She had given me the words to say, and I was thoroughly
prepared, else I should not have got through. I began in the usual
way: 'Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, Mrs. Mavor is--' but I got no
further, for at the mention of her name the men stood on the chairs and
yelled until they could yell no more. There were over two hundred and
fifty of them, and the effect was overpowering. But I got through my
speech. I remember it well. It began--
'Mrs. Mavor is greatly touched by this mark of your love, and she will
wear your ring always with pride.' And it ended with--
'She has one request to make, that you will be true to the League, and
that you stand close about the man who did most to make it. She wishes
me to say that however far away she may have to go, she is leaving her
heart in Black Rock, and she can think of no greater joy than to come
back to you again.'
Then they had 'The Sweet By and By,' but the men would not join in the
refrain, unwilling to lose a note of the glorious voice they loved to
hear. Before the last verse she beckoned to me.
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