early unable to control his animus....

No champion appeared to support Krebs, who sat pale and tense while this
denunciation of him was going on. Finally he got the floor. His voice
trembled a little, whether with passion, excitement, or nervousness it
was impossible to say. But he contented himself with a brief defiance.
If the bill passed, he declared, the men who voted for it, the men who
were behind it, would ultimately be driven from political life by an
indignant public. He had a higher opinion of the voters of the state
than those who accused him of slandering it, than those who sat silent
and had not lifted their voices against this crime.

When the bill was put to a vote he demanded a roll call. Ten members
besides himself were recorded against House Bill No. 709!

In spite of this overwhelming triumph my feelings were not wholly
those of satisfaction when I returned to the hotel and listened to the
exultations and denunciations of such politicians as Letchworth, Young,
and Colonel Varney. Perhaps an image suggesting Hermann Krebs as some
splendid animal at bay, dragged down by the hounds, is too strong:
he had been ingloriously crushed, and defeat, even for the sake of
conviction, was not an inspiring spectacle.... As the chase swept
on over his prostrate figure I rapidly regained poise and a sense of
proportion; a "master of life" could not permit himself to be tossed
about by sentimentality; and gradually I grew ashamed of my bad quarter
of an hour in the gallery of the House, and of the effect of it--which
lingered awhile--as of a weakness suddenly revealed, which must at all
costs be overcome. I began to see something dramatic and sensational in
Krebs's performance....

The Ribblevale Steel Company was the real quarry, after all. And such
had been the expedition, the skill and secrecy, with which our affair
was conducted, that before the Ribblevale lawyers could arrive, alarmed
and breathless, the bill had passed the House, and their only real
chance of halting it had been lost. For the Railroad controlled the
House, not by owning the individuals composing it, but through the
leaders who dominated it,--men like Letchworth and Truesdale. These,
and Colonel Varney, had seen to it that men who had any parliamentary
ability had been attended to; all save Krebs, who had proved a surprise.
There were indeed certain members who, although they had railroad passes
in their pockets (which were regarded as just p