The Jewish twins

Contents

II.— NAOMI'S BOYS 11

III.— THE LITTLE FRIEND 16

IV.— PERCUSSION CAPS 28

I. $ |rmnt

fACOB MYERS had a little shop on a well-known street-corner, in one of our Atlantic cities.

There, oft pleasant days, ladies came to buy cheap edgings, and even in rainy weather there were customers who stopped for a paper of pins, or for a spool of " 40 cotton," while Jacob's wife sat sewing behind the counter.

Jacob was not much in the shop, himself; he spent his time in making trips into the country, to sell a part of his stock at the stray farm-houses, and in the way- Bide villages. Jacob had learned to go to 1* the back door when he was refused at the front, and he was sure to lighten his pack arn-d make more heavy his purse, at every kitchen he entered. He had gilt jewelry to suit all tastes, and combs for " a mere song," not to speak of laces and buttons, at what he declared to be " next to nothing" prices.

Jacob was not out with his pack at the time when our story begins. No ! He was in his own shop, looking the very picture of happiness. Jacob had just received a present, worth exactly twice as much as the thing he had long most wished for.

Now you must not be thinking of purses of gold, or cargoes of lace edgings. Jacob valued such things enough, and too much doubtless, but he valued still more the gifts a kind hand had sent him .

Back of the shop was the small " family room," with a stair-case leading out of it i ato the chamber above.

A PRESENT. 7

In that upper room were Jacob's treasure's— two little black-eyed baby-^boys, twins, as "'alike as two peas," and each looking about him, as if much astonished at finding himself in such a queer world, with such a queer little brother at his side.

Jacob's wife, Naomi, seemed as well pleased as her husband, and there was a sweet, placid joy in her face as she lay there, with her twin-babies beside her.

For some unknown reason, people choose to give twins names just as nearly alike as possible, without being exactly the same, as if it were not puzzling enough to have two tiny things tottering about, the very pictures of each other, without adding to the difficulty.

Jacob Myers, however, was not wiser than the rest of mankind in this particular, as we shall soon see.

Jacob had a book which contained the names which pleased him best, yet even there he was puzzled to suit himself foi the twins. Jacob's book was a Hebrew copy of the Old Testament ; of the New Testament he. poor man ! knew nothing.

Jacob was a Jew, one of the same nation who once occupied the land of Canaan, who were there in the time of our Saviour, and are now scattered over the wide earth.

Wherever the Jew goes, he takes with him his Holy Book, the Old Testament. Even poor Jews can often read Hebrew, and we have lately heard of a travelling pedler's surprising some theological students, at their Hebrew studies, by reading to them, freely, from the Old Testament, in the language in which it was written.

Jacob read the Scriptures as a duty, though we cannot say that it was with devoutness, or prayer.

Now, up and down the genealogies Ja«

A PRESENT. 9

cob searched and searched, but at last his eye brightened — he had happened upon just the thing for his purpose. There were the names of the sons of Benjamin — * Muppiin" and " Huppim" ! Why, Jacob verily thought Benjamin must have been blessed like himself, with two babies at once ! The names were certainly meant for twins ! The discovery was forthwith announced to Naomi, who consented to the choice without a word of objection ; she did not feel like entering into a discussion then, for various reasons. Those two black-eyed boys had a preciousness to her that could be expressed by no name ; no words could tell it, but it throbbed deep down in her true mother's heart.

Naomi had been speaking to some one in her quiet room, when she had been alone with her babies. Of course she had talked to them in her own soft, cooing, loving way ; made dear little sounds that even a baby ought to understand — but that is not what we mean. Naomi had 'spoken, slowly, solemnly, and distinctly, words of thanksgiving to the God of Israel for the great blessing He had bestowed upon her. She had asked the peculiar care of the Lord for her little ones, and given them back to Him who had just given them to her. She would bring them up in the fear of the Lord, and in the fulfilment of His Law.

With these pious thoughts in her mind, Naomi fell asleep, to dream of seeing wings sprouting from the fat shoulders of her baby-boys, and the little tilings themselves soaring away to Heaven, as if already too good for earth.

II

fACOB soon tired of his quiet homelife, though he had many a chance to refresh himself by playing with his babies, for he was not troubled with a constant run of customers.

He was quite glad when Naomi was once more sitting in the shop with her needle in her hand. She had double use for it now that the twins had come.

There they lay, (Muppim and Huppim they had duly been named,) and in the great basket by their mother they nestled, two warm, funny little things, the wonder of all the neighborhood.

Naomi's shop suddenly grew popular. The children would not buy th^.ir slatepencils anywhere else. Lonely apprentice girls stopped there to get needles and have a peep at the babies, and the ladies seemed to want more edgings than ever before. One rich, childless widow fairly frightened Naomi by the covetuous way in which she looked at the little dears. She even went so far as to ask Naomi whether she could not part with one of them.

Naomi would have had her own black eyes put out with a hot iron sooner. So she told the lady plainly ; and then the stranger looked so displeased, and wen4; out so quickly, that Naomi began to fear that harm was coming to her babies, and that it was hardly safe to let two such treasures be seen by every chance customer. Babies had been stolen — she had heard of such a thing ! She was half-sorry she had let Jacob go off, with his full pack on hia

NAOMI'S BOYS. 13

back, a week ago. He came home that night, and had a hearty laugh at Naomi about her fears. That laugh did her real good, and was worth more than a whole half hour of reasoning. The way that Jacob snugged up the little creatures under his great coat, showed how dear they were to him, and yet he did not seem afraid of losing them ! Not he 1

He said this was a free country, and even a poor Jew need not be afraid of harm's coming to his humble home.

What a blessing it is to live in a country that is a safe refuge for the ancient people of God ! So Naomi thought, and a kindly spirit rose in her towards her adopted home, and from that day it was dearer to her than the forsaken Poland of her childhood*

Yes, Muppim and Huppim got on to their two feet, or rather their four feet,, if we speak of them together, and tottered about 2 the shop, without once suspecting that anybddy could despise a Jew.

The world seemed a very pleasant place to the little fellows, for Naomi had taught them to obey while they were in her arms, and, now that they could run alone, they felt the advantage of being wisely ruled. Muppim and Huppim had others than their mother to cast sunshine on their daily life.

The droll ways of the two round-headed little brothers made friends of their mother's customers, and Naomi's face was often brightened by the kind words bestowed on her children.

Years went by, and the twins, like other boys, passed from frocks to jackets and trowsers, and from thinking their mother the wisest woman in the world, to quite too good an opinion of themselves.

You must not think that the brothers resembled each other as closely all this

NAOMI'S BOYS. 15

time as they did when they first lay in the basket together.

Before many months had passed over their heads, Muppim gave signs of a "great sensible nose," and Huppim's mouth began to fill up with big teeth, that quite changed his expression. As their characters grew more decided the differences increased, and Muppim's thoughtful look was as unlike Huppim's merry glance, as were his quiet, sage sayings to the droll speeches of his brother.

Strangers still continued to take one for the other, and the boys often had their own fun with the customers in this way ; but persons who knew them well had no trouble in distinguishing them at once. Naomi's joy in her children increased every year ; and when they were eight years old she was heard to say, that the little fellows were the best boys, to her belief, in the whole city.

m.

fitth Jmni.

and Naomi Myers had lived for several years in the same house before their children were born, yet they had not made a single acquaintance among their neighbors. They had a few Jewish friends in other parts of the city, but Naomi was not fond of visiting. She was shy and home-loving by nature, and Jacob was away so much of his time that he was glad to spend his Sabbaths with his wife, and cared little for other company.

It is not to be sup-posed that Muppim and Huppim would settle down to such a secluded life. As soon as they were able

THE LITTLE FRIEND. 17

to play on the pavement they made acquaintances among the boys of the neighborhood, and ere long had a special favorite among them. Muppim and Huppim had not all their time for play now ; they had work to do, and tasks to learn, and they were beginning, too, to be of assistance to their mother in the shop. It was a proud day to Muppim when he sold his first paper of pins, and Huppim soon was able to boast of having correctly made change for a dime in the sale of a skein of sewing-silk !

Naomi was not hard upon her twins ; she knew that when other children were out with their sleds, her boys, too, wanted to share the fun. When Charlie Fay put in his curly head, to ask if Muppim and Huppim might come out to play with him, Naomi rarely said " No !"

Naomi liked Charlie Fay, partly because her children liked his fair, sunny 2* face, and partly because he had a gentle look in his blue eyes, and such tones in his voice as are heard where there is a kindly, well-governed character.

Often, while the boys were at play, Naomi's glance followed them through the glass door of the shop, and that glance was full of love to them. Naomi's love found a way of winning blessings for her children. Not only did she pray for them morning and evening, but through the long day there was prayer in her heart for them. She was ever asking the mercy of the God of Israel for them, and pleading that they might be guided into the knowledge of His will.

The Old Testament, in Hebrew, was Naomi's delight ; she loved to hear Jacob read it on Sabbath evenings, and many of its beautiful passages she had treasured in her memory. She might be heard repeating the Psalms of David to .herself, as

THE LITTLE FRIEND. 19

she sat at her work, or saying aloud some of the sublime passages in Isaiah.

Naomi was a Scripture-loving, conscientious Jew. Though she lived among Christians, she knew almost as little of the Christian religion as if she had been an inhabitant of a heathen land.

She had many Christian customers, truly, but they spoke to her of needles and thread, and buttons and pins, with now and then a passing remark on the weather. They had never thought of winning the Jewess to a knowledge of the true Messiah. Naomi had been taught that it was a sin even to look into the New Testament, and she had no idea of its contents.

Knowing what were their mother's views, you will not be surprised to learn that Muppim and Huppim were growing up two as complete little Jews as could be found in our Christian land.

It was with regret that they saw Charlie Fay out with his sled and his ball on their Sabbath, and when on Sunday they . peered at him through the window, as he passed on his way to Sunday-school, they wished he was a Jew like themselves. They could not bear to feel that there was any separation between them and their chosen friend.

By degrees, Muppim and Huppim were more and more in the shop, and at length, when they were eleven years old, it seemed given up to them almost entirely.

Naomi had work to do in the back room, that she could trust to no one else. She had another little black-eyed baby on her knee — a . beautiful creature the twins thought him, and their father seemed much of the same opinion.

This baby Jacob called Ard, for, he said, having in his family the names of two of the sons of Benjamin, he meant to

THE LITTLE FRIEND. 21

finish with a third. So u Muppim, Huppirn, and Ard " were duly registered as the children of Jacob and Naomi Myers.

Now there was a new attraction for Charlie Fay at his next-door neighbor's. Charlie was the only son of his widowed mother, and the privilege of holding a baby was quite a novelty to him.

Charlie Fay seemed to have a natural talent for taking care of children, and when Ard would not stop crying for anything else, he would smile at the sight of Charlie, and be quite content if he could get his fingers fast among the little visitor's light curls.

So Charlie Fay grew more and more dear to Naomi, for she had a real mother's heart, and could be won through her children. With the apples for Muppim and Huppim, one was often placed for Charlie ; and when winter came, Naomi knit, with her own hands, a warm tippet for the little neighbor, just like that worn by her own boys.

Naomi had never said to herself or to him that she loved Charlie Fay, the Christian boy, but he knew it, and she knew it. Though it haft never been put into words, it had been told in a surer language.

IV

nntsno f ANY and various, were the trifling gifts the " little Jew boys" received from their mother's customers. The fact was, they were general favorites. One odd old gentleman often came to the shop, as much to talk to the children as to make purchases. He liked to puzzle the boys with queer questions, and hear their quick replies.

" Now, Muppim," said Mr. Thayer, one morning, "Now, Muppim, I've brought something to set you a thinking. If you will guess what these little bright boxes are for, I will give you — let me see — I will give you the whole case full of them 1"

Mr. Thayer had on a rough suit of (23)

clothes, and carried in his hand a bag which the boys well knew that he used when he made his trips to the country to hunt and fish for a few days.

" I want some strong twine/7 said the old gentleman, " and while you put me up a ball of it, you can have your thinking caps on."

The ball was promptly rolled up, and then Mr. Thayer said, "Well, Muppim, Where's your answer ?"

" I suppose," said the boy, " you use them when you go hunting ; you put them on your gun, when it goes off!"

" Good ! good ! Did you ever see any before ? " said the gentleman, clapping his hands.

" No, sir; but I've heard Charlie Fay tell about them, and he says its real fun to pound them, and hear them go off!"

" Dangerous sort of fun, I should think," Baid Mr. Thayer, " but you must have the

PEECUSSION CAPS. 25

percussion caps, Muppim. I'll warrant you'll sell them, and get a pretty price, too ! The old gentleman placed the little box of caps in Muppirn's hand, who looked up half-doubtingly, as if he perhaps ought not to accept them.

" Never fear, child ; take them, they are fairly yours/' said Mr. Thayer, leaving the shop.

" I'll give them to Charlie," said Muppim, with a bright smile on his face.

" And I'll see him crack them off!" said Huppim, joyously.

That afternoon, while the baby was asleep, Naomi went into the shop, and gave the boys liberty to go out for a little play. Their voices were no sooner heard on the pavement than they were joined by ' Charlie Fay.

Soon there was an ominous snapping and cracking, like the explosion of firearms. Naomi hastened to the door. 3

( rarlie Fay was bending over the curbstou , and was preparing to strike with a smoc thing-iron he held in his hand, some bright little things that lay on the stone. The blow came down, and the next moment Charlie's screams filled the air, and his hands were pressed upon his eyes.

After this, Charlie Fay was not out on the pavement for many a day. The Doctor came and went from his mother's house, and Muppim and Huppim almost wept their eyes out, to hear that Charlie might be left blind by the accident.

Pieces of the percussion caps had entered his eyes, and it was feared that his sight was lost forever.

Naomi was surprised to find how deeply she was grieved. But for her shyness, she would have gone herself to inquire at the door for the poor little patient, and to express her sympathy for the mother. As it was, Muppim and Huppim were as regular

PERCUSSION CAPS. 2"i

in their appearance at Mrs. Fay's as th< milk-man, at morning and evening.

They had never gained admittance, the sorrowful answer being always returned, that Charlie was no better.

One day. to their surprise, they were invited to walk in : " We must ask our mother first/7 said Muppim, doubtfully.

Naomi had never allowed her children to enter Mrs. Fay's hous'e, or that of any other Christian, excepting upon necessary business ; this, she thought, merely keeping them out of temptation.

Now the case seemed to her quite different. This was an act of mercy, like pulling a " neighbor's ox out of a pit — " there certainly could be no harm in this ! Her loving heart yearned towards her fair-haired pet, her own Ard's pretty nurse.

Yet Naomi paused, and was silent for a moment, when the boys came in, eager with their request. She looked from one to the other, as if weighing their several capabilities, and then said, " I can trust you, Muppim, for five minutes ; but pray, as you cross the threshold, that the God of Israel will keep his own truth bright in your heart."

" I will, mother, I will," said Muppim, soberly. " I ought to go, for it was my fault that it all happened."

" It was Mr. Thayer's fault— Good Father Thayer, to blame you are ! you had better take care, or Huppim Myers will put you in fires," said the other brother, with a laugh. " You go now, Muppim ; your solemncholy face will suit now, but when Charlie gets better, he'll want me, I tell you, to make him laugh."

" Very likely," said Muppim, quietly, as he went out the door.

Muppim did not forget his mother's precaution, as he entered the Christian's home.

PERCUSSION CAPS. 29

Muppim^was almost a stranger to Mrs. Fay. He had seen her from time to time at her door, and heard her kind voice speaking to her child, but a passing bow was all he had ever received from her.

Her black dress, and the signs of deep sorrow on her face, made the children associate something gloomy with her, and the twins had often wondered how Charlie could have so bright a face, when his mother was his only companion at home.

Now, Muppim expected to see Mrs. Fay more gloomy than ever, and he half dreaded a scolding from her, as he was really, in a measure, the cause of the accident.

The woman who had the lower floor of the house let Muppim in, and up stairs he went, finding his way to the door that was pointed out. His knock was soon answered.

" Why, Muppim ! come in, dear," said 3*

Mrs. Fay, in a cheerful tone. " Charlie will be delighted to have you here."

" Muppim !" The voice called from the darkest corner of the room, where Charlie Fay was sitting, with ' a bandage over his eyes.

" Dear, dear Charlie," said Muppim, who was at his side, in a moment. " I am so sorry. Won't you ever see again ?"

"Perhaps not!" said Charlie, very quietly.

" Oh ! Charlie, don't say so !" said Muppim, taking both his friend's hands in his.

" I want to see again, of course," said Charlie, " but God will do for me just what is right."

Mrs. Fay slipped silently out of the room to hide her own tears, and the two boys were left together.

" What do you do when you are here, shut up ?" said Muppim, trying to change

PERCUSSION CAPS. 31

the subject. " Sometimes mother reads to me ; and when I am alone I say over hymns to myself ; and then I know a great deal of Scripture, and I think about that. I say * The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,' very often."

" Do you know that ?" said Muppim, brightening.

" Yes, that is one of my favorites," said Charlie. "I like that part about 'I shall fear no evil.7 "

Much as the two boys had been together, they had never spokec. to each other of the deep religious earnestness that was alive in the hearts of both. Now they seemed suddenly united by a new bond.

Muppim found in Charlie a something which he had missed in his own brother. Together the twins studied their Scripture lessons and prayed, but with one it was a mere outward thing, while the other had felt that there was a solemn pleasure in anything that brought him near to God.

" Charlie," said Muppim, drawing close to his friend, " Charlie, I love you — we have missed you so ! Mother says she wishes she could see you again, and Ard won't be still for anybody. Mother thinks he is fretting after you."

" The dear little chap !" said Charlie, warmly ; " I should like to give him one toss-up.

11 Why, Muppim ! it makes me feel real well to have you here 1"

" Then I'll come again very soon. I can't stay any longer now ; mother only gave me five minutes."

" I see you keep up to * honor thy father and thy mother/ " said Charlie, with a pleasant smile.

" That's my mark !" said Muppim, soberly. The text had been in his mind at the moment, as he was tempted to overstay

PERCUSSION CAPS. 33

the time his mother had allowed him for his visit.

Again he felt the new bond between him and his friend.

Ah, the Jews who train their children in the scriptures of the Old Testament, are preparing them for good things. It is the Jew who is lost in the love of gain, who insures for his children the curse pronounced on his doomed nation.

V. 's Viiit

/AN the morning after Muppim's visit to Vlx Charlie Fay, Naomi and her children were in the " family-room," while Jacob, who chanced to be at home, was busy in the shop.

Huppiin had been puffing out his cheeks and suddenly knocking them flat with his brown hands, while Ard's little face broke into pretty smiles at every explosion.

Muppim was poring over his father's copy of the Hebrew scriptures. He had found the twenty- third Psalm, and was trying to remember the exact English words in which Charlie Fay had translated it.

It was a new thing to Muppim to hear

HUPPIM'S VISIT. 35

scripture from a Christian's lips, and he had thought not a little about his interview of the day before. He had been taught that the Christians had a false Bible, and that their religion was a poor idolatry, to be dreaded and avoided by the Jews, the true people of God. Was Charlie, then, a Jew at heart? This question was in Muppim's mind, as he remembered the tone of real pleasure in which Charlie had spoken the sentence, " The Lord is my shepherd."

Muppim's meditations were suddenly disturbed by an unusual bound on the part of his brother, and the exclamation, " There, now ! it is past 9 o'clock, and I want to be off to see Charlie Fay. May I, mother ?"

Naomi had been deeply touched by Muppim's account of Charlie's gentleness and patience, and she had made up her mind that her boys should do all in their power to cheer him in his time of misfor tune.

Now she laid aside her sewing quickly, and, taking out a worn purse from her pocket, she said, " Yes, Huppim, go comfort Charlie as well as you can, and take him an orange, too. Mind you make a good bargain, and don't stay more than half an hour."

Huppim took the pennies his mother held out to him, and was skipping away when a sudden thought struck him. " I'll carry in the buttons to sort ; it will please Charlie, may be, to do it with me."

Naomi reached down the box of mixed buttons, and handed them to Huppim, who went off happy as a king.

Huppim's idea was a good one. Occupation was just what Charlie needed. He had borne up bravely so far, but now he must have company and employment. He must have that, even if his eyesight were

HUPPIM'S VISIT. 37

not restored ; he might be useful and cheerful.

Charlie was not above being pleased with the orange, and he thanked Huppim heartily for it, but the buttons were even more welcome. It was a pleasure to him to find out how readily he could distinguish the various kinds, by carefully examining them with his fingers, and at length he took the task of sorting them entirely upon himself, while Huppim sat by, iewing them diligently upon fresh blue papers, so as to make them look as they did when they were new.

" See, mother," said Charlie, with delight, " I can tell the porcelain ones in a moment from the horn ones. I have not i made a single mistake yet, have I, Huppim ?"

" You do it first-rate,'7 said Huppim.

" Very nicely 1" said the mother, in a low voice. 4

If Charlie had not been very busy about his work, he would have noticed the sad tones of his mother's voice.

Huppim gave him no chance for dwelling upon any thoughts just then, for he broke in, saying, —

" Suppose I tell you a story, Charlie ; would you like it ?"

" Indeed I should !" was the quick reply.

Huppim began, much as if he was reading from a book. " Rabbi Hillel was a very meek man. One day somebody made a bet that no one could make the Rabbi angry. One fellow came to the Rabbi, when he was in a hurry getting ready for the Sabbath, and asked him a great many foolish questions, enough to put any body out of patience ; but the Rabbi, instead of getting angry, answered every one in the pleasantest way in the world. So this fellow did not make out.

HUPPIM'S VISIT. 39

Theu another thought he would try ; so he came to the Rabbi, and said, ' Can you teach me the whole law during the time I can stand on one foot ?' ' Yes/ said the Rabbi, * for the whole law is in this short sentence, " Whatever you would not wish your neighbor to do to you, do it not to him." This is the whole law.' Was not that a smart answer ?"

" It was so I" said Charlie, warmly. " I think that Rabbi was a remarkable man. If anything puts me out of patience, it is being questioned when I am in a hurry."

" Then you ought not to have Mr. Thayer to deal with. He's the one for questions 1" said Huppim.

The clock here struck out plainly. Huppim jumped. " I declare," he said, " I have been here ever so many minutea more than mother said, so I must be off in a twinkling. I'll leave the buttons, Charlie I"