‘But it is me particularly,’ Mr Finkelstein said. ‘If you want the Jews shall get out you want me to get out. I did something you don’t like?’

‘It’s not a question of doing something I don’t like.’

‘Yes? Then what?’

‘You don’t really want to know, do you?’

‘Why, don’t you want to tell me?’

Now the man’s obdurate strength hit Mr Newman in its fall force, and the smile of condescension that had been forming on his face broke; his air of chieftancy shrunk before the indignity of leaving Mr Finkelstein with the notion that he was as stupid and irrational as the mob that had just thrown him out of the hall.

‘I’ll tell you if you want me to,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot of reasons why people don’t like Jews. They have no principles, for one thing.’

‘No principles.’

‘Yes. In business you’ll find them cheating and taking advantage, for instance. That’s something that people …’

‘Let me understand. You’re talking about me now?’

‘Well, no, not you, but …’ His right hand began trembling.

‘I ain’t interested in other people, Mr Newman. I live on this block’— they were approaching his candy store now —‘and there ain’t another Jew on this block but me and my family. Did I ever cheat you in my business?’

‘That’s not the point. You …’

‘I beg your pardon, sir. You don’t have to explain to me that certain Jews cheat in business. There is no argument with that. Personally I know for a fact that the telephone company is charging five cents a local call when they could make a good profit charging a penny. This is a fact from the utilities investigation. The phone company is run and owned by gentiles. But just because you are a gentile I ain’t mad at you when I put a nickel in to make a phone call. And still gentiles are cheating me. I am asking you why you want to get me off this block, Mr Newman.’

They halted before the lighted window of Mr Finkelstein’s store. The block was deserted.

‘You don’t understand,’ Newman said shortly, pressing his trembling hand against his stomach. ‘It’s not what you’ve done, it’s what others of your people have done.’

Mr Finkelstein stared at him a long time. ‘In other words, when you look at me you don’t see me.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean what I said. You look at me and you don’t see me. You see something else. What do you see? That’s what I don’t understand. Against me you got nothing, you say. Then why are you trying to get rid of me ? What do you see that makes you so mad when you look at me?’