Rabbinate
was invited to address the philanthropists, which it did at not less
length, eloquently seconding the proposition that charity was a virtue.
Then the door was slid back, and the first two paupers were admitted,
the rest of the crowd being courageously kept at bay by the
superintendent. The head cook filled a couple of plates with soup,

dipping a great pewter pot into the cauldron. The Rabbinate then
uplifted its eyes heavenwards, and said the grace:
"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, King of the Universe, according to whose
word all things exist."
It then tasted a spoonful of the soup, as did also the President and
several of the visitors, the passage of the fluid along the palate
invariably evoking approving ecstatic smiles; and indeed, there was
more body in it this opening night than there would be later, when, in
due course, the bulk of the meat would take its legitimate place among
the pickings of office. The sight of the delighted deglutition of the
semi-divine persons made Esther's mouth water as she struggled for
breathing space on the outskirts of Paradise. The impatience which
fretted her was almost allayed by visions of stout-hearted Solomon and
gentle Rachel and whimpering little Sarah and I key, all gulping down
the delicious draught. Even the more stoical father and grandmother
were a little in her thoughts. The Ansells had eaten nothing but a slice
of dry bread each in the morning. Here before her, in the land of
Goshen, flowing with soup, was piled up a heap of halves of loaves,
while endless other loaves were ranged along the shelves as for a
giant's table. Esther looked ravenously at the four-square tower built of
edible bricks, shivering as the biting air sought out her back through a
sudden interstice in the heaving mass. The draught reminded her more
keenly of her little ones huddled together in the fireless garret at home.
Ah! what a happy night was in store. She must not let them devour the
two loaves to-night; that would be criminal extravagance. No, one
would suffice for the banquet, the other must be carefully put by.
"To-morrow is also a day," as the old grandmother used to say in her
quaint jargon. But the banquet was not to be spread as fast as Esther's
fancy could fly; the doors must be shut again, other