The Labour member begged leave (his tones intimating nothing of humility) to say a few words before this was put to the vote. The society had been compared to a man, but the society, as a society, was, so to speak, a mere child, and it had recently behaved in the impulsive wrong-headed manner of a child. That might be overlooked once; it would not be overlooked a second time. Mind that! Brains had been served out to one and all, but some hadn’t quite got their proper share with the result that others had more than the average supply, and if the man who had come out rather short in the matter had not sufficient sense, when in a position of difficulty, to ask advice from those fully equipped, why the men with the short supply would have to put up with the consequences of their own blundering. And there was another thing. The success of the labour movement as a whole depended on the loyalty of the men to those who were doing brain work on their behalf; let that loyalty once exhibit anything of doubt and the whole scheme, the whole business, the whole movement—the Labour member struck the wooden table emphatically at each variant of the phrase—the whole show would go to pot. All the same, he congratulated them on the wise decision at which they were about to arrive, and he strongly urged his friend Erb Barnes, “in consideration of certain prospective events,” said the white-haired member, lowering his voice mysteriously, “of which _he_ is aware, but cannot at the present time be made public,” to accept good-temperedly the invitation of the men. The men had kept silent whilst receiving criticism; at these last words they rose from the Windsor chairs and shouted approval. The shirt sleeved waiter went up and down the tables, culling empty glasses and making them into a bouquet. Erb went to the mantelpiece, and resting one hand there, spoke quietly. Every face turned in his direction. “I think,” said the Chairman importantly, “I think I may say carried _per se_—I mean _nem. con._” “I’m not going to occupy your time for long,” said Erb from the fireplace when the renewed cheering had ceased. “You’ll have other business to do—(No, no)—and, contrary to my usual practice I’m going to be very brief indeed. There have been times when you’ve heard me speak at a considerable length, and for all your kindness to me under those circumstances I give you my thanks. I shan’t ever trouble you again to that extent. A month or so ago you met here—you, just the same men that you are now—and you gave me the sack. You never gave me a chance of defending myself or explaining my actions; you just pushed me off.” The room murmured an unintelligible protest.