Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Oct. 26, 1910, edition 1 / Page 4
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4 THE ELON COLLEGE WEEKLY. October 26, 1910. bare dormitory, with its gray-blanketed beds and fly-specked walls, a last ray of golden sunlight glittered on the glass over the picture of the Praying Jews at the Temple of Jerusalem. The three old men gathered about the table where, for years, they had played a silent, evening game of cards. Besides his own, Hyman held a dummy hand that took the place of Dan iel Stern, the fourth inmate of the dormi tory', who had died the week before. The coat of contention was behind them, and e.xcept fjr an occasional grunt from Solo mon all troulile seemed at an end. At Minypn, the snndowti prayer of mouniin,2' they held for the comrade whom death had taken from among them, seven of the ten old men who gathered in the snuffy pallor suspected n>thing of the temi)est that grumbled in the bosoms of two of their members. David, the small est of the bowed figures garbed in pray- ing-shawls, had forgotten for the moment the treasure that was not for him, and, , swaying to the rhythm of the sing-song ' Hebrew, beat his breast in a very agony of religious ecstasy. Hyman officiated as rabbi. His sono rous voice rose and fell in measured sa- dence. The others droned through their responses unmeaningly; but, moved by the poetry of the words and the promises they contained, David, seeing with eyes that passed the boundaries of the dark, close room, left his crooked hami>eu'd bo dy for the time being, and, like the other Psalmist lifted his voice in joyful praise. The odor of Sabbath eve’s dinner crept in to them as the Minyon ended. Solomon shut his prayer-book noisily. Hyman hur ried from the room almost before the mumblel “Amens” were over. When Solomon and David reached the dormitory they found him brushing busily at the coat that hung upon the door. Solomon snorted. The red in his face purpled darkly. For an instant he watched Hyman’s deliberate movements. Then he chuckled ironically, and, taking his own clothes brush from the bureau drawer, be gan sweeping the other side of the frock- eoat. His eye was that of the fighting cock, but Hyman smiled at him. “You are good to help me clean the coat,” he said guilelessly. “I am getting it ready for the Sabbath.” “When I shall wear it with my silk hat,” retorted Solomon. “Well—we shall see what w© shall see.” Hyman’s smile deepened and became enig matic. The spirit of the bully in Solomon was daunted by this show of prophecy. He turned on the unconscious David. “You! Did you see Mis. Mark give him the coat?” he demanded. ■ J'What? The coat—I don’t know.” David’s dreamy brown eyes looked vague ly at Solomon’s angry countenance. “Mrs. Marks didn’t give it to me.” “No, I guess not.” Solomon laughed bnitally, and David shrank from his mirth as from a blow. Hyman looked with sudden friendliness on the hunchback, and lent a hand in knot- ing his necktie. “Prince Albert coats are not meant for such as you, David,” he said. “The din ner waits. Let us go in.” But after he and Solomon had left the room. Da\-id Hertz laid his wrinkled cheek caressingly against the folds of the smooth cloth coat for a moment before he follow ed them to the dining hall. When the long feast of the Sabbath eve was finished, the consecrated bread blessed and munched, and the wine drunk, the three gathered in the dormitory and resum ed their game. The strained relations con tinued, however. At last Solomon could stand the suspense no longer. He flung down his cards and scowled savagely at the others. “I want you to understand that I get the coat!” he cried. “I say, I get the coat! And I wear it when I go to the synagogue and when I visit my brother-in-law and my brother-in-law’s cousin!” Hyman did not answer, but again he smiled in an aggravatingly knowing fash ion. Solomon’s bravadw diwl in the si lence. and h? turned sulkily back to his cards. They had been long asleep in the dark, tMbacco-scented doimitory where Solo mon ’s snores and Hyman’s loud wheeze chorused with the slow, deliberate tick of the clock. A stray beam from a street- lamp fell across the wall and hovered on the sombre breadths of the Prince Albert eoat. The rattle of a wagon over the cob bles set the brass candlestick on the mar ble mantel-shelf tinkling with faint me-^ talic notes. The creaking of a board at the foot of Solomon’s bed awoke him. He sat up, staring stupidly into the darkness. On the other side of the room Hyman stirred also. Stretching his Iona' arras, he opened his eyes and looked at something that moved in the blackness across the floor. A little hunched figure, with the sure steps of the sleep-walker, came from the c rner where David’s bed stood. The uiaht-shirt hung in pitiless, revealing lines over the bent back as the small torm came fiom the, shadow into the ray of the street lamp. The watchers, held by the super stitious fear of a hasty awakening’s bring ing death to the somnambulist, did not move, but noted with strange inteutness each of his actions. David felt confidently over the wall un til he encountered the Prince Albert coat. He took it down, stroked it. and flicked an imaainary dust-speck. Then, sighing as a child in slumber, he slipped into its great folds. “He—he—he is dreaming about it, so much does he want it.” Solomon could contain himself no longer, and his hoarse whisper reached Hyman. “See! See, what is he doing now!” David had found his way to the bureau. With trembling hands he buttoned the Prince Albert and fondled it as it draped about him. It fell to the length of an overcoat, and at the bottom his white night shirt bordered it grotesquely. “Peace be with him!” Hyman mur mured piously. “The Lord God of Hosts watches over him. Think of it, Solomon Cohen! To want a thing so much that one rises up at the midnight hour and finds it in his sleep!” David was pacing to and fro in the bare space before the window. He held some thing tightly under his arm that Solomon peered at as he passed his bed. “It is his prayer-book, Hyman. He thinks he is going to the synagogue, Ach, du lieber Gott! To want the coat so bad, so bad, and yet say no word about it. Hy man, I—I am willing he should have ” “Yes, and I too,” Hyman broke in. “When he w.ikes we will tell him.” At ten o’clrvck the next mominp the lit tle procession from the home wended its DRUGGETS FULL STOCK RUGS, DRUGGETS, MATTING, PORTIERS, LACE CURTAINS WINDOW SHADES, MADE TO ORDER. BURTNER FURNITURE COMPANY, GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA. Did You Ever Stop to Think Of the many cases where DISEASE has been contracted by having your LAITNDRY WORK done in the same room that is used tor eating, sleeping, and the using of Opium? SANITARY METHODS USED IN Burlins:ton Steam Laundry, RALPH POINTER, Agent, Elon College, N. C. 1890 I9IO ELON COLLEGE. A young, vigorous College for both men and women. On Southern Railway, sixty-five miles west of Raleigh, the State capital, and seventeen miles east of the tbiiving city of Greensboro. THE LOCATION IS DELIGHTFUL; WATER PURE, CLIMATE HEALTHFUL. Plant valued at $1.^0,000, is modern in comfort and convenience. Steam heat elec tric lights, water and seweraae connections with all buildings. Courses Lead to A. B., Ph. B., and A. M. Degrees. Emmet L, Moffttt, A. B., LL. D.^ President. People’s House Furnishing Company. HIGH POINT, N. C. Wholesale and Retail House Furnishers and Jobbers. MANTLES, GRATES, . TILE, A SPECIALTY. B. A SELLARS iV SONS, High-Class Diy Goods AND GENTS’ CLOTHIERS AND TAILORING MERCHANTS. MAIN STREET, ----------- BURLINGTON, N. C. FREEMAN DRUG COMPANY. Burlington, North Carolina, Are the leaders in Drugs, Chemicals and Toilet Articles. CAREFUL ATTENTION TO MAIL ORDERS. Alamance Insurance & Real Estate Co. Insurance, Loans and Real Estate. CASH CAPITAL, , l?30,000.00 MONEY LENT through this Company on 'real estate is secured both by mortgage and Company guarantee. The lender receives 6 .per .cent, interest—3 .per .cent., promptly every six months—and is not bothered about interest collections. W. K. HOLT, President. R. M. MORROW, Vice-President, W. E. SHARPE, Treasurer and Manager. Burlington, N. C. way to the synagogue. David headed it, walking beside Mrs. Marks. His wistful, child-eyed face beamed wth a bewilueied delight. About him hung the Prince Al bert coat, loosely, like a robe almost, and reaching to his heels. On his head was Solomon’s silk hat, a bit of the newspa per band that had been used to make it fit him, protruding over behind his thin gray hair. He carried his prayer book in one hand and Hyman’s silver-headed cane in the other. After him came his two benefactors talking amicably, following with smiles— half of pride and half of a protecting, al most paternal love—the stranae little fig- uie that went before them. “It is not such a very great deal that we did for him,” Solomon confided. “But think of it, he cried for joy. Have you ever seen one made so happy before, Hy man ? ’ ’ New Boarder (disdainfully)—I don’t see how you fellows eat this bread. Old-Timer—We force ourselves to eat it, so it won’t come back to us as bread pudding. Please subcribe for the Weekly.
Elon University Student Newspaper
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Oct. 26, 1910, edition 1
4
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