It was
then, amid a stir of interest, that Loder slowly rose.
Many curious incidents have marked the speech-making annals of
the House of Commons, but it is doubtful whether it has ever
been the lot of a member to hear his own voice raised for the
first time on a subject of vital interest to his party, having
been denied all initial assistance of minor questions asked or
unimportant amendments made. Of all those gathered together
in the great building on that day, only one man appreciated
the difficulty of Loder's position
--and that man was Loder himself.
He rose slowly and stood silent for a couple of seconds, his
body braced, his fingers touching the sheaf of notes that lay
in front of him. To the waiting House the silence was
effective. It might mean over-assurance, or it might mean a
failure of nerve at a critical moment. Either possibility had
a tinge of piquancy. Moved by the same impulse, fifty pairs
o eyes turned upon him with new interest; but up in the
Ladies' Gallery Eve clasped her hands in sudden apprehension;
and Fraide, sitting stiffly in his seat, turned and shot one
swift glance at the man on whom, against prudence and
precedent, he had pinned his faith.
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