He sat down, wiping his brow carefully, amid a thunder of applause from the audience. Suddenly a thought seemed to strike him and he jumped up with hand uplifted. The crowd silenced at once. "I forgot to tell you the main thing for why I came here to-night," he said sheepishly. "I'm no orator, as you all can see. Your handsome young faces drove the thought clean out of my mind. But this I will say, I am here to-night to tell you that we of the Federation will back you to the limit with money and influence and all we've got. Go to it!" Again he sat down, amid a repeated burst of clapping and cheers.
"No," said Good. "He's no orator. But he's a big man. They'll get somewhere if they follow him."
Speaker after speaker followed one another in rapid succession, each with her message of fear, or hope, or encouragement. There was surprisingly little denunciation, thought Judith, of the powers against whom they were in revolt. All the speakers were too intent upon means and methods to waste breath in idle denunciation. She expressed her astonishment.
"Their feeling for their employers goes without saying," said Good shortly.
Suddenly Judith gave a little cry. "Why, there's Mrs. Dodson." A woman, inconspicuously dressed and well on in years, but with such a spirit of youth and kindliness in her face as to belie her grey hairs, had begun to speak. Her first words were the signal for such a storm of applause that she had to halt momentarily.
"What a favourite she is!" exclaimed Judith.
"She has cause to be," said Good. "These girls have no better friend."
"Isn't it strange," said Judith in amazement. "I've known her all my life. I had no idea she was so interested in this sort of thing."
Good smiled. "She doesn't talk much about it, does she?"
Mrs. Dodson, speaking with trained eloquence, was laying out a plan of campaign so bold in conception that Judith, acquainted only with the more obvious side of her life, was dumfounded.