The appeal found an immediate response--in a few minutes order and
energetic work had taken the place of the former angry excitement and
recrimination.
To Professor Roberts the remainder of the day was one whirl of restless
labour; he hastened from one polling-station to another, and when the
round was completed drove to the Central Rooms, where questions had to
be answered, and new arrangements made without time for thought. Then he
was off again on his hurried round as canvasser. One incident, however,
made a definite impression upon him. Returning for the second or third
time to the Central Rooms he found himself in a crowd of Irish labourers
who had come in deference to priestly bidding to record their votes. Mr.
Hutchings' retirement had excited their native suspiciousness; they
felt that they had been betrayed, and yet the peremptory orders they had
received must be followed. The satisfaction of revolt being denied
to them, their anger became dangerous. Professor Roberts faced them
quietly; he soon saw that they were sincere, or were playing the part of
sincerity; he therefore spoke for the cause, for the party to which they
belonged; surely they wouldn't abandon the struggle because a leader had
deserted them! His words and manner; his appeal to their combativeness;
his earnestness and good temper were successful. The storm of invective
gradually subsided, and although one or two, for the sake of a row,
sought to insult him, they did not go to extremes in face of the
resolute disapprobation of the American party-leaders. Loyalty to their
shibboleth was beginning to draw them, still grumbling and making use of
expressive imprecations, on the way to the nearest polling-station, when
one of their leaders drew Professor Roberts aside, and asked him:
“Are the bhoys to have nothin' for their throuble? Half a day they'll
lose, so they will--a dollar each now would be no more than fair--”
The Professor shook his head; he was not rich, he said, and had already
spent more money in the contest than he could afford.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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