'Spare me your blasphemies. Perhaps you think you are the Messiah.'
'I can be an atom of Him. The whole Jewish people is its own Messiah—God working through it.'
'Take care, young man; you'll be talking Trinity next. And with these heathen notions you expect to marry my daughter! You must excuse me if I wish to hear no further.' His hand began to wander towards the row of electric bells on his desk.
'Then how do you suppose we shall ever get to Palestine?' inquired the irritated artist.
Sir Asher raised his eyes to the ceiling. 'In God's good time,' he said.
'And when will that be?'
'When we are either too good or too bad for our present sphere. To-day we are too neutral. Besides, there will be signs enough.'
'What signs?'
'Read your Bible. Mount Zion will be split by an earthquake, as the prophet——'
Barstein interrupted him with an impatient gesture. 'But why can't we go to Jerusalem and wait for the earthquake there?' he asked.