will give to them only coffee
and cigarettes, but afterwards shall my wife cook them all the
_Delicatessen_ of Poland. When our custom will become too large we
shall take over Bergman's great fashionable restaurant in the
Whitechapel Road. He has already given me the option thereof; it is
only two hundred pounds. And if your gentility----'

'But I cannot afford two hundred pounds,' interrupted Barstein,
alarmed.

'No, no, it is the Almighty who will afford that,' said Nehemiah
reassuringly. 'From you I ask nothing.'

'In that case,' replied Barstein drily, 'I must say I consider it an
excellent plan. Your idea of building up from small foundations is
most sensible--some of the young men may even have toothache--but I do
not see where you need me--unless to supply a few papers.'

'Did I not say you were from heaven?' Nehemiah's eyes shone again.
'But I do not require the papers. It is enough for me that your holy
feet have stood in my homestead. I thought you might send money. But
to come with your own feet! Now I shall be able to tell I have spoken
with him face to face!'

Barstein was touched. 'I think you will need a larger table for the
reading-room,' he said.

The tall figure shook its tall hat. 'It is only gas that I need for my
operations.'

'Gas!' repeated Barstein, astonished. 'Then you propose to continue
your dentistry too.'

'It is for the restaurant I need the gas,' elucidated Nehemiah.
'Unless there shall be a cheerful shining here the young men will not
come. But the penny gas is all I need.'

'Well, if it costs only a penny----' began Barstein.

'A penny in the slot,' corrected Nehemiah. 'But then there is the
meter and the cost of the burners.' He calculated that four pounds
would convert the room into a salon of light that would attract all
the homeless moths of the neighbourhood.

So this was the four-pound solution, Barstein reflected with his first
sense of solid foothold. After all Nehemiah had sustained his surprise
visit fairly well--he was obviously no Croesus--and if four pounds
would not only save this swarming family but radiate cheer to the
whole neighbourhood--

He sprung open the sovereign-purse that hung on his watch-chain. It
contained only three pounds ten. He rummaged his pockets for silver,
finding only eight shillings.

'I'm afraid I haven't quite got it!' he murmured.

'As if I couldn't trust you!' cried Nehemiah reproachfully, and as he
lifted his long coat-tail