Except for the clerk's voice, as he read the report, a dead silence lay
tensely over the crowded hall. Men dared not look at their neighbors,
scarce dared breathe, for the terror that hung heavy on their hearts.
Scores were there who expected their guilt to be blazoned forth for all the
world to read. They waited whitely as the monotonous voice of the clerk
went from paragraph to paragraph, and when at last he sat down, having
named only the bribers and not the receivers of bribes, a long deep sigh of
relief swept the house. Fear still racked them, but for the moment they
were safe. Furtively their glances began to go from one to another of their
neighbors and ask for how long safety would endure.
One could have heard the rustle of a leaf as the chairman of the committee
stepped forward and laid on the desk of the presiding officer the
incriminating parcel. It seemed an age while the chief clerk opened it,
counted the bills, and announced that one hundred thousand dollars was the
sum contained within.
Stephen Eaton then rose in his seat and presented quietly his resolution,
that since the evidence submitted was sufficient to convict of bribery, the
judge of the district court of the County of Mesa be requested to call a
special session of the grand jury to investigate the report.
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