Part 3 (2/2)
”May I keep this--_thing?”_ she asked, with a shudder of disgust as she thrust the circular into its envelope.
”Certainly, if you wish.”
”And will you let an enemy attack like that influence you, Mr. McGill?”
He smiled, rather grimly.
”Yes. I'll invest five hundred in the bonds. I had already decided to put in a hundred dollars, but for a moment this veiled accusation bewildered me. You're right; it's treasonable. It will be hard for me to raise five hundred, just now, but I'll do it. I want that to be my answer to the German.”
Mary Louise thanked him and hurried away. Next door was Lacey's Shoe Store, and Mr. Lacey was reading a duplicate of that identical circular when the Liberty Girl approached him.
The man bowed low to Mary Louise, a deference she felt rendered to her red-white-and-blue uniform.
”Good morning!” he said pleasantly, recognizing the girl as one of his good customers. ”Glad to see you, Mary Louise, for if I give you a good fat check it may take a nasty taste out of my mouth, acquired by reading a bit of German propaganda.”
”I know, Mr. Lacey,” she replied earnestly. ”I've seen that circular before. Do you mind my having it--and the envelope?”
”I wouldn't touch the filth, if I were you,” he protested.
”I'm going to run the traitor down,” she said. ”No man has the right to live in Dorfield--or in America--who could be guilty of such disloyalty.”
He gave her the circular and his check for Liberty Bonds, and she pa.s.sed on to the next store. During the morning Mary Louise discovered several more of the traitorous circulars. Some merchants would not admit having received the warning; others, through their arguments, convinced the girl they had not only read the screed but had been influenced by it. Perhaps it did not seriously affect her sales of bonds, but she felt that it did and her indignation grew steadily. By noon she was tingling with resentment and when she joined the other Liberty Girls at luncheon, she found them all excited over the circular and demanding vengeance on the offender--whoever he might happen to be.
”Isn't it dreadful!” exclaimed Lucile Neal, ”and what could the person hope to gain by it?”
”Why, he wanted to kill the Liberty Bond sale,” explained Alora Jones.
”A suspicion that this money is to be misapplied, or that officials will steal part of it, is likely to prevent a lot of foolish people from investing in the bonds. All this morning I could see that men were influenced by this circular, which has been pretty generally distributed.”
”Yes; one or two repeated the very words of the circular to me,” said Laura Hilton; ”but I just asked them if they considered the United States able to pay its bonds and they were forced to admit it was a safe investment, however the money might be used.”
”I'd like to know who sent that circular,” exclaimed Edna Barlow.
”I'm going to find out!” a.s.serted Mary Louise.
”How, my dear?”
”There must be ways of tracing such a bunch of circulars as were mailed last evening. I'm going to see the Chief of Police and put him on the trail.”
”Do you know,” said Edna, a thoughtful and rather quiet girl, ”I already have a suspicion who the traitor is.”
”Who?” an eager chorus.
”I'm not sure I ought to speak his name, for it's only a suspicion and I may be wrong. It would be an awful thing to accuse one unjustly of such a dastardly act, wouldn't it? But--think, girls!--who is known to be against the war, and pro-German? Who did we consider an enemy to the cause of liberty until--until he happened to buy some bonds the other night and indulge in some peanut patriotism to disarm a criticism he knew was becoming dangerous?”
They looked at one another, half frightened at the suggestion, for all knew whom she meant.
”Perhaps,” said Alora, slowly, ”Jake Kasker really believes in the bonds. He certainly set the example to others and led them to buy a lot of bonds. It doesn't seem reasonable, after that, to credit him with trying to prevent their sale.”
<script>