The two men shook their dripping hats as they entered the house.

They were received in a private parlour, which was filled with objects of art and devotion.
Very blandly did the good wife of the vicar greet them, yet with business-like condescension.
The Jew, in a few very simple words, told the story of his sister's death and the loss of the amulet.

He told the peculiar value of the amulet, and added, 'I have reason, madam, to believe that it has come into your possession.

If so, and if you have it still by you, I entreat that you will give it to me at once, for to you it can only be a pretty trinket, and to us it is like a household god.' She looked at the Jew with evident emotion.

'I cannot tell you how it grieves me to hear you speak as if you attributed to any inanimate object the saving power which belongs to God alone,' she said.