“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. It was quite clear by this time that the crowd had come to hear Samuel's speech, and was angry at being balked. There was a general shout of protest that made the policemen glad of their numbers.
Of these exciting events Samuel and Everley had been witnesses from the vantage point of a soap box. Now suddenly the boy caught his friend's arm and pointed, crying, “Who's that man?”