cupants. The majority of them were clearly artisans--a spare,
stooping, sharp-featured race. Here and there were a knot of stalwart
dock-labourers, strongly marked out in physique from the watchmakers and
the potters, or an occasional seaman out of work, ship-steward,
boatswain, or what not, generally bronzed, quick-eyed, and comely, save
where the film of excess had already deadened colour and expression.
Almost every one had a pot of beer before him, standing on long wooden
flaps attached to the benches. The room was full of noise, coming
apparently from the farther end, where some political bravo seemed to be
provoking his neighbours. In their own vicinity the men scattered about
were for the most part tugging silently at their pipes, alternately
eyeing the clock and the new-comers.

There was a stir of feet round the door.

'There he is,' said Mr. Flaxman, craning round to see, and Robert
entered.

He started as he saw them, flashed a smile to Rose, shook his head at
Mr. Flaxman, and passed up the room.

'He looks pale and nervous,' said Lady Charlotte grimly, pouncing at
once on the unpromising side of things. 'If he breaks down are you
prepared, Hugh, to play Elisha?'

Flaxman was far too much interested in the beginnings of the performance
to answer.

Robert was standing forward on the platform, the chairman of the meeting
at his side, members of the committee sitting behind on either hand. A
good many men put down their pipes, and the hubbub of talk ceased.
Others smoked on stolidly.

The chairman introduced the lecturer. The subject of the address would
be, as they already knew, 'The Claim of Jesus upon Modern Life.' It was
not very likely, he imagined, that Mr. Elsmere's opinions would square
with those dominant in the club; but, whether or no, he claimed for him,
as for everybody, a patient hearing, and the Englishman's privilege of
fair play.

The speaker, a cabinetmaker dressed in a decent brown suit, spoke with
fluency, and at the same time with that accent of moderation and _savoir
faire_ which some Englishmen in all classes have obviously inherited
from centuries of government by discussion. Lady Charlotte, whose
Liberalism was the mere varnish of an essentially aristocratic temper,
was conscious of a certain dismay at the culture of the democracy as the
man sat down. Mr. Flaxman, glancing to the right, saw a group of men
standing, and amongst them a slight sharp-featured thread-paper of a
man