“All in favor will say Aye!... Contrary.... It is a vote!... Is there ... further business ... meeting?” Sears’ voice was only heard at intervals. “If not ... adjourn ... in order.”
“Moved and seconded that the meeting now adjourn,” mumbled Sears. “All those....”
What followed was lost in the scraping of settees and the jumble of talk and laughter. The indignation meeting was at an end!
Dick’s retirement from the hall took on the nature of an ovation. Many of the fellows pushed their way across to shake hands with him, to tell him “It was hot stuff, Dick!” to form a laughing, excited escort for him to the door. Louise Brent met him on the way out. “It was splendid!” she declared warmly. “I’m so glad, Dick!” Toby Sears, too, reached him before he had left the hall, and slapped him on the shoulder. “That was good plain talk, Dick, and we needed it,” he said.
Dick went off in the runabout with George Cotner, while Gordon and Morris, waiting on the steps for the crowd to leave, reviewed events with much chuckling. “He did just the right thing,” said Gordon. “If he had been apologetic and tried to explain things and made promises they’d have roasted him and probably voted to take the matter to the Committee.”
“Surest thing you know,” agreed Morris. “He took just the right line with ’em.”
“You bet he did! He just――just edified them! And now he’s got them eating out of his hand! It was a regular stampede!”
“I’ll bet Carter and Bingham and some of those others are as mad as hornets,” chuckled Morris. “It won’t do them any good, though.”
“Not a bit. Dick’s got a big majority with him now. Bet you we could lose every other game except Springdale and not hear a yip out of any of them! Dick’s a wonder, Morris. He always seems to know what to do, doesn’t he?”
“He certainly does. He’s what you call a born leader, Dick is. I wish this bunch would hurry up and go. It’s almost a quarter past nine, and I told Stuart to get here at half-past. I hope he doesn’t show up before the crowd gets away.”
“Oh, they’ll be gone in a minute. Where is Louise?”
“She and Nell have gone over to Miss Turner’s to get the key to the office. They’ll be back at half-past. I sort of wish they’d put that electric light out on the corner. If Mr. Grayson happened to go by and saw us unloading stuff――――”