In Those Days | Page 3

it out: fish were created out of the mud-puddle,
and woman out of tears. Father used to scold her mightily, but she did
not mind it; and she never ceased bemoaning Dovidl and crying unto
Heaven, "who gave the Angel of Death power over him."
On the night after Sabbath, when father had extinguished the taper in
the dregs of the Havdolah cup, he turned to mother, and said: "Now
man born of woman is unwise all his life long. He knows not how to
thank for the sorrows that have been sweetened by His mercy, blessed

be He!"
Mother did not understand, and looked at father questioningly. "The
Catcher is in town," explained father.
"The Catcher!" shuddered mother.
"But he takes only Fourths and upwards," said father, reassuringly.
Fourths, Fifths, etc., those households were called which had four, or
five, or more sons.
"And our household has only three sons at present," continued father.
"Do you understand, woman? Three sons were left to us, and our
household is exempt from military duty. Now do you see the mercy of
the Lord, blessed be He? Do you still murmur against Him, blessed be
He?"--
So it was in those days. Every Jewish community had to deliver a
certain fixed number of recruits to the Government annually. This
number was apportioned among the families, and every family taxed
the households composing it. But not every household had to supply a
recruit. A household with a large number of sons secured the
exemption of a household with fewer sons. For instance, a household
with four sons in it was exempted, if there was a household with five
sons to levy from in the same family. And a household of three sons
was spared when there was, in the same family, a household of four
sons. And so forth.--
And as father was speaking--the old man continued--mother
contemplated us, as one that escapes from a fire contemplates the saved
remnants; and her eyes overflowed with silent tears. Those were the
last tears shed over the grave of Dovidl, and for those tears father had
no rebuke. We felt that Dovidl was a saint: he had departed this life to
save us from the hand of the Catcher. It seemed to me that the soul of
Dovidl was flitting about the room, listening to everything, and
noticing that we were pleased that he had died; and I felt ashamed.

The next day I went to the Heder, somewhat proud of myself. I boasted
before my mates that I was a Third. The Fourths envied me; the Fifths
envied the Fourths, and all of us envied the Seconds and the only sons.
So little chaps, youngsters who knew not what their life was going to
be, came to know early that brothers, sons of one father, may at times
be a source of trouble to one another.
That was at the beginning of the summer.
The teachers decided that we remain within the walls of the Heder most
of the time, and show ourselves outside as little as possible during the
period of danger. But a decree like that was more than boys could stand,
especially in those beautiful summer days.
Meanwhile the Catcher came to town, and set his eye on the son-in-law
of the rich Reb Yossel, peace be unto him. The name of the young man
was Avremel Hourvitz--a fine, genteel young man. He had run away
from his home in Poland and come to our town, and was spending his
time at the Klaus studying the Torah. And Reb Yossel, may he rest in
peace, had to spend a pile of money before he got Avremel for his
daughter. From the same Polish town came the Catcher, to take
Avremel as the recruit of the family Hourvitz due to the Jewish
community of his city. When he laid his hand on Avremel, the town
was shocked. The rabbi himself sent for the Catcher, and promised to
let him have, without any contention, some one else instead of Avremel.
Then they began to look for a household with the family name of
Hourvitz, and they found my father's. Before that happened I had never
suspected that my father had anything like a family name. For some
time the deal remained a deep secret. But no secret is proof against a
mother's intuition, and my mother scented the thing. She caught me by
the arm--I do not know why she picked me out--rushed with me to the
rabbi, and made it hot for him.
"Is this justice, rabbi? Did I bear and rear children, only to give up my
son for the sake of some Avremel?!"
The rabbi sighed, cast down his eyes, and argued, that said Avremel
was not simply "an Avremel," but a