As soon as they had finished eating, some of the men began to make remarks about the lecture, but Owen only laughed and went on reading the piece of newspaper that his dinner had been wrapped in. Usually most of the men went out for a walk after dinner, but as it happened to be raining that day they were determined, if possible, to make Owen fulfill the engagement made in his name by Philpot.
“Let’s ’oot ’im,” said Harlow, and the suggestion was at once acted upon; howls, groans and catcalls filled the air, mingled with cries of “Fraud!” “Imposter!” “Give us our money back!” “Let’s wreck the ’all!” and so on.
“Come on ’ere,” cried Philpot, putting his hand on Owen’s shoulder. “Prove that money is the cause of poverty.”
“It’s one thing to say it and another to prove it,” sneered Crass, who was anxious for an opportunity to produce the long-deferred Obscurer cutting.
“Money IS the real cause of poverty,” said Owen.
“Prove it,” repeated Crass.
“Money is the cause of poverty because it is the device by which those who are too lazy to work are enabled to rob the workers of the fruits of their labours.”
“Prove it,” said Crass.
Owen slowly folded up the piece of newspaper he had been reading and put it into his pocket.
“All right,” he replied. “I’ll show you how the Great Money Trick is worked.”