"I quite agree with you, Harold," replied Florence, "and I only wish I were a man."
"Why?" interposed Mrs. Sanderson, who had just finished interchanging polite platitudes with Walter Sedger.
"So that I might express my views about the evils of our political system."
"And be called by that expressive word which is not in the dictionary, 'a crank'," said Duncan ironically. "That is the reward of a reformer."
"John Bright and Wendell Phillips were both 'cranks' in their day," was the reply, "but I would not object to their reputation. By the way, here comes a 'crank' whom I almost love," she added, as a stout, kindly faced, elderly man, whose features wore the sweet expression of earnest and well guided intelligence, approached the box.
"Who is he?" asked Duncan, following her eyes.
"Dr. Maccanfrae, physician and philanthropist, missionary and moralist, and the dearest man in the world, besides," she replied. "He does more good in a day than twenty Poor Boards do in a week, and has more genuine Christian charity in his soul than a score of average parsons, although he is an evolutionist and a pantheist combined."
"A most flattering description," said Duncan. "I hope he deserves such adulation."
"He certainly merits it all," added Wainwright.
Dr. Maccanfrae entered the box and Walter Sedger improved the opportunity to slip away and visit some friends. The Doctor spoke to Mrs. Sanderson, then moved toward the corner occupied by Florence Moreland, while Duncan dropped quietly into the seat left vacant by Mr. Sedger.