"Throw out the little rat!" Immediately there was uproar.

On every side returned soldiers, many of whom had been in Captain Jack's battalion, sprang up and began moving toward the little Cockney who, boldly standing his ground, was wildly appealing to the chair and was supported by the furious cheering of a group of his friends, Old Country men most of whom, as it turned out, were of the extreme Socialist type.

By this time it had fully been borne in upon Captain Jack's mind, somewhat dazed by the unexpected attack, that he was the occasion of the uproar.

Rising from his place he tried vainly to catch the Chairman's attention.
"Come up to the platform," said a voice in his ear.

He turned and saw McNish shouldering his way through the excited crowd toward the front.
After a moment's hesitation he shrugged his shoulders and followed.