"We fellows!" The words cut Ephraim to the heart.
"But you may be taken ill, father," he timidly observed.
"I taken ill! What do you take me for?" Ascher laughed, boisterously. "I have n't the slightest intention of falling ill."
At that moment the watchman was heard hammering at the door of the next house. The reverberating blows seemed to have a strangely disquieting effect upon the strong man; a violent tremor seized him; he cast one of the frightened glances which Ephraim had noticed before in the direction of the window, then with one bound he was at the door, and swiftly turned the knob.
"Father, what's the matter?" Ephraim cried, much alarmed.
"Does the watchman look into the room when he passes by?" asked Ascher, while his eyes almost burst from their sockets, with the intentness of their gaze.
"Never," Ephraim assured him.
"Let me see, wait . . ." whispered Ascher.
The three well-known knocks now resounded upon their own door, then the shadow of a passing figure was thrown upon the opposite wall. With a sigh of relief, the words escaped Ascher's bosom:
"He did not look inside . . ." he muttered to himself.
