Adventure, February 20, 1922 — page 48: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

46 already passed through all the panic stages ° _and is obstinate at last.. They were minded to commit themselves to nothing, those men; sceptical of all promises; incredulous _ any man’s good-will. De Crespigny began to lose his temper. It is bad enough at twenty-six to have the lives of thousands on your hands, without being regarded as an enemy by the men you are trying to save. you, Rabbi! Don’t you see that your refusal means a death sentence for us - Jeft-overs, listen to me! “Tch-tch! Isentence no one! Iam not responsible for this. I will take no part in it!” De Crespigny glanced at Grim hopelessly. “T pass, Grim. Can you say anything?” Grim nodded. “Cut loose;Cohen. Tell’em your views.” I don’t know whether Cohen took Grim by surprize or not. He surely astonished the rest of us. I’ve never seen a man handle a meeting with half such passionate wrath. He grew suddenly red in the face as if he could command his rage to order; _stood up; threw off his jacket on the floor; rolled up his shirt sleeves, and sat down again. Then he brought his fist down on the table with a crash that upset both vases and, as Grim had suggested that he _ should, cut loose. Arabic was the speech he used, with oc- casional bursts of English when expletives failed him; and he reeled off a list of the faults of the ancient Jewish race with a completeness and fervor that would start a riot if set down in print. “You old moss-backs!”’ he fairly yelled at last. ‘You silly old suckers! You think I care, perhaps, if you all get your throats cut! Guess again! You're dummies, that’s what you are! Marionettes! You’re goin’ to be used! Who’s goin’ to use your Me! Yours truly!” Then back into Arabic again, reeling out abuse until he gasped for breath. — ‘““Gimme a drink, some one! Now, you You haven’t a word to say! You'll do izzactly as you’re told! This plan’s all thought out, an’ you'll fall in with it! That fire goes back to- night—see? I’m the feller that takes it ° back—I take the risk, too! watch!” He sprang to his feet again and stripped himself naked to the waist; then seized the Pll show you— Adventure lamp on the side-board, jerked out the wick arrangement, poured kerosene into _ his hand and rubbed it on his stomach. Next he struck a match and set it ‘alight: “There! That’s what!” - He smothered the fire with his hands again. “Tonight I go to the Ghetto. Ali Baba breathes on.me and I burn like the Fourth o’ July. DVma Jew, and you'll acknowledge me! Two hundred Sephardim will come along behind me in procession to the tomb of Abraham, chantin’ hymns, an’ doin’ it all in first-class style, or I’ll take the fire an’ throw it in your face, and tell.the Moslems to go get it from you! D’you believe me? So help me ——,, I'll do it!” “And that would be the end of every living Jew in El-Kalil,” said Grim, quietly approving. “You are a bad man to talk that way!” the Rabbi objected. “Bad man? Sure, I’m a man! Throwin’ fire in fellers’ faces is meat to me! D’ye see this young officer here? He’s a decent feller. D’ye see these others?. They’re friends 0’ mine—bad men —bad as me—worse! Dye think I’m goin’ of a bad . to stand by an’ see them get their throats cut without makin’ sure that you goody- goddies get yours first? Huh! If there’s goin’ to be a massacre tonight it starts in the Ghetto, an’ the Rabbi is goin’ to be number one for the knife! So suit yourselves, only make your minds up quick!” “We shall stay here—here in this place!’ the Rabbi announced suddenly “Not you! I’m goin’ to kick you out into the street five minutes from now!”’ “The governor must protect us!” “Must he? You try him! Here he is listenin’ to what I say! I happen to know izzactly what he’ll do; soon as I’ve kicked you out, he’ll call for his cops to chasé you down to the Ghetto where you belong! © No; you’ve got your last chance; take or leave it! Who’s got a watch? Clock ’em, some one. Give ’em three minutes to decide!” : Grim pulled out Cohen’s own gold watch that had been the means of introducing him to all the trouble and laid it on the table ostentatiously, face upward. ‘Time starts now!” he announced. _ Cohen proceeded to put his shirt on, as if he always made a point of doing that before committing acts of violence; he looked: cComicbooks:¢