h came the pause.

A crowd of perhaps a hundred men was gathered about the ill-lighted
entrance to what had formerly been a low-class dancing-saloon. Adela saw
them come thronging about the cab, heard their cries of discontent and
of surprise when she showed herself.

'Wait for me!' she called to the driver, and straightway walked to the
door. The men made way for her. On the threshold she turned.

'I wish to see some member of the committee. I am Mrs. Mutimer.'

There was a coarse laugh from some fellows, but others cried, 'Shut
up! she's a lady.' One stepped forward and announced himself as a
committee-man. He followed her into the passage.

'My husband cannot come,' she said. 'Will you please show me where I can
speak to the meeting and tell them the reason of his absence?'

Much amazed, the committee-man led her into the hall. It was
whitewashed, furnished with plain benches, lit with a few gas-jets.
There was scarcely room to move for the crowd. Every man seemed to be
talking at the pitch of his voice. The effect was an angry roar. Adela's
guide with difficulty made a passage for her to the platform, for it
took some time before the crowd realised what was going on. At length
she stood in a place whence she could survey the assembly. On the wall
behind her hung a great sheet of paper on which were inscribed the names
of all who had deposited money with Mutimer. Adela glanced at it and
understood. Instead of being agitated she possessed an extraordinary
lucidity of mind, a calmness of nerve which she afterwards remembered as
something miraculous.

The committee-man roared for silence, then in a few words explained
Mrs. Mutimer's wish to make 'a speech.' To Adela's ears there seemed
something of malice in this expression; she did not like, either, the
laugh which it elicited. But quiet was speedily restored by a few men of
sturdy lungs. She stepped to the front of the platform.

The scene was a singular one. Adela had thrown off her waterproof in the
cab; she stood in her lady-like costume of home, her hat only showing
that she had come from a distance. For years her cheeks had been very
pale; in this moment her whole face was white as marble. Her delicate
beauty made strange contrast with the faces on each side and in front
of her--faces of rude intelligence, faces of fathomless stupidity, faces
degraded into something less than human. But all were listening, all
straining towards her. There were a few whisp