with increasing uneasiness, momentarily anticipating that the
doors would give way with a crash, and that they might see men and
women trampled under foot in an irresistible stampede.

Every electric light in the place was now turned on, disclosing the
bare tiers of seats, the stage filled with chairs, the great flags
looped on either side of the national shield, the speaker's table
surmounted by a glass and pitcher. Then the scene changed. The
janitor, struggling to open the doors, was thrown violently aside as
they swung back and launched the mob into the hall. A great roar
ascended to the roof; the nearer seats were submerged by the black
mass, which sent out thin streams between the rows, like an advancing
tide creeping shoreward between ledges of rock. Leigh and Cardington
rose to their feet and stood gazing at the spectacle. For the most
part the crowd was composed of labouring men, who looked as if they had
just come from the factory or the shop, but here and there could be
seen a glimpse of bright ribbon, or a feather, or the silk hat of a
pale-faced clerk. So rapid was the movement that the two spectators
were forced to resume their seats in a few minutes to forestall their
seizure.

It was eight o'clock, the time set for the appearance of the President,
when Mayor Emmet came from one of the wings, entirely alone, and took a
chair near the centre of the stage. He had not been invited to meet
the President at dinner, and while the great man and his entertainers
lingered over their cigars, the mayor appeared promptly in the opera
house, as if keeping a business engagement. No one who listened to the
welcome he received could doubt his personal popularity or the
intensity with which his constituents resented the slight he had
endured. At first he sat facing the tumult imperturbably, and then a
smile slowly mounted to his eyes, as he rose and bowed his
acknowledgements. Demands for a speech were shot out at him from
various parts of the pit, but he merely shook his head and indicated
his refusal by a familiar yet graceful gesture.

Cardington sat gazing at the solitary figure, muttering half
inarticulate strictures upon the demagogical spirit that had led the
man to make such an open bid for sympathy and vindication, but his
companion experienced very different emotions. There sat Felicity's
husband, handsome, self-contained, and effective. With a rueful
appreciation of a type that differed so much