belief. They worship even the stars themselves, and have set up images
to them, no longer perceiving the Great Invisible, the Infinite, who can
be approached only through the mediation of the spirits who inhabit the
starry orbs."

"Methinks you will find little better in Mecca. What are you going there
for?" asked the Jew abruptly.

"I seek Truth," replied the priest quietly.

"Truth!" repeated the Jew. "Aye, aye, the Persian traveler seeks truth;
Abraham, the Jew, seeks myrrh, aloes, sweet perfumes of Yemen, silks of
India, and purple of Tyre. Aye, so it is, and I think Abraham's
commodity is the more obtainable and the more practical of the two. Yet
they do say there are Jews who have sought for truth likewise; and they
tell of apostles who gave up their trade and fisheries to go on a like
quest after a leader whom many Jews will not accept."

"Who were the apostles?"

"Oh, Jews, of course."

"Where may I find them?"

"All dead, well-nigh six hundred years ago," returned the Jew,
indifferently.

Yusuf's hopes sank again. He longed for even one kindred spirit to whom
he could unfold the thoughts that harassed him.