Page 63 sur 416

THE ISLAND DECIDES

In Freekirk Head, next morning, painted signs nailed to

telegraph-poles at intervals along the King's Road as far as

Castalia read:

MASS-MEETING TO-NIGHT ODD FELLOWS HALL 8 O'CLOCK ALL COME

Who had issued this pronunciamento, what it signified, and what

was the reason for a town meeting nobody knew; and as the men

trudged down to their dories drawn up on the stony beach near the

burned wharfs, discussion was intense.

Finally the fact became known that a half-dozen of the wealthiest

and best-educated men in the village, including Squire Hardy and

the Rev. Adelbert Bysshe, rector of the Church of England chapel,

had held a secret conclave the night before at the squire's

house.

It was believed that the signs were the result, and intimated in

certain obscure quarters that Pete Ellinwood, who had always

claimed literary aspirations, had printed them.