"They are"--he paused portentously--"reproductions of pages from the
secret census!"
To most of the men this meant something highly significant. They
cranned their necks in their excitement.
"I am going to pass them around, negatives and all. You see where I
have checked off the most important items. They prove to any one
with reason that the commission has been lying to us; that the
workers are being taxed more heavily than the owners; that the
owners are being favored in every way. I don't care whether you
agree with my ideas or not; these photographs"--his voice shook the
hall--"prove that the commission is not even giving you what you
thought you were getting!"
He took a single step down from the platform, his hand outstretched,
about to pass the parcel to the man in the nearest seat. At that
instant all the lights were extinguished.
There was a moment's stunned silence; then the place broke into an
uproar. Yells of fright and anger, the crashing of chairs, screams
of pain; all these young Ernol heard without himself giving voice.
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