As he progressed in fluency of utterance he grew in popularity. The householders of the middle class {115} certainly showed no sympathy for his claims, and almost closed their doors in his face. They were Gladstonian to a man. But, notwithstanding this, the Colonel gradually acquired a hold upon the industrial and agricultural workmen. He had, as they said, 'a way with him.' He talked to them in every village about politics and about their own lives. He never indulged in personal abuse of Mr. Gladstone--on the contrary, when he did refer to him it was always with the utmost respect, as one or two of his speeches before us testify. As a rule, the working classes are not slow to recognise a gentleman, and they soon found the Colonel was one to the back-bone; one who had a human heart and could do a kind deed. At a meeting in the early part of the campaign, a mining village had crowded its men into a hall to hear the man who dared to oppose Mr. Gladstone. The meeting was very noisy, and ill-disposed to listen--so much so that a speech was impossible. When things were becoming serious, a smart-looking working man, apparently in the thirties, stepped on to the platform amidst the hubbub, much to the Colonel's surprise. Nobody knew what was coming, and the singularity of the proceeding secured silence, in which the unexpected orator spoke to the following effect:--'I dinna ken very much about politics, but I was wounded at Tel-el-Kebir, and a man came up to me as I lay on the ground, and after giving me a drink from his water-bottle carried me back to a place of safety. That man is on the platform to-night, and that's the man I'm gaen to vote for.' The effect was electrical; the Colonel was not only listened to, he was cheered to the echo, and the incident made a deep impression on many present. Frequently, of course, he had to stand a good deal of interruption and good-natured chaff, but he was generally {116} ready with a happy retort. 'Does your mother know you're out?' was shouted to him from the back part of a hall one night in the middle of his speech by a roisterous opponent. 'Oh yes,' quietly replied the Colonel parenthetically, 'but she will very soon know that I am in!' [Sidenote: Tramping the constituencies]