"Then you have given them that sum also?" said Zaklika, wringing his hands in despair.
Lehman looked at him for a long time; he seemed to be wrestling with himself.
"Listen," said he. "Swear to me upon that which you hold most sacred, that you will not betray me even should they threaten you with death--"
Here the Jew took from a drawer a diamond cross pawned by the Princess Teschen.
"Swear to me upon that," said he.
Zaklika took the cross, and, raising his hand, said quietly,--
"I swear!"
Then he added,--
"It was not necessary to ask me for an oath: my word as nobleman would be enough. Zaklika has never betrayed any one, and never will."
Lehman looked at him, and he was as white as a sheet.