"They who call me rich, Signor Mask, are pleased to joke with the unhappy child of a luckless race. That I might have been above want--nay, that I am not downright needy, may be true; but when they speak of a thousand ducats, they speak of affairs too weighty for my burdened shoulders. Were it your pleasure to purchase an amethyst or a ruby, gallant Signore, there might possibly be dealings between us?" "I have need of gold, old man, and can spare thee jewels myself at need. My wants are urgent at this moment, and I have little time to lose in words--name thy conditions." "One should have good securities, Signore, to be so peremptory in a matter of money." "Thou hast heard that the laws of Venice are not more certain. A thousand sequins, and that quickly. Thou shalt settle the usury with thine own conscience." Hosea thought that this was giving ample room to the treaty, and he began to listen more seriously. "Signore," he said, "a thousand ducats are not picked up at pleasure from the pavement of the great square. He who would lend them must first earn them with long and patient toil; and he who would borrow----" "Waits at thy elbow." "Should have a name and countenance well known on the Rialto." "Thou lendest on sufficient pledges to masks, careful Hosea, or fame belies thy generosity." "A sufficient pledge gives me power to see the way clearly, though the borrower should be as much hidden as those up above. But here is none forthcoming. Come to me to-morrow, masked or not, as may suit your own pleasure, for I have no impertinent desire to pry into any man's secrets beyond what a regard to my own interests requires, and I will look into my coffers; though those of no heir-apparent in Venice can be emptier." "My necessities are too urgent to brook delay. Hast thou the gold, on condition of naming thine own usury?" "With sufficient pledges, in stones of price, I might rake together the sum among our dispersed people, Signore. But he who goes on the island to borrow, as I shall be obliged to do, should be able to satisfy all doubts concerning the payment." "The gold can then be had--on that point I may be easy?" Hosea hesitated, for he had in vain endeavored to penetrate the other's disguise, and while he thought his assurance a favorable omen, with a lender's instinct he disliked his impatience. "I have said, by the friendly aid of our people," he answered, with caution. "This uncertainty will not answer my need. Addio, Hosea--I must seek elsewhere." "Signore, you could not be more hurried were the money to pay the cost of your nuptials. Could I find Isaac and Aaron within, at this late hour, I think I might be safe in saying, that part of the money might be had." "I cannot trust to this chance."