Preston, Dick and Ellery tried to put fire into some dingy little hall-full of men. To Percival's surprise, Norris developed a plain common-sense variety of eloquence that appealed to his audiences quite as much as did Dick's more fervid eloquence. Ellery invariably spoke straight to some well-known condition.

He makes blunders that would disgrace an undergraduate and doesn't care a rap so long as a hall-full of fools cheer him." "You usen't to talk like this!" "No because I had illusions," was the sharp reply. "Glenwilliam was one of them. Land! what does he know about land? what does a miner who won't learn! know about farming?