ENT

Already the sweepers were busy in the deserted hall, and the lights
burned low. Of the great audience who had filled the place only
half-an-hour ago not one remained. The echoes of their tumultuous
cheering seemed still to linger amongst the rafters, the dust which
their feet had raised hung about in a little cloud. But the long rows
of benches were empty, the sweepers moved ghostlike amongst the shadows,
and an old woman was throwing tealeaves here and there about the
platform. In the committee-room behind a little group of men were busy
with their leave-takings. The candidate, a tall, somewhat burly man,
with hard, shrewd face and loosely knit figure, was shaking hands with
every one. His tone and manner savoured still of the rostrum.

"Good-night, sir! Good-night, Mr. Bullsom! A most excellent
introduction, yours, sir! You made my task positively easy.
Good-night, Mr. Brooks. A capital meeting, and everything very well
arranged. Personally I feel very much obliged to you, sir. If you
carry everything through as smoothly as this affair to-night, I can see
that we shall lose nothing by poor Morrison's breakdown. Good-night,
gentlemen, to all of you. We will meet at the club at eleven o'clock
to-morrow morning. Eleven o'clock precisely, if you please."

The candidate went out to his carriage, and the others followed in twos
and threes. A young man, pale, with nervous mouth, strongly-marked
features and clear dark eyes, looked up from a sheaf of letters which he
was busy sorting.

"Don't wait for me, Mr. Bullsom," he said. "Reynolds will let me out,
and I had better run through these letters before I leave."

Mr. Bullsom was emphatic to the verge of gruffness.

"You'll do nothing of the sort," he declared. "I tell you what it is,
Brooks. We're not going to let you knock yourself up. You're tackling
this job in rare style. I can tell you that Henslow is delighted."

"I'm much obliged to you for saying so, Mr. Bullsom," the young man
answered. "Of course the work is strange to me, but it is very
interesting, and I don't mean to make a mess of it."

"There is only one chance of your doing that," Mr. Bullsom rejoined,
"and that is if you overwork yourself. You need a bit of looking after.
You've got a rare head on your shoulders, and I'm proud to think that I
was the one to bring your name before the committee. But I'm jolly well
certain of one thing. You've done all the work a man ought to do in one
day. Now l