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"That is all, sir," said Stridge simply, and not without a certain dignity. "We shall move off now. We did you a wrong to-night, and we all of us" he indicated the motionless multitude with a sweep of his hand "agreed to come here in silence, just for a moment, as an indication of our sympathy and respect." I was unable to speak, which was not altogether surprising.
At their head and forefront I could see the moonlight glitter on his watch-chain, which lay in a most favourable position for lunar reflection stood the newly elected Member for Stoneleigh, Mr Alderman Stridge. Simultaneously there was a knock at the door, and the hall-porter of the hotel appeared. "Mr Stridge's compliments, sir, and he would like to have a word with you."
"'Gentlemen, will you not let me say a word for Mr Inglethwaite?" Dolly's eyes began to blaze, and I saw her lips part in anticipation. "There was a tremendous uproar then," Robin went on with relish. "The folk howled to Stridge to put me over the balcony " "I wish he had tried!" said Gerald with simple fervour. "And other folk cried to me to go on.
A week later, when certain upholders of my cause bombarded Stridge's emporium with an assortment of Stridge's own eggs, hitting one of Mr Stridge's white-jacketed assistants in the eye, and severely damaging the frontage of Mr Stridge's Italian warehouse whereupon local and immediate supporters of the cause of Stridge squared matters by putting three bombardiers into a horse-trough Mr Stridge and I expressed no sort of regret to one another whatsoever, but referred scathingly, amid rapturous cheers, at our next meetings to the blackguardly policy of intimidation and hooliganism by which the other side found it necessary to bolster up a barren cause and hopeless future; all of which shows that things were tuning up to concert pitch.
Once, at a meeting, when I was half-way through a speech to an unmistakably bored and rather hostile audience, Robin, who was sitting beside me, slipped a sheet of paper on to my table. The message on the paper, written large for me to read, said Compare Stridge to the Old Lady of Dippleton.
It wasn't like telling them during the election. That would have been an appeal to the gallery for votes. This was just common justice to you. Anyhow, they quite quietened down after that." "What happened next?" asked Kitty, who had rejoined us. "After that I hauled old Stridge on to the balcony again and gave him a congratulatory hand-shake, coram populo, on your behalf.
Then I retired and slipped out by a back way and came here. Stridge was in full eruption again when I left " Dolly held up her hand. "What is that curious noise?" she said. "It's outside," said Kitty. Gerald went to the window and lifted the blind. Then he turned to us. "I say," he said in an unusual voice, "come here a minute." We drew up the blind and surveyed the scene before us.
"We heard it, thanks," said Gerald. "And presently Stridge stepped out on to the balcony and bowed his acknowledgments. There was a lot more yelling and horn-blowing, and then they began to cry out for Inglethwaite." "Naturally. Yes?" "They were quiet at last, and Stridge got his speech in.
There was something overwhelming about the dumb kindness of it all, three thousand excited folk holding themselves in for fear of disturbing a sick child, and I merely shook Stridge's hand again. However, I found my voice at last. "Mr Stridge," I said, "there is only one thing I will say in response to your kindness, but I think it is the one thing most calculated to reward you all for it.
She drives up to their doors in a silver-plated brougham with a double-breasted coachman, and tells 'em to vote for Stridge, not because he used to live in a one-roomed house himself which he did, and her too but because he's a local god-on-wheels. Of course they won't stick that."
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