His face glowed with triumph.
“Just think, sir, what a boon to ministers of the Gospel! Just think what a help to teachers! How ever can English folk have got along for all this time without such an aid as this? It is better, sir, this, than conquering the Russians and taking of Sebastopol. It is grander this than Columbus discovering the New World. Now, what do you think, sir?”
“But, my dear Mr. Coombe——!”
“One moment, sir, and I shall have done. I intend to get it printed. It shall be ‘Coombe’s Dictionary of Bible Words,’ and will become a handbook in every library of God-fearing and Scripture-loving men and women. As for any profits from the sale, of that I care not—that’s no odds to me. It is the good it will do that I think of.”
“But, my dear Mr. Coombe——”
The rector rose and went to his shelf.
“The thing has already been done. Here it is: ‘Cruden’s Concordance to the Holy Scriptures.’ It was published in 1761, and has gone through innumerable editions since.”
The old man stood as though turned to stone.
“The thing already done!” he gasped.
The rector had no heart to say more. He bitterly regretted that he had blurted out the truth so abruptly.