II
As Templeton drew up in front of the garage, a bill-sticker was posting a bill on one of the side posts of the gate. The heading, hi large type, caught Eves's eye, and when he got down to open the gate, he stayed to read the announcement while Templeton drove through.
"I say, Bob, there'll be a splendid rag to-morrow," he said on rejoining his friend. "There's a meeting of parliamentary electors at the new Literary Institute—a final kick before the election on Saturday. Old Noakes is in the chair: he's a pacifist, you remember, and the bill gives short notice that the meeting will be addressed by——" (He mentioned the name of a notorious agitator.) "We'll go. Ask a few questions, perhaps."
"Soldiers in uniform are forbidden to——"
"Rats! That's all gone by the board. The soldier's a citizen now-a-days.... I say, is this Wilkins?"
"My employer," replied Templeton.
A thick-set man wearing a long coat and a motor cap was coming up the path.
"Well, any business a-doing?" he asked of Templeton.
"There have been two callers: one was a man who'd over-driven his machine and run short of oil. He was in a tearing hurry, and distinctly offensive. I did what I could for him, and warned him he'd lose his big ends if he wasn't careful. Here's the half-crown he paid me."
"Half-a-crown! No more than that?"