"Thou hell-begotten hound!" and straightening himself suddenly, the young Jew drew a crucifix from within his cloak. "Thou art right!" he cried in a voice of thunder. "There are only seven Jews, for I--I am no Jew. I am Fra Giuseppe!" And the crucifix whirled round, clearing a space of awe about him. The Judge cowered back in surprise and apprehension. The soldiers sat their horses in stony amazement, the seething crowd was stilled for a moment, struck to silent attention. The shower had ceased and a ray of watery sunlight glistened on the crucifix. "In the name of Christ I denounce this devil's mockery of the Lord's chosen people," thundered the Dominican. "Stand back all. Will no one bring this poor old man a cup of cold water?" "Hasn't Heaven given him enough cold water?" asked a jester in the crowd. But no one stirred. "Then may you all burn eternally," said the Friar. He bent down again and raised the old man's head tenderly. Then his face grew sterner and whiter. "He is dead," he said. "The Christ he denied receive him into His mercy." And he let the corpse fall gently back and closed the glassy eyes. The bystanders had a momentary thrill. Death had lent dignity even to the old Jew. He lay there, felled by an apoplectic stroke, due to the forced heavy meal, the tinsel gleaming grotesquely on his white sodden cloak, his naked legs rigid and cold. From afar the rumors of revelry, the _brouhaha_ of a mad population, saluted his deaf ears, the distant music of lutes and viols. The captain of the soldiers went hot and cold. He had harried the heels of the rotund runner in special amusement, but he had not designed murder. A wave of compunction traversed the spectators. But the Judge recovered himself. "Seize this recreant priest!" he cried. "He is a backslider. He has gone back to his people. He is become a Jew again--he shall be flayed alive." "Back, in the name of Holy Church!" cried Fra Giuseppe, veering round to face the captain, who, however, had sat his horse without moving. "I am no Jew. I am as good a Christian as his Holiness, who but just now sat at yon jalousie, feasting his eyes on these heathen saturnalia." "Then why didst thou race with the Jews? It is contamination. Thou hast defiled thy cloth." "Nay, I wore not my cloth. Am I not half naked? Is this the cloth I should respect--this gaudy frippery, which your citizens have made a target for filth and abuse?" "Thou hast brought it on thyself," put in the captain mildly. "Wherefore didst thou race with this pestilent people?"