An outburst of cheers and clapping of hands drew his attention from his uneasy thoughts.  The platform party had arrived. Noakes, wearing his chain of office, stepped first on to the platform.  He was followed by a lean, hungry-looking man with fiery eyes, clean-shaven, his reddish hair brushed up from the scalp.  Templeton recognised the features of a fanatical agitator whose portrait had appeared in the picture papers. The local Labour candidate, a burly fellow with a jolly red face and closely trimmed beard, took his seat beside the speaker of the evening, and the remaining chairs on the platform were occupied by his principal supporters, male and female.