Page:The Shield (Knopf, 1917).djvu/234

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
208
THE JEW

peril, he sprang to his knees, threw up his arms and cried out, as if responding to a voice heard in the desert.

"I! . . . I! . . ."

A shot crashed; but it was only Mak's cap, that jumped up and landed in the mud puddle. From beyond the stream and the trees a typical head with ears projecting from under the varnished helmet looked straight at him.

"Don't shoot! . . . Don't shoot!" yelled Hershel Маk in Russian, German and Jewish all at once, waving his hands frantically. And the other Jew, in a long light-grey cloak was also yelling something to his fellow-soldiers. Now not one but about ten pairs of eyes looked at Hershel Маk, with astonishment and sudden joy. A vague, faint hope was seen in these frightened human eyes, which suddenly became simple and sympathetic. Then Hershel Маk and the Jew in the light-grey cloak rushed to the clearing and, splashing in the water, trustingly ran to each other.

They met between the two ranks of still hostile gun-barrels and embraced each other in a fit of unreasoning human gladness.