, whom most of
you know----"

He paused and the crowd cheered. A crowd nearly always cheers anyone
who is mentioned by name in a speech, unless it is quite plain that the
speaker means to be abusive.

"Mary Ellen," said Dr. O'Grady, "who is the nearest living relative of
the great General, will perform the ceremony. Now, Mary Ellen," he went
on, in a lower tone, "pull the string. Father McCormack, give her the
string. She doesn't seem able to find it."

Father McCormack handed the end of the string to Mary Ellen. She chucked
at it in a timid, doubtful way. Nothing happened.

"Pull harder," said Dr. O'Grady.

Sergeant Colgan, who was a benevolent man, and therefore anxious that
the ceremony should be a success, stepped to Mary Ellen's side and laid
his hand on hers. He pulled hard. The sheet fluttered to the ground. The
crowd cheered delightedly.

"There now," said Dr. O'Grady to Lord Alfred Blakeney, "I told you there
really was a statue under that sheet. Next time I say something to you I
hope you'll believe it."

He held up his hand, and young Kerrigan, who was watching for the
signal, began to play at once. The tune he chose was an attractive
one which had achieved some popularity in a Dublin pantomime the year
before. Mrs. Gregg glanced dubiously at Dr. O'Grady, and then walked
towards the statue with the bouquet in her hand. When she had gone five
or six yards she stopped and looked round to see what had happened to
Major Kent. He was hanging back, but the piteous appeal in her eyes
moved him. He scowled ferociously at the doctor, and then with clenched
teeth and closely pressed lips joined Mrs. Gregg. Everybody cheered.
The Major, in spite of being a landlord, was very popular in the
neighbourhood. The cheers made him still more uncomfortable. He frowned
with embarrassment and anger. Mrs. Gregg laid her hand on his arm. Still
frowning, he led her forward, very much as if he were taking her in to
dinner. Mrs. Gregg was frightened and nervous. She had only the vaguest
idea of what she was expected to do. When she reached the base of the
statue she curtseyed deeply. The people cheered frantically. Major Kent
dropped her arm and hurried away. He was a gentleman of an old-fashioned
kind, and, partly perhaps because he had never married, was very
chivalrous towards women. But Mrs. Gregg's curtsey and the cheers which
followed it were too much for him. His position had become intolerable.
Mrs. Gregg, suddenly de