Mr. Craig, reading of the tragedy of Billy's
death, transfigured defeat into victory, and this was generally accepted
by the men as the true reading, though to them it was full of mystery.
But they could all understand and appreciate at full value the spirit
that breathed through the words of the dying man: 'Don't be 'ard on 'em,
they didn't mean no 'arm.' And this was the new spirit of the League.
It was this spirit that surprised Slavin into sudden tears at the
grave's side. He had come braced for curses and vengeance, for all knew
it was he who had doctored Billy's lemonade, and instead of vengeance
the message from the dead that echoed through the voice of the living
was one of pity and forgiveness.
But the days of the League's negative, defensive warfare were over.
The fight was to the death, and now the war was to be carried into
the enemy's country. The League men proposed a thoroughly equipped and
well-conducted coffee-room, reading-room, and hall, to parallel the
enemy's lines of operation, and defeat them with their own weapons upon
their own ground.
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