Bill before the House of Lords; he asked questions in
Parliament on the subject of the wages paid to Government employes; and
he opened an attack on the report of a certain Conservative Commission
which had been rousing the particular indignation of a large mass of
South London working men.

At the end of ten days the strike was over; the workers, sullen and
enraged, had submitted, and the plans of the Syndicate were in all the
papers. Wharton, looking round him, realised to his own amazement that
his political position had rather gained than suffered. The general
impression produced by his action had been on the whole that of a man
strong enough to take a line of his own, even at the risk of
unpopularity. There was a new tone of respect among his opponents, and,
resentful as some of the Labour members were, Wharton did not believe
that what he had done would ultimately damage his chances on the 10th at
all. He had vindicated his importance, and he held his head high,
adopting towards his chances of the leadership a strong and careless
tone that served him well.

Meanwhile there were, of course, clever people behind the scenes who
looked on and laughed. But they held their tongues, and Wharton, who had
carefully avoided the mention of names during the negotiations with
Pearson, did his best to forget them. He felt uncomfortable, indeed,
when he passed the portly Denny in the House or in the street. Denny had
a way of looking at the member for West Brookshire out of the corner of
a small, slit-like eye. He did it more than usual during these days,
and Wharton had only to say to himself that for all things there is a
price--which the gods exact.

Wilkins, since the first disclosure of the _Clarion_ change of policy,
had been astonishingly quiet. Wharton had made certain of violent attack
from him. On the contrary, Wilkins wore now in the House a subdued and
pre-occupied air that escaped notice even with his own party in the
general fulness of the public mind. A few caustic north-countryisms on
the subject of the _Clarion_ and its master did indeed escape him now
and then, and were reported from mouth to mouth; but on the whole he lay
very low.

Still, whether in elation or anxiety, Wharton seemed to himself
throughout the whole period to be a _fighter_, straining every muscle,
his back to the wall and his hand against every man. There at the end of
the fortnight stood the three goal-posts that must be passed, in vict