The effect on the House had been marked; and
when, no satisfactory response coming to his demand, he had in
still more resolute and insistent terms called for a division
on the motion for adjournment, the result had been an
appreciable fall in the government majority.
To Loder himself, the realization that he had at last
vindicated and justified himself by individual action had a
peculiar effect. His position had been altered in one
remarkable particular. Before this day he alone had known
himself to be strong; now the knowledge was shared by others
and he was human enough to be susceptible to the change.
The first appreciation of it came immediately after the
excitement of the division, when Fraide, singling him out,
took his arm and pressed it affectionately.
"My dear Chilcote," he said, "we are all proud of you!" Then,
looking up into his face, he added, in a graver tone, "But
keep your mind upon the future; never be blinded by the
present--however bright it seems."
At the touch of his hand, at the spontaneous approval of his
first words, Loder's pride thrilled, and in a vehement rush of
ambition his senses answered to the praise.
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