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306 300 A ROSE OF THE GHETTO.

" Nay, nay, thou must not yet," said Rose. " Thou art still courting Leah Volcovitch. For aught thou knowest, Sugarman the Shadchan may have entangled thee beyond redemption."

" Not so," asserted Leibel. " I have only seen the maiden once."

"Yes. But Sugarman has seen her father several times," persisted Rose. " For so misshapen a maiden his com- mission would be large. Thou must go to Sugarman to- night, and tell him that thou canst not find it in thy heart to go on with the match."

" Kiss me, and I will go," pleaded Leibel.

" Go, and I will kiss thee," said Rose resolutely.

"And when shall we tell thy father? " he asked, pressing her hand, as the next best thing to her lips.

" As soon as thou art free from Leah."

" But will he consent? "

" He will not be glad," said Rose frankly. " But after mother's death — peace be upon her — the rule passed from her hands into mine."

" Ah, that is well," said Leibel. He was a superficial thinker.

Leibel found Sugarman at supper. The great Shadchan offered him a chair, but nothing else. Hospitality was associated in his mind with special occasions only, and involved lemonade and " stuffed monkeys."

He was very put out — almost to the point of indigestion — to hear of Leibel's final determination, and plied him with reproachful enquiries.

"You don't mean to say that you give up a boot and shoe manufacturer merely because his daughter has round shoulders ! " he exclaimed incredulously.

" It is more than round shoulders — it is a hump ! " cried Leibel.