ral leaders desertin'
Liberal principles.'

Through the roar of protest and argument, he held out those grotesque
great hands of his with the suggestion--

'You show me a Liberal, and I'll show you a Mr. Facing-both-ways. Yuss.
The Liberal, 'e sheds the light of his warm and 'andsome smile on the
workin' man, and round on the other side 'e's tippin' the wink to the
great landowners. Yuss. That's to let 'em know 'e's standin' between
them and Socialists. Ha! the Socialists!' Puffing and flushed and
perspiring he hurled it out again and again over the heads of the
people. 'The Socialists! Yuss. _Socialists!_ Ha! ha!' When he and the
audience had a little calmed down, 'The Liberal,' he said, with that
look of sly humour, ''e's the judicial sort o' chap that sits in the
middle.'

'On the fence.'

He nodded. 'Tories one side, Socialists the other. Well, it ain't always
so comfortable in the middle. No. Yer like to get squeezed. Now, I says
to the women, wot I says is, the Conservatives don't promise you much,
but wot they promise they _do_.' He whacked one fist into the other with
tremendous effect.

'This fellow isn't half bad,' Stonor said to Lady John.

'But the Liberals, they'll promise you the earth and give you the whole
o' nothin'.'

There were roars of approval. Liberal stock had sunk rather low in
Trafalgar Square.

'Isn't it fun?' said Jean. 'Now aren't you glad I brought you?'

'Oh, this chap's all right!'

'We men 'ave seen it 'appen over and over. But the women can tyke an
'int quicker 'n what we can. They won't stand the nonsense men do. Only
they 'aven't got a fair chawnce even to agitate fur their rights. As I
wus comin' up ere, I 'eard a man sayin', "Look at this big crowd. W'y,
we're all _men_! If the women want the vote, w'y ain't they here to s'y
so?" Well, I'll tell you w'y. It's because they've 'ad to get the dinner
fur you and me, and now they're washin' up dishes.'

'D'you think we ought to st'y at 'ome and wash the dishes?'

He laughed with good-natured shrewdness. 'Well, if they'd leave it to us
once or twice per'aps we'd understand a little more about the Woman
Question. I know w'y _my_ wife isn't here. It's because she _knows_ I
can't cook, and she's 'opin' I can talk to some purpose. Yuss,'--he
acknowledged another possible view,--'yuss, maybe she's mistaken.
Any'ow, here I am to vote for her and all the other women, and to----'

They nearly drowned him with '_Oh-h!_' and 'Hear!