Both were under one roof,--a two-storied building in the lower part of

Pearl Street, dingy and unattractive in outward appearance, but crowded

in its interior with articles of beauty and worth,--Flemish paintings

and rich metal work, Venetian glasses and velvets, Spanish and Moorish

leather goods, silverware, watches, jewellery, etc. The window of the

large room in which all was stored was dim with cobwebs, and there was

no arrangement of the treasures. They were laid in the drawers of the

great Dutch presses and in cabinets, or packed in boxes, or hung against

the walls.

At the back of the store, there was a small sitting-room, and behind it

a kitchen, built in a yard which was carefully boarded up. A narrow

stairway near the front of the store led to the apartments above. They

were three in number. One was a kind of lumber-room; a second, Cohen's

sleeping-room; and the largest, at the back of the house, belonged to

the Jew's grandchild Miriam. There was one servant in the family, an old

woman who had come to America with Jacob. She spoke little English, and

she lived in complete seclusion in her kitchen and yard. As far as Jacob

Cohen was concerned, he preserved an Oriental reticence about the women

of his household; he never spoke of them, and he was never seen in their

company. It was seldom they went abroad; when they did so, it was early

in the morning, and usually to the small synagogue in Mill Street.

He soon recovered the calmness which had been lost during his

unsatisfactory interview with Captain Hyde. "A wise man frets not

himself for the folly of a fool;" and, having come to this decision, he

entered his house with the invocation for its peace and prosperity on

his lips. A party of three gentlemen were examining his stock: they were

Governor Clinton and his friends Colden and Belcher.

"Cohen," said Clinton, "you have many fine things here; in particular,

this Dutch cabinet, with heavy brass mountings. Send it to my residence.

And that Venetian mirror with the silver frame will match the silver

sconces you sold me at the New Year. I do not pretend to be a judge, but

these things are surely extremely handsome. Pray, sir, let us see the

Moorish leather that William Walton has reserved for his new house. I

hear you are to have the ordering of the carpets and tapestries. You

will make money, Jacob Cohen."

"Your Excellency knows best. I shall make my just profits,--no more, no

more."

"Yes, yes; you have many ways to make profits, I hear. All do well,

too."




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