Excerpt from The Mediator: A Tale of the Old World and the New Over a bridge spanning the larger stream the toll-gate hung menacingly, like a huge scythe poised in air, ready to drop upon the invader, were it man or beast, who could not pay the toll of one kopek. The little arm of the creek, however, was like the wide ocean which separates two continents. It separated the Gentiles' portion of the town from that inhabited by the Jews, the distance between them being made greater and greater by mutual hate and distrust, and by frequent storms menacing both coasts and often eating away in a moment whatever common standing ground had grown between. Abraham and Channah had to cross the muddy creek, and when they reached the market-place where the great church stands, the booming of guns, the noise of a brass band, and the ringing of bells produced a pandemonium of sound which made them quake from fear. From the portals of the church came acolytes swinging their censers; behind them in his festal robes was the abbot of the cloister, walking beneath a gilded baldachin, and following him were the clergy and a great crowd of worshippers carrying the church banners and singing praises to their Christ. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.