, went on to unfold his System
of Interpretation, which was of a strictly commercial or
company-promoting character. It ran like a prospectus. 'We have
inherited the gold of Australia and the diamonds of the Cape,' he said,
growing didactic, and lifting one fat forefinger; 'we are now inheriting
Klondike and the Rand, for it is morally certain that we shall annex the
Transvaal. Again, "the chief things of the ancient mountains, and the
precious things of the everlasting hills." What does that mean? The
ancient mountains are clearly the Rockies; can the everlasting hills be
anything but the Himalayas? "For they shall suck of the abundance of the
seas"--that refers, of course, to our world-wide commerce, due mainly to
imports--"and of the treasures hid in the sand." Which sand?
Undoubtedly, I say, the desert of Mount Sinai. What then is our obvious
destiny? A lady of your intelligence must gather at once that it
is----?' He paused and gazed at me.

'To drive the Sultan out of Syria,' I suggested tentatively, 'and to
annex Palestine to our practical province of Egypt?'

He leaned back in his chair and folded his fat hands in undisguised
satisfaction. 'Now, you are a thinker of exceptional penetration,' he
broke out. 'Do you know, Miss Cayley, I have tried to make that point
clear to the War Office, and the Prime Minister, and many leading
financiers in the City of London, and I _can't_ get them to see it. They
have no heads, those people. But _you_ catch at it at a glance. Why, I
endeavoured to interest Rothschild and induce him to join me in my
Palestine Development Syndicate, and, will you believe it, the man
refused point blank. Though if he had only looked at Nahum iii. 17----'

'Mere financiers,' I said, smiling, 'will not consider these questions
from a historical and prophetic point of view. They see nothing above
percentages.'

'That's it,' he replied, lighting up. 'They have no higher feelings.
Though, mind you, there will be dividends too; mark my words, there will
be dividends. This syndicate, besides fulfilling the prophecies, will
pay forty per cent on every penny embarked in it.'

'Only forty per cent for Ephraim!' I murmured, half below my breath.
'Why, Judah is said to batten upon sixty.'

He caught at it eagerly, without perceiving my gentle sarcasm.

'In that case, we might even expect seventy,' he put in with a gasp of
anticipation. 'Though I approached Rothschild first with my scheme on
purpose,