'
'David, you have a ring, an emerald cut with curious characters, Hebrew,
I believe.'
''Tis here.'
'A fine stone, and this inscription means----'
'A simple legend, "_Parted, but one_;" the kind memorial of a brother's
love.'
'Your brother?'
'I never had a brother.'
'I have a silly fancy for this ring: you hesitate. Search my palace, and
choose the treasure you deem its match.'
'Noble sir, the gem is little worth; but were it such might deck a
Caliph's brow, 'twere a poor recompense for all thy goodness. This ring
is a trust rather than a possession, and strange to say, although I
cannot offer it to thee who mayst command, as thou hast saved, the life
of its unhappy wearer, some stranger may cross my path to-morrow, and
almost claim it as his own.'
'And that stranger is----'
'The brother of the donor.'
'The brother of Jabaster?'
'Jabaster!'
'Even so. I am that parted brother.'
'Great is the God of Israel! Take the ring. But what is this? the
brother of Jabaster a turbaned chieftain! a Moslem! Say, but say, that
thou hast not assumed their base belief; say, but say, that thou hast
not become a traitor to our covenant, and I will bless the fortunes of
this hour.
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