The Days of Mohammed | Page 5

men gathered around to partake of the banquet. They crouched
or reclined on the ground, about the low table; yet, savage-looking
though they were, not one of the Bedouins ventured an inquisitive
question or bestowed a curious glance on the Persian.
Among them, however, was a little, inquisitive-looking man, whose
quick, bird-like movements attracted Yusuf's attention early in the
evening. His round black eyes darted into every place and upon every
one with an insatiable curiosity, and he talked almost incessantly. He
was a Jewish peddler who traded small wares with the Arabs, and who
was constantly somewhere on the road between Syria and Yemen,
being liable to appear suddenly at the most mysterious times, and in the
most unlikely places.
In his way, Abraham of Joppa was a character, and one may be
pardoned for bestowing more than a passing glance upon him. Though
permitted to eat at the table with the rest, it was evident that the Arabs
looked upon him with some contempt. They enjoyed listening to his
stories, and to his recital of the news which he picked up in his travels,
but they despised his inquisitiveness, and resented the impertinence
with which he coolly addressed himself even to the Sheikh, before
whom all were more or less reserved.
The Persian was, for the present, the chief object of the little Jew's
curiosity, and as soon as the meal was over he hastened to form his
acquaintance.
Sitting down before the priest, and poising his head on one side, he
observed:
"You are bound for the south, stranger?"
"Even so," said Yusuf, gravely.
"Whither?"

"I seek for the city of the great temple."
"Phut! The Caaba!" exclaimed the Jew, with contempt. "Right well I
know it, and a fool's game they make of it, with their running, and
bowing, and kissing a bit of stone in the wall as though 'twere the
dearest friend on earth!"
"But they worship--"
"A statue of our father Abraham, and one of Ishmael, principally. A
precious set of idolaters they all are, to be sure!"
Yusuf's heart sank. Was it only for this that he had come his long and
weary way, had braved the heat of day and the untold dangers of night?
In searching for that pure essence, the spiritual, that he craved, had he
left the idolatrous leaven at home only to come to another form of it in
Mecca?
"But then," he thought, "this foolish Jew knows not whereof he speaks:
one with the empty brain and the loose tongue of this wanderer has not
probed the depths of divine truth."
"You cannot be going to Mecca as a pilgrim?" hazarded the little man.
"The Magians and the Sabæans worship the stars, do they not?"
"Alas, yes!" said the priest. "They have fallen away from the ancient
belief. They worship even the stars themselves, and have set up images
to them, no longer perceiving the Great Invisible, the Infinite, who can
be approached only through the mediation of the spirits who inhabit the
starry orbs."
"Methinks you will find little better in Mecca. What are you going
there for?" asked the Jew abruptly.
"I seek Truth," replied the priest quietly.
"Truth!" repeated the Jew. "Aye, aye, the Persian traveler seeks truth;
Abraham, the Jew, seeks myrrh, aloes, sweet perfumes of Yemen, silks

of India, and purple of Tyre. Aye, so it is, and I think Abraham's
commodity is the more obtainable and the more practical of the two.
Yet they do say there are Jews who have sought for truth likewise; and
they tell of apostles who gave up their trade and fisheries to go on a
like quest after a leader whom many Jews will not accept."
"Who were the apostles?"
"Oh, Jews, of course."
"Where may I find them?"
"All dead, well-nigh six hundred years ago," returned the Jew,
indifferently.
Yusuf's hopes sank again. He longed for even one kindred spirit to
whom he could unfold the thoughts that harassed him.
"I do not know much about what they taught," continued the Jew.
"Never read it; it does not help in my business. But I got a bit of
manuscript the other day from Sergius, an old Nestorian monk away up
in the Syrian hills. I am taking it down to Mecca. I just peeped into it,
but did not read it; because it is the people who live now, who have
gold and silver for Abraham, that interest him, not those who died
centuries ago; and the bit of writing is about such. However, you seem
to be interested that way, so I will give it to you to read."
So saying, the Jew unpacked a heavy bundle, and, after searching for
some time, upsetting tawdry jewelry, kerchiefs, and boxes of perfume,
he at last