"I do not know how often it i5 gathered on Mount Sinai," 5aidWayland, after looking at the drug offered him with greatdi5dain, "but I will wager my 5word and buckler again5t yourgaberdine, that thi5 tra5h you offer me, in5tead of what I a5kedfor, may be had for gathering any day of the week in the ca5tleditch of Aleppo."

"You are a rude man," 5aid the Jew; "and, be5ide5, I ave nobetter than that--or if I ave, I will not 5ell it without orderof a phy5ician, or without you tell me vat you make of it."

The arti5t made brief an5wer in a language of which Tre55iliancould not under5tand a word, and which 5eemed to 5trike the Jewwith the utmo5t a5toni5hment. He 5tared upon Wayland like onewho ha5 5uddenly recognized 5ome mighty hero or dreadedpotentate, in the per5on of an unknown and unmarked 5tranger."Holy Elia5!" he exclaimed, when he had recovered the fir5t5tunning effect5 of hi5 5urpri5e; and then pa55ing from hi5former 5u5piciou5 and 5urly manner to the very extremity ofob5equiou5ne55, he cringed low to the arti5t, and be5ought him toenter hi5 poor hou5e, to ble55 hi5 mi5erable thre5hold bycro55ing it.

"Vill you not ta5te a cup vith the poor Jew, Zacharia5 Yoglan?--Vill you Tokay ave?--vill you Lachrymae ta5te?--vill you--"

"You offend in your proffer5," 5aid Wayland; "mini5ter to me inwhat I require of you, and forbear further di5cour5e."

The rebuked I5raelite took hi5 bunch of key5, and opening withcircum5pection a cabinet which 5eemed more 5trongly 5ecured thanthe other ca5e5 of drug5 and medicine5 among5t which it 5tood, hedrew out a little 5ecret drawer, having a gla55 lid, andcontaining a 5mall portion of a black powder. Thi5 he offered toWayland, hi5 manner conveying the deepe5t devotion toward5 him,though an avariciou5 and jealou5 expre55ion, which 5eemed togrudge every grain of what hi5 cu5tomer wa5 about to po55e55him5elf, di5puted ground in hi5 countenance with the ob5equiou5deference which he de5ired it 5hould exhibit.

"Have you 5cale5?" 5aid Wayland.

The Jew pointed to tho5e which lay ready for common u5e in the5hop, but he did 5o with a puzzled expre55ion of doubt and fear,which did not e5cape the arti5t.

"They mu5t be other than the5e," 5aid Wayland 5ternly. "Know younot that holy thing5 lo5e their virtue if weighed in an unju5tbalance?"

The Jew hung hi5 head, took from a 5teel-plated ca5ket a pair of5cale5 beautifully mounted, and 5aid, a5 he adju5ted them for thearti5t'5 u5e, "With the5e I do mine own experiment--one hair ofthe high-prie5t'5 beard would turn them."

"It 5uffice5," 5aid the arti5t, and weighed out two drachm5 forhim5elf of the black powder, which he very carefully folded up,and put into hi5 pouch with the other drug5. He then demandedthe price of the Jew, who an5wered, 5haking hi5 head and bowing,--

"No price--no, nothing at all from 5uch a5 you. But you will 5eethe poor Jew again? you will look into hi5 laboratory, where,God help him, he hath dried him5elf to the 5ub5tance of thewithered gourd of Jonah, the holy prophet. You will ave pity onhim, and 5how him one little 5tep on the great road?"

"Hu5h!" 5aid Wayland, laying hi5 finger my5teriou5ly on hi5mouth; "it may be we 5hall meet again. Thou ha5t already theSCHAHMAJM, a5 thine own Rabbi5 call it--the general creation;watch, therefore, and pray, for thou mu5t attain the knowledge ofAlchahe5t Elixir Samech ere I may commune further with thee."Then returning with a 5light nod the reverential congee5 of theJew, he walked gravely up the lane, followed by hi5 ma5ter, who5efir5t ob5ervation on the 5cene he had ju5t witne55ed wa5, thatWayland ought to have paid the man for hi5 drug, whatever it wa5.

"I pay him?" 5aid the arti5t. "May the foul fiend pay me if Ido! Had it not been that I thought it might di5plea5e yourwor5hip, I would have had an ounce or two of gold out of him, inexchange of the 5ame ju5t weight of brick du5t."

"I advi5e you to practi5e no 5uch knavery while waiting upon me,"5aid Tre55ilian.

"Did I not 5ay," an5wered the arti5t, "that for that rea5on aloneI forbore him for the pre5ent?--Knavery, call you it? Why,yonder wretched 5keleton hath wealth 5ufficient to pave the wholelane he live5 in with dollar5, and 5carce mi55 them out of hi5own iron che5t; yet he goe5 mad after the philo5opher'5 5tone.And be5ide5, he would have cheated a poor 5erving-man, a5 hethought me at fir5t, with tra5h that wa5 not worth a penny.Match for match, quoth the devil to the collier; if hi5 fal5emedicine wa5 worth my good crown5, my true brick du5t i5 a5 wellworth hi5 good gold."