Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls

by L. Frank Baum

suggested Alora, "let us keep our eyes and earsopen for traces of the traitor. There may be more than one pro-Germanin the conspiracy, for the circular was printed by somebody, and thereare several kinds of handwriting on the addressed envelopes we havegathered. We've no time to do detective work, just now, but we canwatch out, just the same."

  Mary Louise did not mention the circular to Colonel Hathaway thatevening, for he was still ill and she did not wish to annoy him.

  The next day she found another circular had been put in the mails,printed from the same queer open-faced type as the first. Not so manyhad been sent out of these, but they were even more malicious in theirsuggestions. The girls were able to collect several of them forevidence and were 'more angry and resentful than ever, but they did notallow such outrageous antagonism to discourage them in their work.

  Of course the Liberty Girls were not the only ones in Dorfield tryingto sell bonds. Mr. Jaswell and other bankers promoted the bond salevigorously and the regular Committee did not flag in its endeavors tosecure subscriptions. On account of Colonel Hathaway's illness,Professor Dyer was selected to fill his place on the Committee andproved himself exceedingly industrious. The only trouble with theProfessor was his reluctance to argue. He seemed to work early andlate, visiting the wealthier and more prosperous citizens, but heaccepted too easily their refusals to buy. On several occasions theLiberty Girls succeeded in making important sales where Professor Dyerhad signally failed. He seemed astonished at this and told Mary Louise,with a deprecating shrug, that he feared his talents did not lie in thedirection of salesmanship.

  Despite the natural proportion of failures--for not all will buy bondsin any community--on the fourth day following the mass-meetingDorfield's quota of one million was fully subscribed, and on Saturdayanother hundred and fifty thousand was added, creating jubilation amongthe loyal citizens and reflecting great credit on the Liberty Girls,the Committee, and all who had labored so well for the cause.

  "Really," said Professor Dyer, his voice sounding regretful when hecongratulated the girls, "our success is due principally to yourpatriotic organization. The figures show that you secured subscriptionsfor over half a million. Dear me, what a remarkable fact!"

  "More than that," added Jason Jones, Alora's father, who was a wealthyartist and himself a member of the Committee, "our girls encouraged thefaltering ones to do their duty. Many a man who coldly turned ourCommittee down smiled at the pretty faces and dainty costumes of ourLiberty Girls and wrote their checks without a murmur."

  "All the credit is due Mary Louise," declared Alora. "It was she whoproposed the idea, and who organized us and trained us and designed ourLiberty costumes. Also, Mary Louise made the most sales."

  "Nonsense!" cried Mary Louise, blushing red. "I couldn't have doneanything at all without the help of you girls. No one of us is entitledto more credit than the others, but all six of us may well feel proudof our success. We've done our bit to help Uncle Sam win the war."

  CHAPTER VUNCONVINCING TESTIMONY

  On Sunday "Gran'pa Jim," relieved of all worry, felt "quite himselfagain," as he expressed it, and the old gentleman strutted somewhatproudly as he marched to church with his lovely granddaughter besidehim, although her uniform was to-day discarded for a neat tailor-suit.Mary Louise had always been a favorite in Dorfield, but the past weekhad made her a heroine in the eyes of all patriotic citizens. Many werethe looks of admiration and approval cast at the young girl thismorning as she passed along the streets beside the old colonel.

  In the afternoon, as they sat in the cosy study at home, the girl forthe first time showed her grandfather the disloyal circulars, relatinghow indignant the Liberty Girls had been at encountering such dastardlyopposition.

  Colonel Hathaway studied the circulars carefully. He compared thehandwritings on the different envelopes, and when Mary Louise saidpositively: "That man must be discovered and arrested!" her grandfathernodded his head and replied:

  "He is a dangerous man. Not especially on account of these mischievousutterances, which are too foolish to be considered seriously, butbecause such a person is sure to attempt other venomous deeds whichmight prove more important. German propaganda must be dealt withsternly and all opposition to the administration thoroughly crushed. Itwill never do to allow a man like this to go unrebuked and unpunished."

  "What, then, would you suggest?" asked the girl.

  "The police should be notified. Chief Farnum is a clever officer andintensely patriotic, from all I have heard. I think he will have nodifficulty in discovering who is responsible for these circulars."

  "I shall go to him to-morrow," decided Mary Louise. "I had the sameidea, Gran'pa Jim; it's a matter for the police to handle."

  But when she had obtained an interview with Chief of Police Farnum thenext morning and had silently laid one of the circulars on his deskbefore him, an announcement of her errand, Farnum merely glanced at it,smiled and then flashed a shrewd look into the girl's face.

  "Well!" said the Chief, in an interrogative tone.

  "Those treasonable circulars have been mailed to a lot of ourcitizens," said she.

  "I know."

  "They are pro-German, of course. The traitor who is responsible forthem ought to be arrested immediately."

  "To be sure," replied Farnum, calmly.

  "Well, then do it!" she exclaimed, annoyed by his bland smile.

  "I'd like to, Miss Burrows," he rejoined, the smile changing to asudden frown, "and only two things prevent my obeying your request. Oneis that the writer is unknown to me."

  "I suppose you could find him, sir. That's what the police are for.Criminals don't usually come here and give themselves up, I imagine, oreven send you their address. But the city isn't so big that any man,however clever, could escape your dragnet."

  "Thank you for the compliment," said the Chief, again smiling. "Ibelieve we could locate the fellow, were such a task not obviated bythe second objection."

  "And that?"

  "If you'll read this circular--there are two others, by the way, mailedat different times--you will discover that our objectionable friend hasskillfully evaded breaking our present laws. He doesn't assert anythingtreasonable at all; he merely questions, or suggests."

  "He is disloyal, however," insisted Mary Louise.

  "In reality, yes; legally, no. We allow a certain amount of free speechin this country, altogether too much under present conditions. Thewriter of this circular makes certain statements that are true andwould be harmless in themselves were they not followed by a series ofquestions which insinuate that our trusted officials are manipulatingour funds for selfish purposes. A simple denial of these insinuationsdraws the fangs from every question. We know very well the intent wasto rouse suspicion and resentment against the government, but if we hadthe author of these circulars in court we could not prove that he hadinfringed any of the existing statutes."

  "And you will allow such a traitor as that to escape!" cried MaryLouise, amazed and shocked.

  For a moment he did not reply, but regarded the girl thoughtfully. Thenhe said:

  "The police of a city, Miss Burrows, is a local organization withlimited powers. I don't mind telling you, however, that there are nowin Dorfield certain government agents who are tracing this circular andwill not be so particular as we must be to abide by established law inmaking arrests. Their authority is more elastic, in other words.Moreover, these circulars were mailed, and the postoffice departmenthas special detectives to attend to those who use the mails fordisloyal purposes."

  "Are any of these agents or detectives working on this case?" asked thegirl, more hopefully.

  "Let us suppose so," he answered. "They do not confide their activitiesto the police, although if they call upon us, we must assist them. Ipersonally saw that copies of these circulars were placed in the handsof a government agent, but have heard nothing more of the affair."

  "And you fear they will let the matter drop?" she questioned, trying tocatch the drift of his cautiously
expressed words.

  He did not answer that question at all. Instead, he quietly arrangedsome papers on his desk and after a pause that grew embarrassing, againturned to Mary Louise.

  "Whoever issued these circulars," he remarked, "is doubtless clever. Heis also bitterly opposed to the administration, and we may logicallysuppose he will not stop in his attempts to block the government'sconduct of the war. At every opportunity he will seek to poison theminds of our people and, sooner or later, he will do something that isdecidedly actionable. Then we will arrest him and put an end to hiscareer."

  "You think that, sir?"

  "I'm pretty sure of it, from