"Not at all; it will give me great pleasure. When?"
"It will give Mrs. Moss greater pleasure, Cohen," said Mr. Moss, rubbing his hands joyously. "I am going back the day after to-morrow. Will that time suit you?"
"Yes, I will accompany you."
The visit was paid, and lasted three days. Before he returned to London Aaron went to Gosport. Nothing was changed in the ancient town. The house he had occupied had been rebuilt; the streets were the same, the names over the shops were unaltered. He saw Mr. Whimpole in his shop attending to a customer, and saw other men and women whom he recognized, but to whom he did not speak. He made his way to the churchyard where his child was buried, and he stood and prayed over the grave.
"Forgive me, O Lord of Hosts," he said audibly, "that I should have laid my child to rest in a Christian churchyard. It was to save my beloved. Forgive me! Have mercy upon me!"
[CHAPTER XXIX.]
WHAT SHALL BE DONE TO THE MAN WHOM THE KING DELIGHTETH TO HONOR?
In the autumn of the year 1891 a number of influential persons wended their way to Aaron Cohen's house to take part in a function of a peculiarly interesting nature. They comprised representatives of literature and the arts, of politics, science, and commerce, and among them were delegates of the press who were deputed to report the proceedings for their several journals.
That the pen is mightier than the sword was, at an earlier period in the world's history, open to dispute, but the contention exists no longer, and although the day is far distant when the lion shall lie down with the lamb, the press is now the pre-eminent dictator of peace and war, and can effectually hasten or retard the conflict of nations. It is an open question whether its invasion of the arena of private life is a beneficial feature in the power it wields, but it is useless to resist its march in this direction, and earnest as may be a man's desire to hide his light under a bushel, he does not live to see it gratified.
When a movement was set afoot to make some sort of semi-private,
semi-public recognition of the remarkable position attained by the hero of this story he did not receive it with any kind of pleasure, and he made an effort to avoid it. That his effort was not successful was not so much due to the perseverance of the leaders of the movement as to a few simple words uttered by his wife.