The rhetoric and the
cheers which followed had roused the speaker to a new life. His face
became keen, almost attractive, without question full of power. He was
an orator beyond doubt, and when he concluded in a riot of applause,
Alice sat with small hands clenched and eyes shining with delight. He
had spoken the main articles of her creed, but with what force and
freshness! She was convinced, satisfied, delighted; though somewhere in
her thought lurked her old dislike of the man and the memory of another.
As ill-luck would have it, the next night she went to hear Lewis in
Gledsmuir, when that young gentleman was at his worst. She went
unattended, being a fearless young woman, and consequently found herself
in the very back of the hall crowded among some vehement politicians.
The audience, to begin with, was not unkind. Lewis was greeted with
applause, and at the first heard with patience. But his speech was
vague, incoherent, and tactless. To her unquiet eyes he seemed to be
afraid of the men before him. Every phrase was guarded with a proviso,
and "possiblys" bristled in every sentence. The politicians at the back
grew restless, and Alice was compelled to listen to their short,
scathing criticisms. Soon the meeting was hopelessly out of hand. Men
rose and rudely marched to the door. Catcalls were frequent from the
corners, and the back of the hall became aggressive.
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