After a while, the boy asked for a glass of water, which he swallowed eagerly. Then he asked:
"When did you leave Togarog, uncle; and how are father and mother?"
Bensef sighed at the recollection of the sad parting and tearfully related the events of that memorable night.
"After the soldiers had carried you off," he said, "the little band that followed you to the confines of the village, returned sorrowful to their homes. I need not tell you of our misery. It appeared as though God had turned his face from his chosen people. We spent the night in prayer and lamentations. In every house the inhabitants put on mourning, for whatever might befall the children, to their parents they were irretrievably lost."
"Poor papa! poor mamma!" murmured Mendel, wiping away a tear.
"On the following morning," continued Bensef; "all the male Jehudim went to Alexandrovsk and implored an audience of the Governor. He sent us word that he would hold no conference with Jews and threatened us all with Siberia if we did not at once return home. What could we do? I bade your parents farewell, and after promising to do all in my power to find and succor you and Jacob, I left them and returned home, where I arrived yesterday. Thank God that you, at least, are safe from harm."
Mendel nestled closer to his uncle, who affectionately stroked his fevered brow.
"Oh! why does God send us such sufferings?" moaned the boy.
"Be patient, my child. It is through suffering that we will in the end attain happiness. When afflictions bear most heavily upon us, then will the Messiah come!"
This hope was ever the anchor which preserved the chosen people when the storms of misfortune threatened to destroy them. The belief in the eventual coming of a redeemer who would lead them to independence, and for whose approach trials, misery and persecution were but a necessary preparation, has been the great secret of Israel's strength and endurance.