Evening star., 1938-12-24
BY II. G.. WELLS.
CHAPTER IA.
The Popular Socialists.

S1A<1I IL.
The Popular Socialists.
To these conferences in the
Steenhold fiat there presently came
bunch of young men from Lord
Horatio Bohun'S once hopeful Popu-
lar Socialist party. At first they
argued with Rud, and then they
crystallized about him
But this is our stuff they said.
mo" said Rud. Its what your
stuff ought to be, if it had more
bones and less white meat" They
were ripe for Rud. The spirit of
their movement was changing, and
they realized the need for re-
newal Of its vitality. They were
growing up mentally, and the idea
of being thoroughly disagreeable
to Jews and long-haired Commu-
nists no longer satisfied them as an
objective in life. They no longer
Haunted decorative purple shirts
because the wearing OF party uni
forms was now rather heavily penal
ized, and that loss of color also was
reflected in their bearing.
The biggest of them was a man
named Rogers, some sort of an
amateur boxing champion, with a
streak of almost maternal protec-
tiveness in him and bias for a
good, clean, vigorous fight He did
not mind very much what the fight
was about, and he hated to think
1t might lead to bad feeling. Bodis-
ham, another of them, seemed to be
a born director; he would have been
an able producer of films or plays
and he played chess and was said
to play bridge with a swift, uncanny
realization of how the game was
going. Later on he was to justify
his reputation and become brilliant
controller of meetings and party
maneuvers.
Scientific Handling.
And he was to end as one of the
greatest of constructive statesmen.
Rud perhaps had a quicker grasp Of
a general situation. but it was in
stinctive, not reasoned: Bodisham's
turn for either massed details or
isolated details was not to be equal
ed. And when it was question of
the scientific handling of problem,
Rud gave way to Bodisham perforce
Bodisham had come out of the Lon
don School of Economics: his first
ambition had been to supplement
the mental DEFICIENCIES of Bohun
When he had found that they were
not to be supplemented, he had
turned to Rud. He was the only one
Of the group who wore spectacles; it
seemed to accentuate his claim to
be the intellectual influence in the
party. Irweu came in from a stock
brokers' Office. He was living by
sub-editing a financial paper, and
when he talked of money the others
listened with respect.
Another of this bunch was a man
whom Rud had haunting sense of
having met before. His name was
Colin breed. At first Rud could not
think where they might have met
and then he identified him. though
not with absolute certainty, as one
of two purple shirts who had visited
his rooms in his second year. breed
perhaps had an equivalent doubt
and at times Rud would catch a
slight perpleXity in his eyes and
expression of inadequate recogni-
ton. But nothing was ever said
about it. breed was now nearly an
adult and no longer that bright
potential furniture -smasher of Rud's
second year. But he was still es-
sentially partisan. He did what
ever he was told, and he always
did it with a faint suggestion of sur
prise at not having thought of so
obvious thing himself. But he
never thought of it himself. One
or two other purple shirts and ex-
purple shirts came less regularly and
talked less freely, but these were
the nuclear personalities of what
was destined to be Rud's primary
organization.
It was evident to him that all
these young men were extremely
dissatisfied with Bohun's leader
ship, and that they did not know
clearly what to do about it. They
felt misdirected and frustrated. and
yet they still retained something of
the good intentions that had brought
them into his movement.
Brilliantly Unorthodox Role.
Many years ago Lord Horatio
had come into British politics with
considerable flourish, as young
man of wealth, position and in
f1uence, destined to play brilliantly
unorthodoX role in public affairs.
He had also evidently proposed to
himself a wide conspicuousness as
a splendid individual. He had mar
rowly escaped the House of Lords:
his brother was the Duke of WybroW
a defective so defective as to be
untitled for anything but procrea-
ton, in which indeed he had been
eminently successful.
So Horatio, cut off from any hope
of a dukedom and a senatorial
career by growing zareba of
nephewS, had decided to be the
British Julius Caesar; the Duce,
the leader of a renascent patriotic
Britain. Plus Byron without the
limp. At first everything seemed
to favor him. There had been only
one insurmountable obstacle to his
ambitions, but that was hidden from
him, a complete lack of originality
in his makeup. He was so COM
pletely destitute of ideas that he
had no idea he had no ideas. He
behaved therefore as though he had
ideas, and for time there were
admirers to share his illusion.
He had been what is called a
"spoilt" child, the favored younger
brother, and he was still essentially
Lord Horny" He had one of those
faces whose features seem asymme-
trical and confused when seen in
front, but which. have certain re-
semblance to handsomeness in pro-
file; he was pale, freckled and red
haired, with the rebellious forelook
50 frequent with romantic person.
alitieS. and his voice was arrogant