It was the eve of the fatal day on which Granada was to be delivered to the Spaniards, and in that subterranean vault beneath the house of Almamen, before described, three elders of the Jewish persuasion were met. “Trusty and well-beloved Ximen,” cried one, a wealthy and usurious merchant, with a twinkling and humid eye, and a sleek and unctuous aspect, which did not, however, suffice to disguise something fierce and crafty in his low brow and pinched lips--“trusty and well-beloved Ximen,” said this Jew--“truly thou hast served us well, in yielding to thy persecuted brethren this secret shelter. Here, indeed, may the heathen search for us in vain! Verily, my veins grow warm again; and thy servant hungereth, and hath thirst.” “Eat, Isaac--eat; yonder are viands prepared for thee; eat, and spare not. And thou, Elias--wilt thou not draw near the board? the wine is old and precious, and will revive thee.” “Ashes and hyssop--hyssop and ashes, are food and drink for me,” answered Elias, with passionate bitterness; “they have rased my house--they have burned my granaries--they have molten down my gold. I am a ruined man!” “Nay,” said Ximen, who gazed at him with a malevolent eye--for so utterly had years and sorrows mixed with gall even the one kindlier sympathy he possessed, that he could not resist an inward chuckle over the very afflictions he relieved, and the very impotence he protected--“nay, Elias, thou hast wealth yet left in the seaport towns sufficient to buy up half Granada.” “The Nazarene will seize it all!” cried Elias; “I see it already in his grasp!” “Nay, thinkest thou so?--and wherefore?” asked Ximen, startled into sincere, because selfish anxiety. “Mark me! Under licence of the truce, I went, last night, to the Christian camp: I had an interview with the Christian king; and when he heard my name and faith, his very beard curled with ire. ‘Hound of Belial!’ he roared forth, ‘has not thy comrade carrion, the sorcerer Almamen, sufficiently deceived and insulted the majesty of Spain? For his sake, ye shall have no quarter. Tarry here another instant, and thy corpse shall be swinging to the winds! Go, and count over thy misgotten wealth; just census shall be taken of it; and if thou defraudest our holy impost by one piece of copper, thou shalt sup with Dives!’ Such was my mission, and mine answer. I return home to see the ashes of mine house! Woe is me!” “And this we owe to Almamen, the pretended Jew!” cried Isaac, from his solitary but not idle place at the board. “I would this knife were at his false throat!” growled Elias, clutching his poniard with his long bony fingers. “No chance of that,” muttered Ximen; “he will return no more to Granada. The vulture and the worm have divided his carcass between them ere this; and (he added inly with a hideous smile) his house and his gold have fallen into the hands of old childless Ximen.”