d are
all camping out on the open Heath--I repeat, she has said nothing to
convince us that the price we shall have paid is going to get us the
thing we want.

"She says that fighters are wanted, and not talkers and writers and
thinkers. Are we not then to fight with our tongues and with our brains?
Is she leaving us anything but our bare fists? She has told us that she
rides straight and that she doesn't funk her fences; but she has not
told us what sort of country she is going to ride over, nor where the
fences are, not what Hell-for-leather and Neck-or-nothing means.

"We want meaning; we want clearness and precision. We have not been
given it yet.

"I would let all this pass if Miss Blackadder were not your
colour-sergeant. Is it fair to call for volunteers, for raw recruits,
and not tell them precisely and clearly what services will be required
of them? How many" (Dorothy glanced at the eleven) "realize that the
leaders of your Union, Mrs. Palmerston-Swete, and Mrs. Blathwaite, and
Miss Angela Blathwaite, demand from its members blind, unquestioning
obedience?"

Maud Blackadder jumped up.

"I protest. I, too, have the right to protest. Miss Harrison calls me to
order. She tells me to be clear and precise. Will she be good enough to
be clear and precise herself? Will she say whether she is with us or
against us? If she is not with us she is against us. Let her explain her
position."

She sat down; and Rosalind rose.

"Miss Harrison," she said, "will explain her position to the Committee
later. This is an open meeting till seven. It is now five minutes to.
Will any of you here"--she held the eleven with her eyes--"who were not
present at the meeting in the Town Hall last Monday, hold up your hands.
No hands. Then you must all be aware of the object and the policy and
the rules of the Women's Franchise Union. Its members pledge themselves
to help, as far as they can, the object of the Union; to support the
decisions of their leaders; to abstain from public and private criticism
of those decisions and of any words or actions of their leaders; and to
obey orders--not blindly or unquestioningly, but within the terms of
their undertakings.

"Those of you who wish to join us will please write your names and
addresses on the slips of white paper, stating what kind of work you are
willing to do and the amount of your subscription, if you subscribe, and
hand your slips to the Secretary at the door, as you go out."