At length the mob began to slowly leave the galleries under the impression that the High Court had adjourned.
Suddenly a man cried out:
"Hold on! They ain't going to adjourn. Let's see it out!"
Hundreds took their seats again. In the corridors a crowd began to sing in wild chorus:
"Old Grimes is dead, that poor old man." The women joined with glee. Between the verses the leader would curse the Iowa Senator as a traitor and copperhead. The singing could be distinctly heard by the Court as its roar floated through the open doors.
When the Senate Chamber had been cleared and the most disgraceful scene that ever occurred within its portals had closed, the High Court of Impeachment went into secret session to consider the evidence and its verdict.
Within an hour from its adjournment it was known to the Managers that seven Republican Senators were doubtful, and that they formed a group under the leadership of two great constitutional lawyers who still believed in the sanctity of a judge's oath—Lyman Trumbull, of Illinois, and William Pitt Fessenden, of Maine. Around them had gathered Senators Grimes, of Iowa, Van Winkle, of Rhode Island, Fowler, of Tennessee, Henderson, of Missouri, and Ross, of Kansas. The Managers were in a panic. If these men dared to hold together with the twelve Democrats, the President would be acquitted by one vote—they could count thirty-four certain for conviction.
