With a large-hearted gesture, Berel threw a handful of change into the air for the children. There was a wild scramble of tangled legs and arms, and then a rush to the street for the nearest pushcart.
“Oi weh!” Hanneh Breineh touched Berel with reverent gratitude. “Give a look only how he throws himself around with his money!”
Berel laughed gleefully, a warm glow coming to his heart at this bubbling appreciation of his generosity.
“Hanneh Breineh,” he said, with an impressive note in his voice, “did you ever have a twenty-dollar gold piece in your hand?”
An intake of breath was the only answer.
“Here it is.”
Berel took from his pocket a little satin case and handed it to her, his face beaming with the lavishness of the gift.
Hanneh Breineh gazed at the gold piece, which glistened with unbelievable solidity before her enraptured eyes. Then she fell on Berel’s neck.
“You diamond prince!” she gushed. “Always I stood for your part when they all said you was crazy!”
The lean, hungry-faced boarders drank him in, envious worship in their eyes.