"We are here," he began, "for a very important purpose--"
Instantly a policeman pushed his way toward him.
"Have you a permit for this meeting?" he demanded.
"We have been refused a permit!" proclaimed Dr. Barton to the crowd.
"We are here as law-abiding citizens, demanding our right to free
speech!"
"You cannot speak," declared the policeman.
"There has been bribery of the city council of Lockmanville," shouted
the doctor.
"You cannot speak!" cried the policeman sharply.
"Henry Hickman paid twenty thousand dollars to the city council to
prevent the passage of the water bill!" cried the speaker.
"Come down from there!" commanded the officer, and made a grab at him.
"I will not stop until I am arrested!" declared the doctor. "I am here
to protest against bribery!"
"Come down and shut up!" shouted the other.
"For shame! For shame!" said voices in the crowd. "Let him speak!"
"That charge was made before the vestry of the St. Matthew's Church!
And the vestry refused to investigate it, and turned out a member of
the church! And we are here--"
And so, still shouting, the doctor was dragged off the box and
collared by the policeman.
"An outrage!" cried people in the audience. "Let him go on!" And yet
others shouted, "Arrest him!" The throng was in a turmoil; and in the
midst of it, Lippman, who was the second victim appointed for the
sacrifice, sprang upon the stump of an old tree, a little at one side,
and shrieked at the top of his lungs:
"Henry Hickman paid twenty thousand dollars to Slattery to beat the
water bill; and now he and the Lockman estate are making ten thousand
dollars a month out of it! And Wygant confessed to our speaker that he
ran the city government to get franchise favors--"
And then Lippman was seized by an officer and dragged off his perch,
and choked into silence--surrounded meanwhile by a crowd of
indignantly protesting citizens.
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