forth the letter in a voice which was all too steady. 7 But
she said:

'I am very glad. It must gratify you. He writes very kindly.'

'You'll have to help me to make an answer.'

Adela smiled, but said nothing.

The ceremonious opening of the hall at New Wanley had been a great
day; Mutimer tried his best to make the closing yet more effective. Mr.
Westlake was persuaded to take the chair, but this time the oration was
by the founder himself. There was a numerous assembly. Mutimer spoke for
an hour and a quarter, reviewing what he had done, and enlarging on all
that he might and would have done. There was as much applause as even
he could desire. The proceedings closed with the reading of an address
which was signed by all the people of the works, a eulogium and an
expression of gratitude, not without one or two sentences of fiery
Socialism. The spokesman was a fine fellow of six feet two, a man named
Redgrave, the ideal of a revolutionist workman. He was one of the few
men at the works whom Adela, from observation of their domestic life,
had learnt sincerely to respect. Before reading the document he made a
little speech of his own, and said in conclusion:

'Here's an example of how the law does justice in a capitalist society.
The man who makes a grand use of money has it all taken away from him by
the man who makes no use of it at all, except to satisfy his own malice
and his own selfishness. If we don't one and all swear to do our utmost
to change such a state of things as that, all I can say is we're a poor
lot, and deserve to be worse treated than the animals, that haven't the
sense to use their strength!'

In his reply to the address Richard surpassed himself. He rose in
excitement; the words that rushed to his lips could scarcely find
articulate flow. After the due thanks:

'To-morrow I go to London; I go as poor as the poorest of you, a
mechanical engineer in search of work. Whether I shall find it or not
there's no saying. If they turned me out because of my opinions three
years ago, it's not very likely that they've grown fonder of me by this
time. As poor as the poorest of you, I say. Most of you probably know
that a small legacy is left to me under the will which gives this
property into other hands. That money will be used, every penny of it,
for the furtherance of our cause!'

It was a magnificent thought, one of those inspirations which reveal
latent genius. The hall echoed with shouts of glori