Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/201

Rh "His time is up," said another. "Let him stop talking."

At this clamor the old congressman grew white. Never before had he been treated so, and these men had formerly been his friends. He raised his trembling hands on high, and as he did so, McKinley stepped forward and caught the eye of the Speaker of the House.

"Mr. Speaker," he said, in a loud, measured tone, which all heard distinctly, "I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, out of my time, all that he may need to finish his speech."

It was a noble, generous offering to a former foe, and it brought a tremendous round of applause. Randall finished his speech in a few minutes, so that McKinley really lost but little of the time which was coming to him. Afterward when Randall expressed his thanks to his young colleague, his eyes were filled with tears.

"You are on the right track," he said brokenly. "You'll never lose anything by being generous, even to such an old and worn-out member as myself."

While McKinley was a congressman there