Part 12 (2/2)
Mary Louise wanted Josie to be their general, but Josie declined. She even resigned, temporarily, from members.h.i.+p, saying she had other duties to attend to that would require all her time. Then the girls wanted Mary Louise to be general of the Dorfield Liberty Girls, but she would not consent.
”We will just have the six companies and no general at all,” she said.
”Nor do we need a colonel, or any officers other than our captains.
Each and every girl in our ranks is just as important and worthy of honor as every other girl, so the fewer officers the better.”
About this time Joe Langley came back from France with one arm gone. He was Sergeant Joe Langley, now, and wore a decoration for bravery that excited boundless admiration and pride throughout all Dorfield. Joe had driven a milk wagon before he left home and went to Canada to join the first contingent sent abroad, but no one remembered his former humble occupation. A hero has no past beyond his heroism. The young man's empty sleeve and his decoration admitted him to intercourse with the ”best society” of Dorfield, which promptly placed him on a pedestal.
”You know,” said Joe, rather shamefacedly deprecating the desire to lionize him, ”there wasn't much credit in what I did. I'm even sorry I did it, for my foolishness sent me to the hospital an' put me out o'
the war. But there was Tom McChesney, lyin' out there in No Man's Land, with a bullet in his chest an' moanin' for water. Tom was a good chum o' mine, an' I was mad when I saw him fall--jest as the Boches was drivin' us back to our trenches. I know'd the poor cuss was in misery, an' I know'd what I'd expect a chum o' mine to do if I was in Tom's place. So out I goes, with my Cap'n yellin' at me to stop, an' I got to Tom an' give him a good, honest swig. The bullets pinged around us, although I saw a German officer--a decent young fellow--try to keep his men from shootin'. But he couldn't hold 'em in, so I hoisted Tom on my back an' started for our trenches. Got there, too, you know, jest as a machine-gun over to the right started spoutin'. It didn't matter my droppin' Tom in the trench an' tumblin' after him. The boys buried him decent while the sawbones was cuttin' what was left of my arm away, an'
puttin' me to sleep with dope. It was a fool trick, after all, 'though G.o.d knows I'll never forget the look in Tom's eyes as he swallered that swig o' cool water. That's all, folks. I'm out o' the game, an' I s'pose the Gen'ral jus' pinned this thing on my coat so I wouldn't take my discharge too much to heart.”
That was Joe Langley. Do you wonder they forgot he was once a milk-man, or that every resident of Dorfield swelled with pride at the very sight of him? Just one of ”our soldier boys,” just one of the boys the Liberty Girls were trying to a.s.sist.
”They're all alike,” said Mary Louise. ”I believe every American soldier would be a Joe Langley if he had the chance.”
Joe took a mighty interest in the Liberty Girls. He volunteered to drill and make soldiers of them, and so well did he perform this task-- perhaps because they admired him and were proud of their drill-master-- that when the last big lot of selected draft men marched away, the entire six companies of Liberty Girls marched with them to the train-- bands playing and banners flying--and it was conceded to be one of the greatest days Dorfield had ever known, because everyone cheered until hoa.r.s.e.
CHAPTER XIV THE PROFESSOR IS ANNOYED
Josie O'Gorman, after resigning from the Liberty Girls, became--so she calmly stated--a ”loafer.” She wandered around the streets of Dorfield in a seemingly aimless manner, shopped at the stores without buying, visited the houses of all sorts of people, on all sorts of gossipy errands, interviewed lawyers, bankers and others in an inconsequential way that amused some and annoyed others, and conducted herself so singularly that even Mary Louise was puzzled by her actions.
But Josie said to Mary Louise: ”My, what a lot I'm learning! There's nothing more interesting--or more startling--or, sometimes, more repulsive--than human nature.”
”Have you learned anything about the German spy plot?” questioned Mary Louise eagerly.
”Not yet. My quest resembles a cart-wheel. I go all around the outer rim first, and mark the spokes when I come to them. Then I follow each spoke toward the center. They'll all converge to the hub, you know, and when I've reached the hub, with all my spokes of knowledge radiating from it, I'm in perfect control of the whole situation.”
”Oh. How far are you from the hub, Josie?”
”I'm still marking the spokes, Mary Louise.”
”Are there many of them?”
”More than I suspected.”
”Well, I realize, dear, that you'll tell me nothing until you are ready to confide in me; but please remember, Josie, how impatient I am and how I long to bring the traitors to justice.”
”I won't forget, Mary Louise. We're partners in this case and perhaps I shall ask your help, before long. Some of my spokes may be blinds and until I know something positive there's no use in worrying you with confidences which are merely surmises.”
Soon after this conversation Mary Louise found herself, as head of the Liberty Girls, in an embarra.s.sing position. Professor Dyer returned from Chicago on an evening train and early next morning was at the Shop even before its doors were opened, impatiently awaiting the arrival of Mary Louise.
”There has been a mistake,” he said to her, hastily, as she smilingly greeted him; ”in my absence Mrs. Dyer has thoughtlessly given you some old furniture, which I value highly. It was wife's blunder, of course, but I want back two of the articles and I'm willing to pay your Shop as much for them as you could get elsewhere.”
”Oh, I'm awfully sorry, Professor,” said the girl, really distressed, as she unlocked the Shop door. ”Come in, please. Mrs. Dyer told our girls to go into the attic and help themselves to anything they wanted.
We've done splendidly with the old furniture, and fenders, and bra.s.sware, but I hope the two articles you prize are still unsold. If so, you shall not pay us for them, but we will deliver them to your house immediately.”
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