"Everything must be reckoned with. So, then, in case I die, our cousin Levi, on whom I count as on myself—you know him—"
"Your confidence is well placed."
"I am sure of it. I wish to charge him, in that case, to take my place in the sacred mission which my grandfather and father have handed down to me. That is why I wish to hold ready, in advance, the memorandum which will place our relative in possession of the knowledge he will need in order to replace me. Come then, write as I dictate."
At the moment that Samuel uttered these last words, he heard a knocking in a peculiar manner at the little bastard gate. First there were three blows, then two, separated from the others by a pause; and then two again; total, seven, the cabalistic number.
Samuel manifested no surprise at the signal. He left the room, traversed the passage, drew close to the wicket, and asked in an undertone:
"Who knocks?"
"A blind one."
"What does he seek?"
"The light."
"What time is it?"