The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-06-22

Brown.
lie can remember nothing" said
chris, only that ne started with the
box and arrived without it,"
AT ] o'clock the canvassing board
met in the courtroom. They took their
seats behind the clerks desk, eked out
with several tables, and the twenty
one ballet boxes were piled up behind
them I'M charge of deputy sheriff The
room was filled with people, and inside
the bar were several lawyers.
Gentlemen. said the county clerk,
rising, the hour for opening and can
vassing the returns Of the county cleo
ton has arrived, and we shall proceed
TO perform our duty" and he sat down.
He consulted with his colleagues for
a minute. and then said:
I'VE shall take the precincts in al
phabetical order Mr.. Sheriff. hand us
the ballot box from Abingdon pre-
cinct"
The officer made a preteuse Of look
ing at the names printed on the boxes,
and replied solemnly: The Abingdon
box Is not here"
The county clerk hesitated for a few
seconds. and then said. we shall go
on with the canvass" Leach arose.
May 10 please the board, he said,
( representing Mr.. Mapleton, I would
ask that this canvass be deferred until
day after tomorrow at this hour in or
der 10 give my client an opportunity to
ind the missing returns from Abing-
don
IT object TO any delay" said Judge
+ Wallace. the leading lawyer of the
city. Il represent Mr.. Folsom. and
demand that the canvass proceed, ac-
cOrding to law
I Then in short speech he showed the
/ correctness of his position and declared
/ that the board had no choice but to
proceed with the canvass of the returns
( and TO declare the result Of the election
/ from the evidence before them. Leach
[ replied, showing the unfairness of such
/ a course and asking for even the short
/ est delay
+ The county clerk. after consulting
( with his colleagues, announced that the
! canvass would go on and would be
continued until all the returns that
I were In were examined. Any returns
/ not in when the canvass was closed
/ would not be taken into account. For
such, he announced sOlemnly. 'is the
/ law"
/ There was a murmur of disapproval
( from the audience. Such a law seemed
+ 70 the average man unfair, but the
/ board proceeded with its work.
/ "Bard0lph precinct" said the clerk,
and the sheriff handed him a wooden
( box about a foot square labeled with
/ that name
+ From a bunch of keys the clerk Sc
! lected one and unlocked the box. and
from il took several sealed envelopes,
+ which he passed 10 the justice. who
4 after examining the seals critically
/ returned them 10 him. He tore open
/ one Of the envelopes, extracted the
! tally sheet it contained, and began call
ing off the figures with which il was
/ covered. The justice, with a large
( sheet OF paper before him, took down
/. the figures as he announced them, call
ing them back each time
in few minutes Bardolph precinct
was canvassed, and Liberty, the next
In order, was taken up.
The crowd outside the rail was silent
! except when some Slight change from
/ the unofficial return was announced.
Then there was muFmur. buzz, and
I sometimes an exclamation.
Leach stood. pad in hand, taking
/ down these changes, hoping for some
/ lucky error that would give his client
I a chance. But the errors were too
} small and too wen balanced to produce
his work as matter Of form.
Mapleton slipped down 70 the clerk S
office. He thought he wOuId find Laura
alone, for everyone else would be in
{ the court room. He found her seated
al desk writing, when he entered.
/ She looked up with a bright smile and
/ her eyes twinkled as she noticed his
detected appearance.
He dropped into a chair near her and
said, dolefully. They'll count me ont"
There may be some error in the re-
turns" He shook his head.
Wei. don't be cast down" she said
cheerfully. You can live without the
sheriff's Office"
"Of course, I can" he said, but II
would be a great help when we get
married"
"Oh. yes" she said compIacentIy
! but we can marry without it. you
know"
lie sighed and thought of the ex-
! penses o. the campaign.
She laid down her pen and talked Ia
him. She seemed happy, though some
what nervous. and under her badinaZe
he became cheerful and the time passed
with them without thought of its prog
Tess
Suddenly there was a hum from the
floor above.
What is that?' he asked. ut seems
so come from the court room"
GO and see" she said impatientlv
and he rushed from the Office and al
the stairs 90 the court room.
The people were all on their feet and
most or them were talking Behind the
bar Judge Wallace and Mr. Leach
were shouting at the board and al
I fah nj hnr
forc chris could get an explanation
of the scene. but finally getting hold
Of ono Of his friends. Jack Brown. hs
I asked
What in thunder is the matter
. Jack? 7 have just come in.
Why. said Jack, the board wen
on canvassing and tabulating the re.
/ turns. They had them all counted bu
two, and when they took up the mex
to the last, shannon, there was moth
ing in the box. not q scrap. Either tn,
returns were never put i'm or they hav,
been stolen, and the board doesn'
I know what to do"
why, shannon is Folsom's own pre-
. cinct,' said Chris, and gave him owe
100 majority"
"Of course said Jack and IL the-
follow the decision they made in tn
Abingdon case YOU are elected"
A thrill Of hope passed through Chri
and he listened TO the war Of word
? between the lawyers. in the meantime
J the clerk rushed to bis office to Loo
{ I sor the missing returns.
Laura sat writing as usual. What i
/ it," she asked. looking up.
g Nothing" snarled her father. open
: ing drawers and cupboards in haste
Laura continued to write
s The clerks search was futile. and n
& 1 returned 10 the court room. The law
b yers were still pickering. but when n
& resumed his seat and raped for or
: J Ter silence prevailed throughout tn