CHAPTER IX THE ZIONISTS Montella did not go straight home in spite of Patricia’s injunction. He turned into the park, and crossed over to the Serpentine, scarcely knowing whither his steps were tending. A slight mist hung over the water, and the air was chilly with the raw dampness of November. With no sound to break the stillness, save the echo of his own tread and the rumble of far-off traffic, he was able to steady his nerves. Moore’s Bill had given him a blow from which he could not easily recover; but on due consideration he came to the conclusion that he had been unwise to have so openly displayed his agitation. What he needed were coolness and confidence; but instead of showing either he had become as panic-stricken as an animal driven to bay. He flung himself down on a seat, with his back to the water, and tried to think out his speech for the morrow. He knew that as the only Jewish member of any importance in the House, his co-religionists would look to him to vindicate their claims. On him had fallen the responsibility of voicing the appeal for justice of the whole Jewish community, and although he was but a unit when it came to taking the majority, it was his duty to oppose the Bill tooth and nail. The absurdity of the Bill would have caused him amusement had it not affected him so nearly; for he could see that endless complications would arise if it were passed. The banishment of the Jews was a matter easier said than done, seeing that the yellow badge and the _rouelle_ were things of the past. Well, it would be a fine test for separating true Jews from false: perhaps persecution would—as it had so often done before—kindle the smouldering fire of Judaism into a flame. The newspapers next morning were full of the new Bill, and despite the fact that many of the newspaper proprietors were of Hebrew extraction, the attitude taken up by the majority of the dailies was in favour of the project. Instead of displaying the sense of justice and fairplay which has ever been the Englishman’s boast, the leaders were characterised by envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. The jealousy which had been kept under for so long a time now burst forth with uncontrollable fury; to Montella, it was but the impotent howling of a totally corrupt press.