he hour for which the lecture was advertised.
A group of friends were standing about the table near the door; they
received him with a bustle which turned all eyes thitherwards. He walked
up the middle of the room to the platform. As soon as he was well in
the eye of the meeting, a single pair of hands--Daniel Dabbs owned
them--gave the signal for uproar; feet made play on the boarding, and
one or two of the more enthusiastic revolutionists fairly gave tongue.
Richard seated himself with grave countenance, and surveyed the
assembly; from fifty to sixty people were present, among them three or
four women, and the number continued to grow. The chairman and one or
two leading spirits had followed Mutimer to the place of distinction,
where they talked with him.

Punctuality was not much regarded at these meetings; the lecture was
announced for eight, but rarely began before half-past The present being
an occasion of exceptional interest, twenty minutes past the hour saw
the chairman rise for his prefatory remarks. He was a lank man of jovial
countenance and jerky enunciation. There was no need, he observed, to
introduce a friend and comrade so well known to them as the lecturer of
the evening. 'We're always glad to hear him, and to-night, if I may
be allowed to 'int as much, we're _particularly_ glad to hear him.
Our friend and comrade is going to talk to us about the Land. It's a
question we can't talk or think too much about, and Comrade Mutimer has
thought about it as much and more than any of us, I think I may say.
I don't know,' the chairman added, with a sly look across the room,
'whether our friend's got any new views on this subject of late. I
shouldn't wonder if he had.' Here sounded a roar of laughter, led off by
Daniel Dabbs. 'Hows'ever, be that as it may, we can answer for it as
any views he may hold is the right views, and the honest views, and
the views of a man as means to do a good deal more than talk about his
convictions!'

Again did the stentor-note of Daniel ring forth, and it was amid
thunderous cheering that Richard left his chair and moved to the front
of the platform. His Sunday suit of black was still that with which his
friends were familiar, but his manner, though the audience probably did
not perceive the detail, was unmistakably hanged. He had been wont to
begin his address with short, stinging periods, with sneers and such
bitterness of irony as came within his compass. To-night he struck quit