deed the ones, outrageously daring, who broke up meetings and bashed
in policemen's helmets? Nothing very daring in their aspect to-day--a
little weary and preoccupied they looked, as they stood up there in twos
and threes, talking to one another in that exposed position of theirs,
while from time to time about their ears like spent bullets flew the
spasmodic laughter and rude comment of the crowd--strangely unconscious,
those 'blatant sensation-mongers,' of the thousand eyes and the sea of
upturned faces!

'Not _quite_ what I expected!' said Mrs. Fox-Moore, with an unmistakable
accent of disappointment. It was plainly her meaning that to a general
reprehensibleness, dulness was now superadded.

'Perhaps these are not the ones,' said Vida, catching at hope.

Mrs. Fox-Moore took heart. 'Suppose we find out,' she suggested.

They had penetrated the fringe of a gathering composed largely of weedy
youths and wastrel old men. A few there were who looked like decent
artizans, but more who bore the unmistakable aspect of the beery
out-of-work. Among the strangely few women, were two or three girls of
the domestic servant or Strand Restaurant cashier class--wearers of the
cheap lace blouse and the wax bead necklace.

Mrs. Fox-Moore, forgetting some of her reluctance now that she was on
the spot, valiantly followed Vida as the younger woman threaded her way
among the constantly increasing crowd. Just in front of where the two
came to a final standstill was a quiet-looking old man with a lot of
unsold Sunday papers under one arm and wearing like an apron the bill of
the _Sunday Times_. Many of the boys and young men were smoking
cigarettes. Some of the older men had pipes. Mrs. Fox-Moore commented on
the inferior taste in tobacco as shown by the lower orders. But she,
too, kept her eyes glued to the figures up there on the plinth.

'They've had to get men to hold up their banners for them,' laughed
Vida, as though she saw a symbolism in the fact, further convicting
these women of folly.

'But there's a well-dressed man--that one who isn't holding up anything
that I can see--what on earth is _he_ doing there?'

'Perhaps he'll be upholding something later.'

'Going to speak, you mean?'

'It may be a debate. Perhaps he's going to present the other side.'

'Well, if he does, I hope he'll tell them plainly what he thinks of
them.'

She said it quite distinctly for the benefit of the people round her.
Both ladies were sti